National Rural Electric Cooperative Association hires 'class A bigot', Jo Ann Emerson of MO, as its CEO

John Aravosis of AmericaBlog is not amused. He writes:

The NRECA is trying to sell Jo Ann Emerson to the public as some kind of moderate!  A moderate what?
... NRECA is incredibly influential.  They should be held to the highest standards.
     And their member utilities are just that – public utilities with public charters.  So there’s a quasi-governmental quality to the organization.  And its leader believes in discriminating against a large segment of American society, which also include some of her own employees...
     The NRECA claims that “[t]he respect [Emerson] has from both sides of the aisle and her proven ability to bridge political and policy divides and find common ground will serve NRECA well.”  Respect?  Bridge political divides and find common ground?  Yeah, she did a great job finding common ground with the worst legislative gay-bashers in the US House of Representatives.  And you sure have to respect the tenacity it takes to be a class-A bigot.

Former US Rep. (R-MO) Jo Ann Emerson, who
will now represent the interests of her largest
campaign contributer in Washington

Here's the compendium Aravosis created of Emerson's homophobic activism from her HRC scorecard and her votes from “On the Issues“:

• Opposed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
• Voted against ENDA, legislation to ban job discrimination against gay and trans people.
• Voted yes on amending the US Constitution to ban gay marriage.
• Voted to ban gay parents in DC from adopting children.
• Opposed adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Hate Crimes bill.
• Supported the Foxx amendment to the 2012 Defense Appropriations Act that would require the military to continue discriminating against gay and lesbian service members.
• Supported the Huelskamp amendment to the 2012 Defense Appropriations Act to ban Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal training manuals.
• Supported yet another anti-gay, anti-DADT, pro-DOMA amendment to the 2013 DOD Appropriations Act by Rep. King.
• Supported a separate Huelskamp amendment to the FY2013 Commerce, Justice & Science Appropriations Act “to prohibit the Administration from using any federal funds to undermine or bring suit against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) or state constitutional amendments protecting traditional marriage.”
• Opposed legislation to “amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents the same immigration benefits that legal, different-sex spouses of U.S. permanent residents enjoy.”
• Opposed legislation “to provide spousal health-care, retirement, and other benefits to all federal civilian employees with qualifying same-sex domestic partners.”