Donald Trump’s latest pick for a senior position at the State Department is the former President of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of prominently pro LGBT activists dedicated to promoting LGBT values and interests. The Log Cabin Republicans exist (in their own words) to encourage the GOP to “choose fairness over discrimination, hope over fear, and freedom over oppression.”
The White House announced President Donald Trump’s decision to appoint R. Clarke Cooper to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs last Thursday. The press release has more details on Mr. Cooper:
Mr. Cooper currently serves as the Director of Intelligence Planning for Joint Special Operations Command’s Joint Inter-Agency Task Force – National Capital Region. A combat veteran, Mr. Cooper’s active duty assignments include tours with United States Africa Command, Special Operations Command Africa, Joint Special Operations Task Force Trans-Sahara, and Special Operations Command Central.
His background in intergovernmental affairs, foreign policy, counter-terrorism, and rule of law is coupled with his extensive operational experience. Mr. Cooper’s civilian and military postings include security cooperation and capacity building in Africa, the Levant, and the Middle East. He served in the Department of State as United States Alternate Representative to the United Nations Security Council and as the United States Delegate to United Nations Budget Committee from 2007 to 2009, Senior Advisor in Near Eastern Affairs Bureau from 2006 to 2007, and Advisor at United States Embassy-Baghdad from 2005 to 2006.
What the announcement did not mention is Cooper’s involvement with the Log Cabin Republicans. In 2010, Cooper became Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans. He is quoted on CNN as saying that “being conservative and being gay are not mutually exclusive.”
In 2013, Cooper was also a signatory to an amicus brief filed for Hollingsworth v. Perry arguing that gay marriage is a fundamental right.
The Washington Blade reports that “Under Cooper’s tenure at Log Cabin, the organization oversaw a lawsuit challenging “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and assisted with legislative effort to convince Republicans to vote to repeal the military’s gay ban.”
Cooper at one time wrote a regular political column for the Washington Times in which he promoted his LGBT ideologies. In his latest article for the column written in 2013, he claimed that the Boy Scouts of America had “lost their moral compass” for excluding gays. He also wrote that promoting the gay agenda was fighting for freedom, and that nothing could be more conservative or American. He talks about challenging the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the military, saying:
That is why when Log Cabin Republicans met with Senators and Members of Congress to discuss repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute, I talked about the freedom to serve. Today, when I advocate for the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, I talk about a transgender woman’s freedom to work. And yes, when I make the case for same-sex couples having the ability to legally take responsibility for each other, I talk about the freedom to marry. Gay agenda?
No. I’m still fighting for the freedom agenda, and nothing could be more conservative – or more American.
In January of 2018, President Trump congratulated the Log Cabin Republicans on their 40th anniversary.
