Coalition Calls on RNC to Distance Itself From Value Voters Summit
Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center and a coalition of civil rights groups are calling on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to distance itself from this week’s Values Voter Summit because of the involvement of groups with a long history of relentlessly demonizing the LGBT community.
In an open letter published in The Washington Post and The Hill, the coalition is reminding RNC Chair Reince Priebus that 15 years ago his predecessor told GOP officials to shun the Council of Conservative Citizens because of the group’s racist views. This year’s campaign is asking the RNC to do it again.
“Will the GOP condemn anti-LGBT bigotry as vigorously as it opposed racism 15 years ago?” the letter asks.
The Value Voters Summit is an annual event hosted by the Family Research Council (FRC) and co-sponsored by the American Family Association (AFA) and Liberty Counsel – groups that engage in groundless demonization of LGBT people by portraying them as sick, vile, incestuous, violent, perverted, and a danger to the nation.
Additionally, as part of the campaign to bring awareness to the issue, the SPLC has created a website with information on this year’s summit participants and their views that are helping to shape the modern GOP. You can visit that website here.
