The 10 Worst Anti-LGBTQ Republicans of 2019

If you had friends tell you they just “couldn’t read the news” for their own mental health this year, it was likely due to one of the 10 fine folks on this list, all of whom helped make 2019 a banner year for homophobia.

Never fear, many of them failed spectacularly in absurd attempts to undermine the dignity of LGBTQ Americans. Behold, the 10 worst Republicans of the year, presented below in no particular order.

The 10 Best Homophobic Backfires of 2019—Ranked!

1. Chris Sevier

   

   You likely don’t know Chris Sevier’s name, but you might have heard of his work drafting Republican-sponsored bills in Kansas, South Carolina, and Wyoming, all of which argue that same-sex marriages are “parody marriages.” If that isn’t strange enough, Sevier tried to prove his point by suing several states to marry… his laptop? Evidently, that is equivalent in Sevier’s mind to a marriage between partners of the same sex, according to NBC News.

2. Mike Hill

   Florida state Rep. Mike Hill joked about killing gay people. Then he clashed with Republican leaders. https://t.co/VBIjRYCYoI

   — POLITICO (@politico) August 13, 2019

   Pensacola Republican State Rep. Mike Hill took us to a new low this year by joking that he wanted to introduce legislation legalizing the extermination of gay people.

   According to the Pensacola News Journal, a constituent asked Hill if he could introduce a bill legalizing putting a man to death for sleeping with another man. “I wonder how that would go over?” Hill said, laughing.

3. Chris Stewart

   Here at the Fairness for All Press Conference. @RepChrisStewart has introduced legislation in Congress that builds on Utah's 2015 legislation that protects religious freedom and LGBT rights #FairnessforAll #utpol pic.twitter.com/Te1FqHyB1q

   — Candice B. Pierucci (@CandicePierucci) December 9, 2019

   It takes special skill to craft an anti-discrimination bill widely condemned by the people it purports to protect, but Republican Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah delivered us one such draft late this year in the Fairness for All Act. The sham civil rights bill, meant to circumvent the Equality Act, offers up a buffet of discrimination exemptions dressed as religious freedom. It takes aim at current civil rights law by handing out loopholes that allow for bias against LGBTQ people, people of color, and yes, even those of faith.

4. Matt Bevin

   

   BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

   Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin already earned an A+ in homophobia for pushing for discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, among other things. But it was his re-election bid against Democrat Andy Beshear that truly rankled LGBTQ advocates in 2019, as his supporters pushed deeply transphobic ads claiming that Beshear supports “allowing biological males to compete on women’s sports teams.”

   The ads fell flat, and Bevin lost.

5. Tony Perkins

   

   Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

   Tony Perkins has long been one of the country’s leading anti-LGBTQ voices, heading up the the designation hate group the Family Research Council (GLAAD has entire page dedicated to his hateful actions against queer people). This year, he made banner strides in his campaign against queer humanity with his appointment as chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Cue the eye roll.

6. Ben Carson

   

   Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

   Never one praised for his bright ideas, Ben Carson used his powers as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to add to the nation’s homelessness problem by reversing Obama-era nondiscrimination protections for trans people at more than 6,7000 government-funded shelter programs.

7. Log Cabin Republicans

   "To be treated equally, fairly and justly under the law is our goal, and we know that “Inclusion Wins” is a mantra we share with the president. The Log Cabin Republicans endorse Donald Trump for reelection as president.” https://t.co/pDTtEYVpqh

   — Log Cabin Republicans (@LogCabinGOP) August 16, 2019

   Perhaps no moment elicited a bigger, “WTF?!” than the day in mid-August when LGBTQ conservative group Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Donald Trump for re-election, claiming he met his commitments to the LGBTQ community an op-ed in The Washington Post. That move resulted in its president quitting. The group then admitting it was trolling all of us—though to what ends, we are still unclear.

8. Eric Porterfield

   This overcooked butt roast @GOP lawmaker (Eric Porterfield) thinks gays are the new KKK and said he’d drown his own kids if they came out to him as gay. Not a single member of his party has spoken out about his remarks or called for his resignation. pic.twitter.com/Xa80S7qVtr

   — SassBaller (@SassBaller) February 14, 2019

   This West Virginia Republican delegate said LGBTQ people were terrorists in an interview with the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “The LGBTQ is a modern day version of the Ku Klux Klan, without wearing hoods with their antics of hate,” Porterfield said.

9. Betsy DeVos

   

   Zach Gibson/Getty Images

   Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rang in the school year with smiling children and school visits. Of course, on the list was Harrisburg Catholic Elementary School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, renowned for its vehemently anti-transgender policy that purports that trans students and staff are committing “self-mutilation.”

10. Donald Trump (and Mike Pence)

    

    SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

    The 45th President took time out of soliciting Ukraine for campaign handouts in 2019 to dismantle as many LGBTQ protections as he could get his hands on from health care to HIV funding. Here’s the full list of this dream team’s jabs at the LGBTQ community.