Scroll To Top
Election

Gay Rights Foe Marsha Blackburn Reelected to Congress From Tennessee

Gay Rights Foe Marsha Blackburn Reelected to Congress From Tennessee

Marsha_blackburn_officialx400

Blackburn helped draft the Republicans' antigay national platform.

trudestress

Antigay congresswoman Marsha Blackburn has been reelected from Tennessee's seventh district, defeating two challengers, Scott Beasley and Pat Riley.

Blackburn, a Republican, was one of 39 members of Congress who attempted to overturn marriage equality in Washington, D.C. And Blackburn cochaired the committee that drafted this year's national Republican platform, considered the most antigay in history. Platform contributor Tony Perkins, president of the virulently homophobic Family Research Council, boasted of his friendship with Blackburn as key to getting so much of his hateful language adopted. Among other things, the platform says, "The court-ordered redefinition of marriage in several States ... is an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values." Such an "activist judiciary," it says, is "a serious threat to our country's constitutional order, perhaps even more dangerous than presidential malfeasance." And President Obama's gay-friendly policies, including his administration's decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court, amount to "a mockery of the President's inaugural oath."

trudestress
Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.