By Patrick Guerriero, executive director,
Log Cabin Republicans
At this historic time in the path to fairness and equality for gay and lesbian Americans, party loyalty must be matched with personal integrity. That is why Log Cabin Republicans decided last month to withhold its endorsement from President Bush in 2004. As loyal Republicans, it is difficult deciding not to endorse our party's nominee. However our integrity requires it and the GOP's future and the fight for fairness will be stronger because of it.
The push for an amendment has been driven by politics, not principle. The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted on the anti-family Constitutional amendment even though it had no chance of passing the House and had already been defeated in the Senate. Using the Constitution as a campaign tool and using gay families as a political wedge issue sets a new low for shameful campaigning. We are proud that 27 House Republicans joined with Democrats to stop this discriminatory proposal. However, it was discouraging to hear amendment supporters use distortion and fear to make their case for intolerance and exclusion.
A decision not to endorse the President was especially difficult for Log Cabin because our members support the President's leadership in cutting taxes to improve the economy and battling terrorists to make our nation safer. At the same time, it is impossible to overstate the depth of anger and disappointment caused by the President's support for an anti-family Constitutional amendment. This amendment would not only ban gay marriage, it would also jeopardize civil unions and domestic partnerships. The President's decision to support an unnecessary and discriminatory Constitutional amendment ignores the party's belief in state autonomy and disregards the nation's reliance on federalism. Using the Constitution as a campaign tool weakens our nation's founding document and erodes our Party's proud tradition of equality and liberty.
Some Republicans will accuse us of being disloyal. However, it was actually the White House who has been disloyal to the 1,000,000 gay and lesbian Americans who voted for Mr. Bush in 2000, including more than 50,000 in Florida alone. Log Cabin made its principled decision in response to the White House's calculated political decision to pursue a re-election strategy geared to the radical right. The President's use of the bully pulpit, campaign stump speeches, and radio addresses to support a Constitutional amendment has encouraged the passage of discriminatory laws and state constitutional amendments across America. Using gay and lesbian families as a political wedge issue is unacceptable.
It didn't have to be this way. In 2000, Mr. Bush ran an inclusive campaign that appealed to social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, independents and gay conservatives. The early days of the Bush Administration saw significant victories for Log Cabin. The Administration maintained existing anti-discrimination protections for federal employees, appointed openly gay employees throughout the Administration, continued thoughtful dialogue with Log Cabin, and extended survivor benefits to gay and lesbian partners who lost loved ones on 9/11.
Over the last year, Presidential advisor Karl Rove has been obsessed with his belief that four million evangelicals stayed home in 2000. As a result, the 2004 campaign has focused on energizing the far right, while ignoring mainstream Republicans and independents. This strategy may backfire.
The President's far-right re-election strategy has not only jeopardized the support of gay Americans, it risks alienating the centrist swing voters who will decide the election. The backlash from this socially extreme agenda will be felt with full force in the years ahead.
Even as we saw the GOP's future highlighted with fair-minded primetime convention speakers, we saw the passage of an extremist Party platform that opposes any basic protections for gay and lesbian families. The incongruity between the Party's platform and its list of primetime speakers symbolizes a wider battle for the GOP's heart and soul.
Some on the left say we should surrender this battle and move to the Democratic Party. This argument fails the test of history and common sense. Gay conservatives should not abandon their belief in limited government, low taxes, personal responsibility and a strong national defense. History has taught us that the passage of civil-rights legislation requires a coalition of fair-minded lawmakers from both political parties. We still have work to do with too many Democrats. Thirty-six Democratic members of the U.S. House voted to support the anti-family Federal Marriage Amendment. Plus, too many Democratic Senate and House candidates support the effort to write discrimination into the United States Constitution. Additionally, too many Democratic-controlled state legislatures have passed anti-gay ballot questions this year. Also, Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry supports efforts to write discrimination into the Massachusetts Constitution. Instead of attacking gay Republicans, who are courageously standing up to the voices of intolerance in our Party, those on the left might be better off using their energies to get more Democrats allied with the forces of fairness and equality.
The radical right is desperate because they are losing, so their rhetoric and threats grow louder. A clear majority of Americans support civil unions, even though many do not yet support civil marriage equality. Even among GOP convention delegates, nearly half favor civil unions or civil marriage equality according to a recent poll by The New York Times and CBS News. The vast majority of American voters are moving in our direction. That is why Log Cabin is warning our Party to avoid the path of defeat paved with intolerance and exclusion.
Log Cabin Republicans offer a hopeful vision for the Republican Party's future built on a foundation of freedom and fairness. Using fear and intolerance to divide America in a culture war may provide short-term political gain, but it will put the Republican Party on the wrong side of history. The Republican Party has a choice: be the party of Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger or be the party of Alan Keyes and Rick Santorum.
Log Cabin's mission is about more than one platform, one convention, one election, or even one President. We eventually will succeed in building a more inclusive Republican Party. Inside Madison Garden in New York during the recent GOP convention, countless delegates and Republican allies offered me their support for our efforts. These quiet voices of inclusion are getting louder. Soon they will create a chorus for change in the GOP. Log Cabin is proud to be leading this change.
