HRC Reconsiders Stance on Gay Rights

The Harvard Republican Club (HRC) considered but did not vote on a proposal that called for the group to withhold support for the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) at its first meeting of the year last night.

Two general board members, Joshua A. Barro ’05 and Annie M. Lewis ’07, said they drafted the proposal—tabled until next week’s meeting—to prevent a major division between members who generally agree on other issues.

“The club should not risk alienating a substantial portion of its membership by taking a stand either for or against the FMA,” Barro and Lewis wrote in their proposal, which they sent in an e-mail to the GOP open-list on Monday.

HRC officers and members declined comment yesterday, and Barro said he could not comment on what occured at last night’s meeting.

The club is officially in favor of the amendment banning same-sex marriages, Barro said, because its constitution states that the HRC will support the federal Republican platform unless the board decides differently.

Barro and Lewis wrote in their proposal that if the HRC keeps its current stance against same-sex marriages, the club would recreate a division that it saw last semester among students who share a larger common goal to support the Republican party.

Last June, HRC spokeswoman Lauren K. Truesdell ’06 sparked controversy within the club when she declared the club’s support for a ban on gay marriage. Truesdell declined comment yesterday.

“HRC does not usually make such statements,” said Barro, who is one of three openly gay members of HRC’s general board. “It was a very unusual circumstance.”

A Crimson poll conducted last December revealed that nearly half of students who would vote Republican in a hypothetical Congressional election said they supported the court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriages.

“We don’t have a consensus [on the issue],” Lewis said. “We’re evenly split.”

Barro emphasized that the proposal aims to ensure that the club welcomes both moderate and conservative Republicans.

In the past decade, two groups—one for moderate Republicans and one for conservatives—merged to form the present-day HRC.

“The [proposal] is a step toward focusing on the issues that unite the club like ensuring funding parity for religious groups and supporting the president,” Barro said.

But acceptance of Barro and Lewis’ proposal depends only on the vote of seven executive board members next week.

Neither Barro nor Lewis is eligible to vote, but Lewis said prior to last night’s meeting that she was feeling optimistic.

“We wouldn’t have proposed it if we thought it was an impossibility,” Lewis said.

—Staff writer Monica M. Clark can be reached at mclark@fas.harvard.edu.