An Important Message About Nevada’s Extreme Anti-LGBTQ+ Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Sam Brown
Elections are coming up in November, and rights for LGBTQ+ people and democracy are on the table. Republican candidates across the country are a major threat to equality. That is Sam Brown in Nevada. Brown, who is running against Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen for a seat in the U.S. Senate, represents a very strong form of anti-LGBTQ+ feeling that is becoming more noticeable in the Republican Party, which supports “don’t say gay” laws and won’t protect marriage equality.
Brown’s time as president and chairman of the Nevada Faith and Freedom Coalition shows how deeply he is connected to the fight against LGBTQ+ people. The group has strongly opposed marriage equality and backed laws that allow discrimination against same-sex partners in the name of religious freedom. The Coalition said that when President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law in December 2022, they saw it as an attack on religious freedom, which Brown has also said.
Brown praised Florida’s “don’t say gay” law during his race for the Senate in 2022. He said it was needed to stop what he called “indoctrination” in schools. This kind of talk is similar to that of conservatives like Wayne Allyn Root, a right-wing media personality who has called for Nevada to pass similar laws. People who are against the law say that the requirements for parents to be notified mean that LGBTQ+ students have to tell their parents about their sexuality or gender identity, which some parents might not be okay with. Supporters of the law say that this policy could have terrible results.
After the Dobbs opinion got out, Brown was asked during a debate in 2022 if he was worried that same-sex marriage would be taken away after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Brown wouldn’t say if he thought same-sex marriage should be legal. He said instead, “This is an issue that I don’t think there’s any chance is overturned.” But the bigger question is: “Why does the government care about marriage in the first place?”
Brown had also been a part of groups that were against LGBTQ+ people in the past. Since moving to Nevada in 2019, he has been very involved with Calvary Chapel Reno-Sparks. The minister there, Phil McKay, has said that recognizing LGBTQ+ people is a form of idolatry.McKay says that when the government backs LGBTQ+ rights, it is “the kind of idolatry that destroys souls.” Brown has also spoken at Liberty Baptist Church and Las Vegas Calvary Church, both of which are known for having very anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. According to the Nevada Independent, Dave Teis, the head of Liberty Baptist Church, has said that being gay is a “filthy, horrible sin.” Before Brown spoke to the audience, Jimmy Morales, the pastor of Calvary Church, said that Pride Month was “destroying their souls and their lives for all eternity.”
Rosen, a Democrat backed by the Human Rights Campaign, on the other hand, has been a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.The Human Rights Campaign says she was very important in fighting against anti-LGBTQ+ changes to important funding laws and in making the Respect for Marriage Act a law. Rosen’s re-election is seen as very important for keeping a majority of senators who support equality in the U.S., especially since conservatives are trying hard to roll back rights for LGBTQ+ people. The ACLU is keeping an eye on almost 550 bills that Republicans across the country filed in 2024 that are against LGBTQ+ people.