Nancy L. Cohen explains the importance of the recent launch of a new lesbian PAC.

A new Lesbian PAC (LPAC) opened for business last week with the goal of having impact on the 2012 election. Why does it matter?

Mitt Romney is petrified that the anti-woman and anti-gay extremists who’ve hijacked the GOP are going to burst out of the closet—just like they did this winter during the birth control panic and slutgate—and further undermine his chance at becoming the 45th President of the United States.

Lesbian PAC (LPAC) will play an important part in smoking them out. And I for one cannot wait to see what they can do.

Lesbians are uniquely positioned to connect the dots on issues critical to their lives.

They know that Republicans tried to block the Violence Against Women Act because it included protections for LGBT Americans. They know Planned Parenthood provides essential health care for all American women, regardless of their sexual orientation. They know lesbian households are hit doubly hard by the fact that women on average earn 23% less than men doing the same work.

LPAC is on the lookout for lesbian candidates—like Tammy Baldwin—but promises to support men and women regardless of sexual orientation or party who support women’s and gay rights. They’re also committed to entering the fray on ballot initiatives. However, they’re not expecting they’ll find any Republicans that can support this cycle.

As reported by Amanda Terkel at the Huffington Post:

When asked if she believed any Republicans would be included in this group, [LPAC spokeswoman Sarah] Schmidt said she was doubtful. “Part of the reason why we’re mobilizing right now is because of what’s been going on in the political conversation and what we’ve been hearing coming from the Republican Party around these issues that’s been so disheartening,” Schmidt said. “We would really hope that we can find some Republican candidates to support. I’m not sure that’s going to happen this cycle.”

And how about this for timing? Family Research Council Action (a renowned anti-gay organization) has joined forces with The Heritage Foundation to launch a Values Bus Tour in support of Romney, featuring women’s groups who oppose equal pay laws, oppose the Violence Against Women Act, and want to give employers power over women’s health care decisions. They have the audacity to say Obama is the one waging a war against women.

I’m looking forward to LPAC teaching them a lesson about real American values.

Nancy L. Cohen is an author, historian, teacher, activist, civic leader, and political commentator who is recognized as one of the leading voices in the debate currently raging on women and women’s issues in American politics. Her recently published book Delirium: The Politics of Sex in America has won widespread acclaim. She also wrote a highly regarded book about American liberalism during the rise of corporate capitalism, The Reconstruction of American Liberalism, and in 2009, she published a social history of the 1990s.

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