On Oct. 8, the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) released its Congressional Scorecard measuring support for LGBTQ equality in the 116th Congress.
Members of Congress were scored based on a range of key indicators of supportfrom votes in the House to pass pro-equality legislation like the Equality Act to votes in the Senate to confirm anti-LGBTQ Trump-Pence cabinet officials and judicial nominees, as well as co-sponsorships in both chambers on pieces of legislation that significantly impact LGBTQ people and their families.
For the 116th Congress, a record number of 228 members of Congress227 Democrats and one Independentearned perfect 100 scores. In comparison, zero Republicans earned perfect scores. There was an increase for the average score among House Democrats in comparison to the 115th Congress.
One of the more startling results involved the gaps between parties. For example, the average score for Democratic Representatives was 98.3; the average score for Republican Representatives was 4.2. For senators, the average scores for Democrats and Republicans were 96 and 1.6, respectively.
In Illinois, the U.S. senators ( Democrats Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin ) each scored 100. Regarding the state's 18 U.S. representatives, those who received perfect scores ( all Democrats ) included Bobby Rush, Robin Kelly, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Mike Quigley, Sean Casten, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Jan Schakowsky, Brad Schneider, Bill Foster and Cheri Bustos. Other Democrats surveyed included Daniel Lipinski ( 76 percent ), Danny Davis ( 97 ) and Lauren Underwood ( 97 ). Republicans on the Scorecard included Mike Bost ( 8 percent ), Rodney Davis ( 7 percent ), John Shimkus ( 0 percent ), Adam Kinzinger ( 11 percent ) and Darin LaHood ( 0 percent ).
See the full Scorecard at HRC.org/resources/congressional-scorecard .