Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) President Chad Griffin, on March 23, released a statement defending his organization's endorsement of incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk ( R-IL ) in the 2016 elections. The endorsement engendered numerous complaints from members of the LGBT community, many of whom believe that Kirk's Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth ( D-IL ), is more worthy of the endorsement.
Kirk's HRC congressional scorecard, in 2013-2014, was 78 percent. Duckworth's was 100 percent in that same time period.
In the statement, posted to the Independent Journal Review, Griffin emphasized that HRC was a bipartisan organization, and depended on bipartisan cooperation in order to move any of its initiatives forward.
"Senator Kirk has been a strong ally in the Republican Party," Griffin said. "He was the first Senate Republican to co-sponsor the Equality Act, a critical step towards full federal equality. He was one of fewer than a dozen Congressional Republicans to support marriage equality, and he was also the Republican lead on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ( ENDA ). He supported the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. And, the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' would never have passed the Senate without the leadership of Republican Senators including Mark Kirk."
Griffin acknowledged criticism of Kirk's imperfect scorecard in the last congress, but said it did not acknowledge Kirk's current sponsorship of the Equality Act. He added that it would be unfair to compare Duckworth's record to Kirk's, since she is currently a member of the House, not the Senate.
Writer David Nir, in a March 21 Daily Kos commentary, said that HRC's calls for bipartisanship were actually a plays for Republican and corporate sponsors.
"That's an incredibly callow approach to politics, but one the organization has practiced for years ( HRC infamously endorsed Republican Sen. Al D'Amato over Chuck Schumer in 1998 )," Nir wrote. "Do we seriously need to ask whether the LGBT community would be better off if HRC's coffers were flush, or if instead it would be better off if ENDA became law? Everyone knows the answer to thateveryone, that is, except HRC."
Nir also noted that a vote for Kirk was an implicit vote to keep Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in place, and that votes for pro-LGBT legislation would be highly unlikely under his watch.
In a March 23 New Republic commentary, Eric Sasson wrote, "If HRC was troubled by taking a side in the race, it could have chosen to remain neutral. It could have proclaimed how wonderful it is to have two candidates with strong pro-LGBT voting records vying for the Senate seat and wished them both luck. By choosing to endorse Kirk, HRC has simply reopened old wounds while creating fresh ones."
Griffin's statement for the Independent Journal Review is at: bit.ly/1WIcI23. Daily Kos' commentary is at bit.ly/1pGdqCS. New Republic's commentary is at bit.ly/1RzL9Ke.