Pacific Views

We're here. We're queer. Why are we Republicans?

Given Dubya's endorsement today of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, we got to wondering about all those conservative gay men and lesbians who voted Republican in the 2000 presidential election. How do they feel about the prez now?

We wandered over to the website for the Log Cabin Republicans, the major organization of gay/lesbians in the GOP. While there's nothing posted yet about Dubya's announcement earlier today, the Log Cabin Republicans are already pissed off about the proposed amendment:

“Log Cabin will fight the Federal Marriage Amendment all across this county, state by state, if we must. We will use our political resources to stop anyone from writing discrimination into our Constitution,” said Log Cabin Political Director Mark Mead.

“We are disappointed that some Republicans leaders have abandoned the conservative principles on which this party was built. Liberty, equality and Federalism form the bedrock of Republican values. Some in our party have turned away from these principles to satisfy the radical right. Simply put, this is politics over principle,” added [Executive Director Patrick] Guerriero.

Pandering to the radical right will alienate the centrist, fair-minded swing voters who will ultimately decide the winner of what promises to be a close Presidential election. The President’s re-election campaign should be centered on fighting terrorism, cutting taxes and jump-starting the economy. Now, following the same failed path of 1992, we hear the echoes of Pat Buchanan that helped lead to the defeat of the first President Bush.

“Log Cabin’s mission is bigger than any one person, one election or one issue. We will not abandon our conservative principles, even as others toss their principles aside for short-term political gain,” concluded Guerriero.

No matter what happens in the coming months, Log Cabin will stay in the GOP and fight---fight for fairness, liberty and equality. We will be a strong presence in New York at the GOP’s 2004 convention. We will mobilize all our resources and grass roots strength to fight an anti-family Constitutional amendment. [11 Feb 2004]

We have heard that as many as one million gay votes went to Dubya in 2000. (Does anyone have a source for that figure?) We wonder how many of those people will vote for him again this time around — and how many of the Log Cabin Republicans will have the stomach to stick with the GOP.