There will be fifty more anti-gay House
members when the 112th Congress begins work in 2011.
According to the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, the number of
anti-gay House members will increase from 172 to 222 in the next
Congress.
That is, the majority of the House will
be anti-gay, grinding pro-equality measures to a halt.
Allison Herwitt of the HRC talked about
the new Congress with Kerry Eleveld, the Washington corresponded for
gay glossy The Advocate who'll
be moving on in the new year. Eleveld
spoke with Herwitt on the second – and likely the final – episode
of the video program A
View from the Hill.
“As we are going into the 112th
Congress we're looking at about 27 less pro-equality members in the
House, so we're at 169 and we're two less in the Senate, we're at
40,” Herwitt told Eleveld.
She went on to explain that the midterm
elections had dramatically increased the number of anti-gay
lawmakers: Fifty more in the House and two more in the Senate.
“So, that's quite a jump. And when
you think about the number that you need to get any piece of
legislation passed in the House … it's 218. So, if they're
starting with 222 anti-equality members, clearly we have our work cut
out for us,” Herwitt said.
Eleveld agreed, saying it sounded like
an uphill climb.