Log Cabin Denies ENDA Deal

Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner spoke to Log Cabin head R. Clarke Cooper, who is denying claims that his group agreed to endorse Mitt Romney in return for a promise to support the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Cooper acknowledged that he "discussed legislative vehicles and executive actions with Romney regarding workplace non-discrimination, including ENDA." But he insisted the endorsement did not come in response to a Romney campaign pledge to sign ENDA — noting, "I did not say Romney would sign the current form of ENDA." He added that Log Cabin is "confident we could work with a President Romney and his administration to achieve desirable tangible outcomes on workplace nondiscrimination." ENDA is legislation that has been introduced in this and several recent sessions of Congress aimed at specifically outlawing workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Two thoughts. First, Log Cabin's endorsement of Romney would be somewhat (slightly!) more acceptable to most of us if there had been an ENDA deal. Second, it's entirely possible that Log Cabin's denial is meant to prevent blowback at Romney from the religious right and that some kind of agreement was actually made.