19 Anti-Gay House Democrats You Should Watch Out For

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

Yesterday, under the leadership of Rep. Virginia Foxx (you know, the one who called Matthew Shepard’s murder a “hoax” in front of his mother), the House of Representatives needlessly spent time re-affirming the fact that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was the law of the land. It was equivalent to re-affirming the fact that Snooki is a celebrity. Even though it’s horrible, saying it out loud doesn’t make it more or less true.

DOMA has now been found unconstitutional in 14 courtrooms. It has lost every battle it has come up against in recent years because it denies equal rights to LGBT citizens. Yesterday’s vote was a case of the GOP grandstanding and trying to show that they have some power, despite Obama’s wanting to see it overturned.

But what I found most interesting is that technically, the vote was bipartisan. There were 19 Democrats that voted along with the lockstep Republicans to announce that they are still bigots and that their constituents do not deserve equal treatment under the law.

Now, personally I know that Republicans are a lot worse generally on LGBT issues than Democrats, but it’s also really important that we don’t automatically and blindly trust someone just because they are a Democrat. If you are represented by one of these elected officials, please make a call to their office and demand an explanation as to why they would so boldly and uselessly re-affirm their prejudiced and bigoted views. Let them know that they do not have your support in the next election and that you will fight for a primary opponent next time around. We can’t let Democrats off just because they are Democrats. Here you go – visit this link to find out who your representative is and how to contact them. Here are the Democrats who voted to “re-affirm” DOMA:

Jason Altmire (D-​Pa.), John Barrow (D-​Ga.), Sanford Bishop (D-​Ga.), Dan Boren (D-​Okla.), Ben Chandler (D-​Ky.), Jerry Costello (D-​Ill.), Mark Critz (D-​Pa.), Henry Cuellar (D-​Texas), Joe Donnelly (D-​Ind.), Gene Green (D-​Texas), Tim Holden (D-​Pa.), Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), Dan Lipinski (D-​Ill.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), James Matheson (D-​Utah), Collin Peterson (D-​Minn.), Nich Rahall (D-W.V.), Mike Ross (D-​Ark.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).