GLAAD RESPONDS TO VOTE TO REMOVE REP. LIZ CHENEY FROM LEADERSHIP POST IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

“The truth should never be a partisan issue. Facts are facts, and the fact is that Congress must return to the people’s business fighting COVID-19, passing laws to ensure fair ballot access for all Americans, and sending the Equality Act to the President’s desk. Misinformation is a disease decaying our democracy. GLAAD is urgently calling on Congress to speak out for truth and safety, to insist social media companies stop the spread of misinformation, and truly put Americans’ needs first.”

New York, NY – May 12, 2021 – GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is responding to the House Republican Conference vote today to remove Rep. Liz Cheney as chair of the conference. Cheney had refused to endorse the lie that President Trump did not legitimately lose the 2020 election, and had voted to impeach him for inciting the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th that killed five people.

Cheney reportedly warned the conference not to “let the former president drag us backward” and that if the party wanted a leader to “enable and spread his destructive lies” they should vote to remove her.

Donald Trump made more than 30,500 false or misleading claims throughout his presidency, according to a count by the Washington Post, the majority in his final year in office. He made more than 800 false or misleading claims about election fraud in the months after November 3rd, including 107 lies about the election in his speech inspiring supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6th.

Statement from Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO:

“The truth should never be a partisan issue. Facts are facts, and the fact is that Congress must return to the people’s business fighting COVID-19, passing laws to ensure fair ballot access for all Americans, and sending the Equality Act to the President’s desk. Misinformation is a disease decaying our democracy. GLAAD is urgently calling on Congress to speak out for truth and safety, to insist social media companies stop the spread of misinformation, and truly put Americans’ needs first.”

GLAAD released its inaugural Social Media Safety Index this week, noting anti-LGBTQ hate speech and misinformation on social media platforms as a “public health and safety issue.”

64% of LGBTQ respondents to an Anti-Defamation League study reported experiencing online hate and harassment.

GLAAD tracked more than 200 attacks against LGBTQ people throughout the former president’s administration in its Trump Accountability Project, including the former president’s tweets to ban transgender Americans from military service. The Biden administration reversed the policy to allow open service effective April 30, 2021.

GLAAD helped lead the effort to permanently ban President Trump from social media platforms, renewing the call last week after Facebook’s Oversight Board recommended continuing his suspension from Facebook and Instagram for another six months.

Cheney and nine other House Republicans voted to impeach President Trump for a second time. 200 of her GOP colleagues voted to acquit.

GLAAD research shows the anti-LGBTQ records of U.S. senators who voted to object to the Electoral College counts showing the former president lost the 2020 election, votes taken hours after the deadly assault. Five of the senators went on to prioritize targeting transgender students in the first days of the new term. The five are Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Sen. Tuberville also introduced a failed amendment into the COVID-19 relief package seeking to ban transgender students from participating in school sports. All but one Republican senator voted for the bill.