For some time, we’ve been following members of the House of Representatives as they either pursue a policy course of legislative equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans or defend the status quo of inequality under law. There’s actually quite a bit of legislative activity pushing in both directions on Capitol Hill, and while the brain might not quite boggle at the prospect of following 100 senators, it’s easy to feel downright swamped tracking the 435 members of the House of Representatives. One manageable way to look at the trends in the House is to identify the politicians with the strongest records of support for and opposition to the LGBT equality agenda in Congress.
That’s what you can find in the lists below. These are the individuals with the strongest, most consistent activity in support of either pro-gay or anti-gay legislation, as measured by cosponsorship and voting patterns in 2009 and 2010. You can click on a representative’s name to learn about his or her voting and cosponsorship record in greater detail, and to find links to touchstone legislation on the issue of LGBT equality before the 111th Congress.
Members of the House of Representatives most friendly to the LGBT equality agenda on Capitol Hill
- Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI 2)
- Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV 1)
- Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA 8 )
- Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY 11)
- Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA 51)
- Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL 4)
- Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH 10)
- Rep. George Miller (D-CA 7)
- Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-nonvoting DC delegate)
- Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO 2)
- Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA 7)
- Rep. Fortney (Pete) Stark (D-CA 13)
- Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA 30)
- Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA 6)
Members of the House of Representatives most strongly pursuing an anti-gay policy agenda on Capitol Hill
- Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD 6)
- Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN 7)
- Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN 5)
- Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4)
- Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ 2)
- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH 4)
- Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS 1)
- Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX 19)
- Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN 6)
- Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA 16)
- Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-IN 3)
- Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS 4)
If your representative isn’t listed here, it doesn’t mean that she or he doesn’t have an identifiable position on the issue of discrimination by sexual orientation, but rather that his or her actions to follow through on that position aren’t as consistent as they might be. As always, data for the full House is available if you want to wade into the full set of 435.
I think big bro should stay out of the marriage/ relationship business whether one is gay, straight or whatever.
big church ought to stay out of it too, then.