LGBT Republicans take out ad calling platform committee 'morons' for 'pray away the gay' policies

Log Cabin Republicans, the party's LGBT group, has taken out a full page advert in a US paper referring to the GOP platform committee as 'morons' and 'losers'.

The advert, which runs in the Cleveland edition of USA Today, calls the committee out-of-touch and says this is the most anti-LGBT platform the party has ever had.

It read: "LOSERS! MORONS! SAD! No, these aren't tweets from Donald Trump. This is what common-sense conservatives are saying about the most anti-LGBT platform the Republican Party has ever had. GOP Platform Committee: Out of touch, out of line, and out of step with 61% of young Republicans who favour same-sex marriage."

The group's message came in response to the platform committee's decision not to back gay marriage, to support 'traditional' homes in which children do not have same sex parents, and to back the rights of parents who want to force 'conversion' therapy on their LGBT children.

These are among the policies in the document that makes up the party's vision of the future – and the platform the party will run on at the upcoming election.

"Response from allies to our reaction in the wake of the drafting of this vitriolic anti-LGBT platform has been nothing short of staggering," Log Cabin Republicans president Gregory T. Angelo stated.

"The email sent to our members last week propelled Log Cabin Republicans to the top trend on Facebook for more than two days, and now holds the record as the highest-grossing single fundraising appeal this organisation has ever sent.

"But this was fundraising with a purpose—I'm pleased to share that every last cent donated to Log Cabin Republicans via last week's email has been spent on this project. This unprecedented support is representative of the GOP I know, and this is the GOP our members want to see."

Following the party platform committee's decision to back the anti-LGBT policies, less than a week before the Republican National Convention, the Log Cabin Republicans issued a call-to-arms to their members.

In a press release, they said: "Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of "pray the gay away" — it's all in there.

"This isn't my GOP, and I know it's not yours either. Heck, it's not even Donald Trump's! When given a chance to follow the lead of our presumptive presidential nominee and reach out to the LGBT community in the wake of the awful terrorist massacre in Orlando on the gay nightclub Pulse, the Platform Committee said NO.

"But now is not the time to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. Log Cabin Republicans has been officially credentialed for the Republican National Convention, and when it convenes in Cleveland in a mere 6 days' time I want to be able to take a stand, but we're going to need your support to do it."

The group asked members to donate and donate they did – enough to buy a full page advert lambasting the committee.