Clinton receives endorsement from largest LGBT organization

Clinton also has an outsized number of endorsements from fellow politicians, far exceeding those supporting Sanders or Martin O’Malley, according to FiveThirtyEight.

They also argue that polls showing Sanders faring better in hypothetical matchups with Republicans are really a reflection of the GOP’s focus on Clinton as the Democrats’ eventual nominee – and that Sanders can’t withstand a full assault from the right.

There are more substantive critiques to be made too, like Human Rights Campaign’s decision 2012 to honor Goldman Sachs for “workplace equality” while quietly ignoring the vast societal wreckage the company wrought at home and around the world.

“It’s understandable and consistent with the establishment organizations voting for the establishment candidate, but it’s an endorsement that can not possibly be based on the facts and the record”, said Sanders campaign spokesperson Michael Briggs. As many news outlets have already noted, this is hardly an unexpected move and it is one that the Sanders campaign has already taken issue with.

Now Clinton can claim to have the official support of the LGBT community behind her and can start manufacturing “HRC” themed swag for her campaign.

While all three Democratic candidates (don’t forget Martin O’Malley!) may share the same current position on every single LGBT issue, recall that Clinton recently put out a lengthy, detailed agenda calling for the passage of all sorts of new laws and regulations; pretty much everything the HRC wants she is willing to push for. Sanders has long opposed anti-gay laws, signing a Gay Pride Day proclamation in 1983 when he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Sanders, who was in the House at the time, voted against the bill, and Clinton has since explained her husband’s support of DOMA as a “defensive measure”, and an effort to prevent even stricter anti-Gay legislation from passing.

The Human Rights Campaign says it will work to mobilize its 1.5 million members and supporters ahead of the general elections. HRC President Griffin, who began his career in the White House Press Office under President Bill Clinton, has voiced his personal support for Hillary. “I’m running for president to stand up for the fundamental rights of LGBT Americans”. The group sent questionnaires to each presidential candidate asking about their support for various issues the organization cares about. “As Secretary of State, she did more to advance LGBT equality as a pillar of US foreign policy than any other diplomat in history, giving a landmark speech to the United Nations declaring that ‘gay rights are human rights.’ She helped lead the United Nations to pass the first-ever U.N. resolution on the human rights of LGBT people, and created the Global Equality Fund to advance the rights of LGBT people around the globe”. Above, Sanders speaks at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016.