The Log Cabin Republicans have voted to drop transgender issues from the organization’s national advocacy agenda, declaring that the conservative group will now focus on “LGB” issues and sexual orientation.
The organization’s Board of Directors approved the change following discussions with members, reversing a 2015 decision that expanded the group’s advocacy to include transgender issues.
Log Cabin Republicans President Ross Hemminger explained the decision in a Townhall op-ed, saying the organization had previously added transgender advocacy because it believed adults should be allowed to “pursue their own happiness, free of government interference,” provided the rights of others were not infringed.
Hemminger argued that circumstances have since changed.
“The transgender movement has ceased focusing on adults at all,” he wrote, claiming that nearly all of the movement’s efforts and those of aligned groups now center on minors.
Hemminger criticized what he called “radical gender ideology” in schools, biological men participating in women’s sports and gender reassignment treatments for minors, including treatments he said could occur without parental knowledge or consent and were largely irreversible.
He argued that the current era of gender identity politics no longer represented “the movement we supported and fought for.”
Hemminger also claimed gay men and women were losing public support and that backing for gay marriage and other previously widely accepted rights was declining.
According to Hemminger, younger voters who were not alive or politically aware during the debate over gay marriage are increasingly forming their perceptions of the gay community based on today’s transgender activists and their focus on young people.
Following what Hemminger described as “significant discussion with our membership,” the Board voted to concentrate its national advocacy on sexual orientation and conservative values.
“In other words, we are an LGB advocacy organization,” Hemminger wrote.
The change does not affect membership requirements. Hemminger said membership remains open to all conservatives.
LCR also updated its website and social media following the vote, replacing references to “LGBT” with “LGB.” The organization’s online history page was similarly changed, according to comparisons with archived versions.
The decision follows months of internal debate over transgender issues.
The organization’s relationship with President Donald Trump has also evolved over the years. National LCR declined to endorse Trump in 2016, although several state and county chapters supported him. The organization endorsed Trump in both 2020 and 2024 and actively backed his campaigns, including through rallies and field staff.
Days into Trump’s second term, the president signed an executive order banning transgender people from the military. Trump has also opposed transgender athletes competing against biological women. He is currently featured on LCR’s homepage.
Reaction among past and current members was mixed. Many on social media supported the decision to “drop the T,” while others opposed the move.
The vote marks a return to a narrower advocacy mission for an organization founded in the late 1970s amid opposition to a California ballot initiative seeking to prohibit gay and lesbian people from teaching in public schools.
