• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Gay GOP Congressional Candidate and Trump Supporter: Mike Pence Doesn’t Believe in Discrimination

August 24, 2016 by Sean Mandell Leave a Comment

clay cope

Out gay Republican congressional candidate Clay Cope is opening about his support for Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and the GOP in general.

Cope is challenging Democratic incumbent Elizabeth Etsy in the Connecticut 5th–quite the challenge given just how deep blue Connecticut is. A former businessman who started a line of women’s clothing with his partner, Cope told NBC OUT that he described himself as “a lifelong Republican.” He says, “The first election I voted in was for Ronald Reagan when I was 18. The tent has widened, and now there are gay candidates and that’s great.”

Cope says he doesn’t think much about being gay and in the GOP, explaining, “Did I have gay cereal this morning? No. The decisions I make are always what I think is the best for my constituents.”

Of his sexuality, he explains, “It’s such a non-issue for me. I know I am unique. I am a gay American. A Republican. I live with a Peruvian immigrant. We are blessed to live in a community and district that embraces us.”

Cope is also a supporter of Indiana Governor and VP hopeful Mike Pence, who signed into law the horrifically anti-LGBT Religious Freedom Restoration Act last year.

Said Cope, “I am liking what I’m hearing from Pence. He does not believe in discrimination. And neither do I.”

He adds, “I take him at his word. I have to think about what he is saying now.”

Still, Cope claims to be focused on “anti-discrimination” issues. He says the GOP has been “very welcoming” to him and adds, “I never had anyone question me about my sexuality, about my relationship with my partner.”

As for the GOP’s platform this year — the most rabidly anti-LGBT platform in the party’s history–Cope says only,

“I don’t think the party is the platform. Voters vote for candidates not a party platform. I don’t agree with every aspect of the platform, but I am focused on issues.”

Cope plans to continue evangelizing for the GOP: “[I want to] raise awareness about the party that I know and that I love. The Republican Party is a party of inclusion and non-discrimination — or I wouldn’t be part of it.”

[Photo via Facebook]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2016 Election, Clay Cope, Connecticut, Discrimination, Donald Trump, Gay Rights, LGBT Rights, Mike Pence, POLITICS, Republican Party

Recent Posts

  • Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

    Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

    14 hours ago
  • Rudy Giuliani, Ken Jones, FAA, Andy Murray, Brian Littrell, Andrew Yang, Harold Bornstein, Snapchat, Six Feet Under: HOT LINKS

    Rudy Giuliani, Ken Jones, FAA, Andy Murray, Brian Littrell, Andrew Yang, Harold Bornstein, Snapchat, Six Feet Under: HOT LINKS

    16 hours ago
  • Lindsey Graham Says Impeaching Trump Post-Presidency is Wrong: ‘Why Don’t We Impeach George Washington? He Owned Slaves’ — WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Says Impeaching Trump Post-Presidency is Wrong: ‘Why Don’t We Impeach George Washington? He Owned Slaves’ — WATCH

    19 hours ago
  • This Heartwarming Viral Gay Doritos Ad Needs No Translation: WATCH

    This Heartwarming Viral Gay Doritos Ad Needs No Translation: WATCH

    20 hours ago
Previous Post: « Atlanta Man Who Poured Boiling Water On Sleeping Gay Couple Found Guilty on All Charges
Next Post: Meet Logo’s ‘Gay Bachelor’, Robert Sepulveda Jr. – WATCH »

Primary Sidebar

  • Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

  • Rudy Giuliani, Ken Jones, FAA, Andy Murray, Brian Littrell, Andrew Yang, Harold Bornstein, Snapchat, Six Feet Under: HOT LINKS

  • Lindsey Graham Says Impeaching Trump Post-Presidency is Wrong: ‘Why Don’t We Impeach George Washington? He Owned Slaves’ — WATCH

Recent Posts

  • Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

    Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

    14 hours ago
  • Rudy Giuliani, Ken Jones, FAA, Andy Murray, Brian Littrell, Andrew Yang, Harold Bornstein, Snapchat, Six Feet Under: HOT LINKS

    Rudy Giuliani, Ken Jones, FAA, Andy Murray, Brian Littrell, Andrew Yang, Harold Bornstein, Snapchat, Six Feet Under: HOT LINKS

    16 hours ago
  • Lindsey Graham Says Impeaching Trump Post-Presidency is Wrong: ‘Why Don’t We Impeach George Washington? He Owned Slaves’ — WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Says Impeaching Trump Post-Presidency is Wrong: ‘Why Don’t We Impeach George Washington? He Owned Slaves’ — WATCH

    19 hours ago
  • This Heartwarming Viral Gay Doritos Ad Needs No Translation: WATCH

    This Heartwarming Viral Gay Doritos Ad Needs No Translation: WATCH

    20 hours ago
  • Tilda Swinton: ‘I Always Felt I Was Queer … It’s My World’

    Tilda Swinton: ‘I Always Felt I Was Queer … It’s My World’

    20 hours ago
  • QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Vows to File Impeachment Articles Against Joe Biden on His First Day in Office: WATCH

    QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Vows to File Impeachment Articles Against Joe Biden on His First Day in Office: WATCH

    21 hours ago
  • Siegfried & Roy’s Siegfried Fischbacher Has Died at 81, Eight Months After Losing Roy Horn

    Siegfried & Roy’s Siegfried Fischbacher Has Died at 81, Eight Months After Losing Roy Horn

    21 hours ago
  • Lady Gaga to Sing National Anthem at Biden Inauguration

    Lady Gaga to Sing National Anthem at Biden Inauguration

    22 hours ago
  • Trump Issues Lie-Filled  Video Statement After He is Impeached for Second Time: WATCH

    Trump Issues Lie-Filled Video Statement After He is Impeached for Second Time: WATCH

    22 hours ago
  • Klete Keller, Eric Trump, Bobby Christine, Prince Harry’s Ponytail, Ellen’s COVID, Adam Newbold, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar: HOT LINKS

    Klete Keller, Eric Trump, Bobby Christine, Prince Harry’s Ponytail, Ellen’s COVID, Adam Newbold, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar: HOT LINKS

    2 days ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in