{"id":919823,"date":"2024-10-07T11:34:20","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T15:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/?post_type=gap&p=919823"},"modified":"2024-10-09T12:28:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T16:28:48","slug":"mike-rogers","status":"publish","type":"gap","link":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/gap\/mike-rogers\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Rogers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2014<\/span>Opposed<\/span><\/a> expanded protections and rights for LGBTQ people throughout his 14 years in Congress. Rogers has voted against \u201cexpanding federal hate crime laws to cover crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.\u201d In addition, \u201cRogers has also repeatedly voted against expanding federal hate crime laws to cover crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.\u201d0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Opposes<\/span><\/a> marriage equality, voting in favor of constitutional amendments to define marriage strictly as a union between a man and a woman. Rogers has argued that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is not discriminatory, claiming that the \u2018right has never existed,\u2019 and he has likened same-sex marriage to polygamy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u201c<\/span>Promised<\/span><\/a> to support legislation to roll back\u201d the Biden Administration\u2019s LGBTQ protections. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take the Senate, we\u2019re going to keep the House and we\u2019re going to win the White House and we\u2019re going to fix Title IX,\u201d said Rogers, who also <\/span>spoke out<\/span><\/a> against transgender participation in sports. \u201cTitle IX has been here for 50 years, with the sole purpose to allow women to have equal opportunity to compete in sports,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cIt was designed to give women opportunity, and what they\u2019re doing to these women is taking that opportunity away.\u201d Rogers <\/span>claimed<\/span><\/a> this was not a condemnation of the LGBTQ community: \u201cIt\u2019s about fairness. It\u2019s about Title IX.\u201d Meeting participants included former U.S. Education Secretary <\/span>Betsy DeVos<\/span><\/a> and anti-trans athlete <\/span>Riley Gaines<\/span><\/a>. Rogers used his platform to sign a pledge, the Stand With Women Commitment, which he <\/span>claimed<\/span><\/a> \u201cpreserves female opportunities and private spaces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Received \u201cthe maximum allowable political contributions\u201d from former U.S. Education Secretary <\/span>Betsy DeVos<\/span><\/a> and the DeVos family, a <\/span>combined total<\/span><\/a> of $46,200. DeVos spent much of her career trying to <\/span>defund<\/span><\/a> Michigan\u2019s public schools, and <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> Moms for Liberty<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe Department of Education should not exist.\u201d Both Rogers and DeVos share anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion views.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Tweeted<\/span><\/a> support of Senate Republicans\u2019 efforts to block Title IX expansions to include transgender protections: \u201cGrateful for these strong Senate Republicans for taking action to protect girls and women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Used a <\/span>campaign ad<\/span><\/a> to target what he calls \u201csocial engineering\u201d in schools. \u201cSchools care more about social engineering than, as my father used to say, the three \u2018R\u2019s\u2019: Readin\u2019, \u2018Ritin, and \u2018Rithmetic.\u201d Social engineering <\/span>coincides<\/span><\/a> \u201cwith the rhetoric from the \u2018parental rights\u2019 movement\u201d that opposes \u201cbooks and curriculum dealing with racism and LGBTQ+ issues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Advocated for book bans and extremist organizations like <\/span>Moms for Liberty<\/span><\/a>, who support such efforts. Speaking with MSNBC\u2019s Joy Reid, <\/span>Rogers argued<\/span><\/a> that a book cannot be considered banned if it is still obtainable outside of the classroom or library. Literary and educational experts <\/span>disagree<\/span><\/a>, restricting or removing access is a barrier to the information and therefore, a book ban. \u201cYou could take this argument to the extreme and say, \u2018Well, then everything should be available,\u2019\u201d said Rogers. \u201cLet them get on pornography sites.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Voted against<\/span><\/a> repealing<\/span><\/a> \u201cDon\u2019t Ask, Don\u2019t Tell\u201d (2010), which barred out LGBTQ people from military service.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Voted against<\/span><\/a> the <\/span>Employment Non-Discrimination Act<\/span><\/a>, \u201cwhich sought to prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Characterized<\/span><\/a> being LGBTQ as a \u201clifestyle choice,\u201d and said he would vote against same-sex marriage. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean I would have loved my children any less at all, but I believe when you\u2019re taking what is a lifestyle choice into the public arena, into the courtroom like that, it has ramifications, and I just don\u2019t think that would be the right direction for us to go\u2026We tell people who can drive a car. And we give marriage licenses. And we\u2019ve decided that the best cornerstone for that level of acceptance in American society is that marriage should be between a man and a woman.\u201d As of 2024, nine years after marriage equality was legalized nationwide, <\/span>support<\/span><\/a> has climbed to a record high 71%.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Repeatedly<\/a> pushed to ban abortion nationwide. He opposed\u00a0reproductive rights<\/a>\u00a0100% of the time,\u00a0according<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0scorecards<\/a> issued by the group NARAL Pro-Choice America, now known as Reproductive Freedom for All. Rogers backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and give legal rights to fetuses from the moment of conception, co-sponsored<\/a>\u00a0the Life at Conception Act and\u00a0other proposals<\/a> intended to give full legal rights to embryos and fetuses (a position that jeopardizes IVF), and voted<\/a>\u00a0for a\u00a020-week<\/a>\u00a0national abortion ban in 2013.\u00a0In\u00a02003<\/a>\u00a0and again in\u00a02005<\/a>, Rogers\u00a0co-sponsored legislation<\/a> to require withdrawal FDA approval<\/a> of mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortions, and he endorsed<\/a>\u00a0the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2022\u00a0Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em>\u00a0decision<\/a>, which overturned\u00a0Roe<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":435,"featured_media":919825,"template":"","categories":[139163,138754,139170,139167,139451,138407,138409],"tags":[138968,121898],"region":[138587,138565],"hashtag":[138636,138638,138632,139492],"class_list":{"0":"post-919823","1":"gap","2":"type-gap","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"category-elections","7":"category-gaps","8":"category-hate-extremism","9":"category-legislation","10":"category-marriage-equality","11":"category-sports","12":"category-transgender","13":"tag-election-2024","14":"tag-nevada","15":"region-michigan","16":"region-national","17":"hashtag-anti-transgender","18":"hashtag-law","19":"hashtag-politics","20":"hashtag-sports"},"aioseo_notices":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t