Dan Innis, a Republican former state senator and longtime activist in the LGBTQ community, says it’s well past time that his party formally recognizes gay marriage on an equal footing with marriage between a man and a woman.Innis, a Lee resident, was elected chair of the New Hampshire Log Cabin Republican on Thursday, succeeding Jim Morgan of Derry, who will remain a member of the board of directors.Innis is a professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Department of Hospitality Management and the former dean of the UNH Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. In 2014, he ran for the 1st District U.S. House seat, losing in a Republican primary to former U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta. He was elected to the state Senate in 2016 but was defeated two years later by the current senator, Democrat Tom Sherman. In an interview, Innis said the group under his leadership will continue its efforts to bring LGBT Granite Staters into the GOP. And the party platform change will help that effort, he said.Morgan, as chair, was a strong proponent of a move to have the state Republican Party drop from its platform its recognition of marriage as only being between one man and one woman.Morgan planned to propose a platform amendment to that effect at last year’s state party convention, but the proposal — and all proposed platform amendments — were put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the party to hold a virtual convention, rather than in-person.Innis, who is a member of the national Log Cabin Republicans board of directors, said he intends to continue in his new role to push for the change not only in the state GOP platform, but in the national party platform as well.Rather than proposing a platform amendment to proactively say that the party recognizes gay marriage, Innis, like Morgan, wants to drop the reference to marriage entirely.“That’s just the best way to go about it,” Innis said. “It’s time, and I think more Republicans are on board with that than ever before.”“That is the big one for us,” Innis said. “All we’re asking is that the relationships and partnerships and marriages we develop and are engaged in should be treated equally.”The state Democratic Party has specifically recognized marriage equality in its platform since 2010 and previously more generally called for the legal recognition of all marriages, a party spokesperson said.Innis said his advocacy for the change will come as he more broadly continues to work to attract LGBTQ Granite Staters to the Republican Party. He said the broad majority of Republicans are supportive of members of that community.“Certainly, things are a lot different than a decade ago,” Innis said. “We have made a lot of progress in the Republican Party.“We saw a record number of LGBT voters come over to the party, and our job is to build on that by helping our community understand that the values and principles of freedom and liberty that we espouse are really terrific for our community.“With liberty comes equality, and that’s what we’re all about,” Innis said.“We have hundreds of members in the state, and our objective is to grow our numbers.”Endorsements in party primaries Innis also said that the national and state Log Cabin Republicans will take a more active role in shaping the party’s national and state tickets in the 2022 midterm elections. He said that for the first time, the national Log Cabin Republicans board of directors will make endorsements in primary races across the country.“We will follow along with that,” Innis said. “We anticipate that in the midterm election, we will provide support for candidates who reflect our conservative principles and the principles of equality for everyone. We are going to play in primaries in New Hampshire.” Innis said he has seen “tremendous improvement in the way the LGBT community is treated in the party. “We have many LGBT people in the Republican Party in New Hampshire. We’ve made a lot of progress.”And, Innis said, the Democratic Party has monopoly on LGBT voters. “The Democratic Party is based on the politics of division,” Innis said. “They take the LGBT community for granted. And I believe they are concerned that we’ve made so much progress and that the voters are starting to see that the Republican Party in New Hampshire is open to the LGBT community. “Folks understand that you can be gay and conservative, and I don’t think that was the case 10 years ago.”
Dan Innis, a Republican former state senator and longtime activist in the LGBTQ community, says it’s well past time that his party formally recognizes gay marriage on an equal footing with marriage between a man and a woman.
Innis, a Lee resident, was elected chair of the New Hampshire Log Cabin Republican on Thursday, succeeding Jim Morgan of Derry, who will remain a member of the board of directors.
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Innis is a professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Department of Hospitality Management and the former dean of the UNH Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics.
In 2014, he ran for the 1st District U.S. House seat, losing in a Republican primary to former U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta. He was elected to the state Senate in 2016 but was defeated two years later by the current senator, Democrat Tom Sherman.
In an interview, Innis said the group under his leadership will continue its efforts to bring LGBT Granite Staters into the GOP. And the party platform change will help that effort, he said.
Morgan, as chair, was a strong proponent of a move to have the state Republican Party drop from its platform its recognition of marriage as only being between one man and one woman.
Morgan planned to propose a platform amendment to that effect at last year’s state party convention, but the proposal — and all proposed platform amendments — were put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the party to hold a virtual convention, rather than in-person.
Innis, who is a member of the national Log Cabin Republicans board of directors, said he intends to continue in his new role to push for the change not only in the state GOP platform, but in the national party platform as well.
Rather than proposing a platform amendment to proactively say that the party recognizes gay marriage, Innis, like Morgan, wants to drop the reference to marriage entirely.
“That’s just the best way to go about it,” Innis said. “It’s time, and I think more Republicans are on board with that than ever before.”
“That is the big one for us,” Innis said. “All we’re asking is that the relationships and partnerships and marriages we develop and are engaged in should be treated equally.”
The state Democratic Party has specifically recognized marriage equality in its platform since 2010 and previously more generally called for the legal recognition of all marriages, a party spokesperson said.
Innis said his advocacy for the change will come as he more broadly continues to work to attract LGBTQ Granite Staters to the Republican Party. He said the broad majority of Republicans are supportive of members of that community.
“Certainly, things are a lot different than a decade ago,” Innis said. “We have made a lot of progress in the Republican Party.
“We saw a record number of LGBT voters come over to the party, and our job is to build on that by helping our community understand that the values and principles of freedom and liberty that we espouse are really terrific for our community.
“With liberty comes equality, and that’s what we’re all about,” Innis said.
“We have hundreds of members in the state, and our objective is to grow our numbers.”
Endorsements in party primaries
Innis also said that the national and state Log Cabin Republicans will take a more active role in shaping the party’s national and state tickets in the 2022 midterm elections. He said that for the first time, the national Log Cabin Republicans board of directors will make endorsements in primary races across the country.
“We will follow along with that,” Innis said. “We anticipate that in the midterm election, we will provide support for candidates who reflect our conservative principles and the principles of equality for everyone. We are going to play in primaries in New Hampshire.”
Innis said he has seen “tremendous improvement in the way the LGBT community is treated in the party.
“We have many LGBT people in the Republican Party in New Hampshire. We’ve made a lot of progress.”
And, Innis said, the Democratic Party has monopoly on LGBT voters.
“The Democratic Party is based on the politics of division,” Innis said. “They take the LGBT community for granted. And I believe they are concerned that we’ve made so much progress and that the voters are starting to see that the Republican Party in New Hampshire is open to the LGBT community.
“Folks understand that you can be gay and conservative, and I don’t think that was the case 10 years ago.”
