Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has
criticized the election of an openly gay student president,
suggesting that the election was stolen.
Perry, a former Texas governor and
failed presidential candidate, complained in an op-ed for the Houston
Chronicle that the election of Bobby Brooks to lead Texas A&M
was rigged in a “quest for diversity.”
Brooks became president after the top
vote-getter, Robert McIntosh, was disqualified . The student
government's judicial court found that McIntosh had failed to report
a campaign expense but cleared him of a voter intimidation charge,
according to The Battalion, the school's student newspaper.
“Brooks' presidency is being treated
as a victory for 'diversity,'” wrote
Perry, an alum of Texas A&M. “It is difficult to escape
the perception that this quest for 'diversity' is the real reason the
election outcome was overturned. Does the principle of 'diversity'
override and supersede all other values of our Aggie Honor Code?”
Campus Pride, a group that represents
LGBT college students, called Perry's comments an attack on the LGBT
community.
“Surely, Secretary Perry has better
things to do with his time than writing editorials about student
elections at his alma mater?” said Shane Windmeyer, the group's
executive director, in a statement.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate,
tweeted condemnation.
“Rick Perry, busy running a
department he forgot he wanted to eliminate, somehow found time to
smear a young gay trailblazer in Texas,” Griffin messaged. “Did
@SecretaryPerry use DOE resources to defame gay student in support of
son of a Trump supporter?”
Perry is a vocal opponent of LGBT
rights, including opposition to marriage equality, repeal of Don't
Ask, Don't Tell, and allowing openly gay adult leaders in the Boy
Scouts of America.