Random Anti-Gay Politicians with LGBTQ+ Relatives (12 items)

• 

  (#1) Alan Keyes

  • 68

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  The former Republican political candidate is one of the staunchest anti-gay rights politicians in the United States. He's said that gay marriage “is the archetype of all crimes against humanity,” and considers gay marriage a crime. An actual crime.

  He's also called homosexuality "selfish hedonism," and has appeared on multiple programs over the years railing against LBGT culture. He's stood against it every step of the way, despite having an LGBT daughter.

  Gay Relative:
  Keyes's daughter, Maya Marcel-Keyes, came out of the closet in 2005.

  Since then, she's been involved in a number of protests and with various LGBT activist organizations. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, which speaks on behalf of LGBT families and youth across the country, always trying to counteract at least a little bit of what her father does to her community.
  
• 

  (#2) Michele Bachmann

  • 62

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  Bachmann, a staunch conservative, has long been opposed to gay marriage.

  Before retiring from Congress, the Minnesota Republican wrote, "Marriage was created by the hand of God. No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted."

  She's frequently campaigned against gay rights and called for spiritual warfare against gay marriage and has voted as such her entire career, and even ran on that platform during the 2012 primaries.

  Gay Relative:
  Bachmann's stepsister, Helen LaFave, is openly gay. Although they're not necessarily closely related, with some of these cases, having a member of their family on the other side of the fence has swayed the sympathies of certain conservatives. But not Bachmann. 

  LeFave supported Barack Obama and was seen at his inauguration in 2009.
• 

  (#3) Karl Rove

  • 68

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  Rove used anti-gay marriage amendments to turn out conservatives in 2004, particularly in Ohio. Though he now says he never asked for an anti-gay fight, his strategy to get conservatives to vote may have worked short-term, but ultimately it has harmed the GOP brand with younger voters.

  Gay Relative:
  Rove's stepfather, Louis, was gay. Rove's parents divorced when Louis, whom he considered to be his father (Rove's biological father left when he was a small child) came out when Karl was a senior in high school. According to an interview with Wayne Slater and James Moore, Rove told them that he "lovingly accepted his father as a gay man," and treated Louis with respect. Every other homosexual in the country? Not so much.
• 

  (#4) Christine O'Donnell

  Stance on LGBT Rights: The former Delaware Republican senatorial candidate has a long history of taking hateful and ignorant positions against LGBT people. Originally a liberal, O'Donnell claims to have experienced an epiphany when she was 21 that completely changed her viewpoints.

  She's accused gays of having a personality disorder and has called homosexuality a "deviant sexual orientation." She considers homosexuality a disease (an "identity disorder") and associates herself with people who try to cure homosexuality.

  Gay relative:
  With her outrageous views on homosexuality, people will be surprised to learn that O'Donnell's sister, Jennie O'Donnell, is a lesbian. She lives in the LGBT hub of West Hollywood, California.

  Despite her sister's strong anti-gay views, Jennie defended her sister publicly. Using the old adage that blood is thicker than politics, Jennie even campaigned for her sister during her ill-fated 2010 senatorial campaign. She was quoted as saying that Christine was misunderstood.
• 

  (#5) Newt Gingrich

  • 75

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  The former Republican Speaker of the House has long been opposed to LGBT rights. He claims the fight over LGBT rights is one-sided because they undermine Catholic rights. He's also said gay people choose to be gay and aren't born gay.

  Recently, Gingrich changed his tune, saying that Republicans need to reconsider their position on same-sex marriage due to shifts in the way that the issue perceived by public opinion. 

  Gay Relative:
  Candice Gingrich-Jones, Newt's younger sister by several decades, is a lesbian. She is a LGBT rights activist and holds a leadership position in the Human Rights Campaign.

  In 2011, she was honored by the American Humanist Association, receiving the LGBT Humanist Pride Award. Just in case you were wondering, she didn't support her brother's 2012 campaign; she endorsed Barack Obama.

  After Newt gave an interview in 2013 saying that conservatives need to reconsider their position on same-sex marriage, Candice praised his evolving opinion on LGBT issues, hoping that the rest of the GOP follows his lead and thinks progressively on LGBT issues.
• 

  (#6) Dick Cheney

  • 78

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  The former Vice President was part of the Republican national ticket that disparaged gay rights during the 2004 election and throughout their two-terms in office. 

  While he didn't publicly oppose LGBT rights, he stood by, as the Vice President of the United States, while the administration tried to obliterate the rights of his daughter's community.

  This proved to be merely a strategic move to get evangelical voters in battleground states out to vote, though. In recent years, Cheney changed his stance and now openly supports LGBT rights. It's great to see somebody hop the fence in that way, but he makes this list because in his eight years as one of the most powerful men in the world, he stood by and did nothing. 

  Gay relative: 
  Cheney's daughter, Mary Cheney, is an openly lesbian woman. She married her longtime partner, Heather Poe, in 2012.  Mary Cheney has been cited as one of the reasons her conservative father changed his stance on gay marriage... eventually. 

  In 2013, she was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage aka the California Prop 8 case. 
• 

  (#7) Matt J Salmon

  Stance on LGBT:
  Salmon, a Republican congressman from Arizona, is a staunch social conservative who voted for the now defunct Defense of Marriage Act.

  As a conservative Mormon, Salmon also called for a ban on gay adoptions in Washington, D.C. If that isn't enough, he and his wife led the Arizona chapter of United Families International, a group formed to "maintaining and strengthening the family." The group fought to ban gay marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in the Arizona state constitution in 2006, but ultimately failed.

  Gay Relative:
  Matt R. Salmon, Congressman Salmon's son, is a former leader of the Arizona Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay rights GOP group and is openly gay. He gets along well with his father, even though the older Salmon considers homosexuality a choice.
• 

  (#8) Marsha Looper

  • 60

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  The Colorado State Rep. voted against same sex civil unions during a special legislative session in the state legislature. Looper was part of a Republican bloc that voted against the bill reaching the Colorado House of Representatives in 2012. Had it reached the House, the bill was likely to pass.

  Gay Relative:
  Looper's son was outed by her own campaign after the vote.

  In an email written by her campaign manager, Lana Fore-Warkocz , Looper was praised for protecting Colorado from religious harm, despite having a gay son. Incensed, the state representative sharply criticized her campaign manager for bringing her son into the political forum.

  Talk about a campaign fail.
• 

  (#9) Phyllis Schlafly

  • 94

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  A conservative Republican activist, Schalfly has been quoted as saying that LGBT rights violate free speech and that feminism is "the most destructive element in our society." She also claims the LGBT agenda has infiltrated schools and is being taught as part of the curriculum.

  She is opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment and is said to be "deeply offended" and "personally insulted" when the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  Gay Relative:
  Schalfly's son, John, is openly gay. Despite his mother's controversial stance, John has openly defended Phyllis's view about family movement. John was quoted as saying that "the family values movement isn't anti-gay" and is remains a Republican in spite of their views towards the LGBT community. 
• 

  (#10) Don Coram

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  As a member of the Colorado's House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Coran was the deciding vote that killed a proposed bill that would have legalized same sex civil unions in 2012.

  He justified his vote by saying Democrats used gay rights as political pawn.

  Gay Relative:
  Coran's son, Dee, is openly gay. Dee has spoken out about his father's position, saying that it was time for his father to lead on the issue of civil unions but failed to do so. Don told his son that he was going to vote no on the bill, but wouldn't be opposed to the bill moving to the floor. But his vote indicated otherwise.

  The younger Coran added that this wasn't the first time the two of them have disagreed on political issues.
• 

  (#11) David Johnson

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  Johnson, a Republican state representative in Maine, lost his openly gay brother to cancer in 2012. Even though he stays in contact with his brother's longtime partner, Johnson said that it's "God's plan" for marriage to be between a man and a woman.

  To make matters worse, he also urged Maine voters to not pass a ballot measure to allow gay couples to marry. Johnson used his brother as example to say that you can love a person, in this case his brother, but hate homosexuality. Ultimately, the measure passed, and Johnson looked stupid for invoking his brother.

  Gay relative:
  His brother, who was openly gay and in a longstanding relationship for over 25 years with his partner.
• 

  (#12) Sonny Bono

  • Dec. at 63 (1935-1998)

  Stance on LGBT Rights:
  A Republican congressman from Palm Springs, California, Bono told members of the House Judiciary Committee in 1996 that he's not homophobic, but he couldn't handle the idea of homosexuality. Strange considering a year earlier, his daughter came out of the closet.

  Gay relative:
  Bono's daughter Chastity, now known as Chaz after a sex change operation, is one of the most famous champions for LGBT rights.

  He's written two books about the process of coming out to friends and family members with Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families (1998) and The End of Innocence (2003). After transitioning to a male in 2010, Chaz was the subject of a documentary Becoming Chaz that followed him while he underwent the process of a sex change.

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