The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, on Thursday launched a
campaign to expose Vice President Mike Pence's long history of
“anti-LGBTQ animus.”
HRC's “The Real Mike Pence”
campaign includes a
report, a
microsite and a series of videos on Pence's record.
In announcing the campaign, HRC claimed
that Pence is “quietly spearheading a change to radically undermine
the rights of LGBTQ people and women, attack voting rights, undercut
sound science, and enable the greatest assault on American
institutions in modern history.”
HRC President Chad Griffin said that
the campaign was important because Pence's “extremism” was going
unnoticed.
“Mike Pence has made a career out of
attacking the rights and equal dignity of LGBTQ people, women and
other marginalized communities. Now as vice president, he poses one
of the greatest threats to equality in the history of our movement,”
said Griffin. “With the world distracted by Donald Trump’s
scandal-ridden White House, Mike Pence’s nefarious agenda has been
allowed to fly under the radar for too long. He has become not only
the most powerful vice president in American history, but also the
least scrutinized. No more. With this comprehensive new report, HRC
is exposing the extent of Pence’s extremism, the threat he poses to
equality, and all that we’re doing to combat his hateful agenda.”
HRC's 20-page
report highlights Pence's record opposing LGBT rights, including
marriage equality, LGBT protections, hate crimes legislation and open
LGBT service in the military, as well as other issues important to the LGBT
community such as reproductive health and voting rights. It also
claims that Pence is influencing policy decisions in President Donald
Trump's administration.
“[N]o vice president in history has
wielded more influence, with less scrutiny, than Mike Pence,” HRC
wrote. “While Donald Trump's scandals and erratic tweets dominate
the airways, Pence has operated largely out of public view, stacking
the administration with members of his inner circle, pushing his
long-standing legislative priorities, and currying favor with donors
and candidates across the country.”