Monday, September 29, 2014

About That AD 30 Race...

Here at Nevada Progressive, we often note what the Nevada Republican Party does wrong. But today, we're feeling quite positive and generous. So we just have to note one thing the Nevada Republican Party is doing right.

So congratulations, Nevada Republicans. Congratulations on allowing Lauren Scott (R) to run for the Assembly in District 30 (Sparks and Spanish Springs in Washoe County). Oh, and congratulations to Washoe County Republicans on allowing Lauren Scott to speak to the media like State Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson (R-Henderson) originally promised he & his hand-picked Southern Nevada running mates would (before they all broke that promise and went into hiding).

Now with this being said, we still need to correct some statements Lauren Scott made to the Reno Gazette Journal's Ray Hagar about the Nevada Republican Party's relationship with Nevada's LGBTQ communities:

1. Yes, all of a sudden some Nevada Republicans have decided it's "politically expedient" to no longer actively campaign in public on a platform of bigotry and hatred. However, that doesn't mean they've actually changed their policies.

2. Lauren Scott can call it whatever she wants, but she can't deny US Senator Harry Reid's (D) rather quick embrace of LGBTQ civil rights in recent years. We just wonder what she wants to call US Senator Dean Heller's (R), Rep. Mark Amodei's (R), and Rep. Joe Heck's (R) continuing refusal to allow full LGBTQ legal equality.

3. No matter how much the Nevada Republican Party touts its latest round of "rebranding", it can't hide Adam Laxalt's (R) "political issues" and Cresent Hardy's (R) "segregation laws". And no, it can't even hide Mark Hutchison's (R) voting record.

4. Governor Brian Sandoval (R), along with Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D), essentially had to be dragged kicking & screaming out of the Sevcik marriage suit that's now awaiting a decision from the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. Yet while Cortez Masto has remained relatively quiet on the subject since dropping the state's legal defense of marriage discrimination, Sandoval has continued to state his support for marriage discrimination despite admitting he has no legal case left for the Question 2 marriage ban.

5. Just how much support has Lauren Scott received from her fellow Republicans? {crickets}

So yes, it's great to see the Nevada Republican Party allowing for an openly trans* candidate for the Legislature. Really, it's a great achievement for them. It's just too bad the vast majority of them still refuse to adopt a platform that respects all LGBTQ Nevadans. And no, omission is not the same as acceptance.

Oops, maybe we're not feeling as positive and generous as we originally thought we were.

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