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| Emily’s List CEO Joe Solmonese is scheduled to take over as head of the Human Rights Campaign on April 11. Solmonese, who is gay, has worked exclusively for Democratic groups and candidates during his political career. (Photo courtesy HRC)
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Human Rights Campaign
1640 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-628-4160
www.hrc.org
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: LOU CHIBBARO JR. COMMENTS
 
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on gay rights issues.
“It’s important to remember that Joe has a very strong record of electing progressives in the heartland, in red states and in blue states,” said Fisher, the HRC communications director.
In an interview with the Blade, Solmonese said his first action upon starting work at HRC in April would be to begin a nationwide tour to promote HRC’s agenda on a wide range of issues, including same-sex marriage.
Asked if the HRC board placed any restrictions on his actions over gay marriage, in the wake of claims that a dispute over that issue played a role in Jacques’ departure, Solmonese replied by discussing his own vision for the group.
“I have a pretty strong sense of where I’d like us to go,” he said. “And first and foremost, I want to be out across America, reintroducing ourselves to Americans and having a conversation across the country about why our equality is important to us, but as important, why our equality ought to be important to them. That is what I see as my first challenge and the first charge that I take as I take on this role.”
Last year, Solmonese defended Emily’s List over the gay marriage issue when that group endorsed a pro-choice U.S. Senate candidate who backed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The candidate, Democrat Inez Tenenbaum of South Carolina, received more than $300,000 in contributions from Emily’s List in her race against Republican Jim DeMint, who defeated Tenenbaum in November.
Solmonese told the Blade during the campaign that the Emily’s List mission is to back candidates who are pro-choice, and that issue had to take priority over gay marriage. Solmonese argued that Tenenbaum would have been far better on gay rights than DeMint, despite her support for a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Now, Solmonese said his mission is the same as HRC’s. HRC announced last year that it would not endorse any candidate that supported or voted for a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
He said he also would have no problem switching from his role as Democratic partisan at Emily’s List to HRC’s role as a bipartisan group.
“We will not win in Congress, we will not win in states across the country if we see these things as partisan issues,” he said, in discussing HRC’s gay civil rights initiatives. “A key to getting done what we need to do is to make sure there is absolutely no partisan boundaries in this work.”
Solmonese said his ties to HRC d
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