Wednesday, July 02, 2008

(Some) Gay Republicans Waking Up to Reality

At least some Gay Republicans are waking up to Reality: The GOP is NOT the party for gays and lesbians!

Former Gay Bush Supporters Unhappy With John McCain/GOP Some Are Supporting Obama!

Members of the “Austin 12,” the group of prominent gay Republicans who famously met with George W. Bush in 2000, are not exactly rallying around John McCain.

Several members of the group told the Blade this week that they are considering voting for Barack Obama in November, while others announced tepid support for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

In all, three said they either would vote for Obama or are seriously considering it; three are undecided between McCain and Obama; three are backing McCain and three others declined to comment.

The “Austin 12” gained notoriety after meeting with Bush in Austin in April 2000, when Bush was still governor of Texas and a candidate for president.

During the meeting, the “Austin 12” urged Bush to appoint open gays to federal offices, include an openly gay speaker at the 2000 Republican National Convention and maintain President Clinton’s executive order banning discrimination against gays in the federal workforce. Bush complied with each of those requests during his presidency.

But Bush’s record, most notably his endorsement of the Federal Marriage Amendment, has soured some members of the “Austin 12” so much that they refuse to support the Republican Party’s presidential choice, even though McCain voted against the FMA in the U.S. Senate.

David Greer, who was appointed to Bush’s AIDS advisory board in 2003, left the Republican Party that same year and has been a registered Democrat since then. He said gay Republicans would never be a strong enough voice to influence the GOP and that the party is more interested in exploiting gay Republicans for political gain.

“As long as there’s a far right in the party, gay Republicans are way too small in numbers … to have any effect on the party,” he said. “We actually end up doing greater and lasting harm to the whole GLBT community.”
----

That's right! It's time for the Log Cabin Republicans to STOP misleading gays and lesbians into supporting the GOP and their presidential candidates. Like George Bush, John McCain may talk to some of you, he may be nice to your faces, but he does not need your votes or your support. He needs to win over the anti-gay base of the Republican Party. That's what he is trying to do. He is meeting with anti-gay religious leaders and groups. He is promising them to appoint anti-gay judges. He is supporting anti-gay marriage amendments in Arizona and California. He opposes anti-gay discrimination legislation. He opposes allowing gays to serve in the military. John McCain is the ANTI-GAY candidate!

The LCR have been trying to "educate" the gay community about John McCain. They have LIED. They are so desperate to endorse the Republican presidential candidate, they will LIE. They have claimed that McCain is supportive of LGBT people because he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. Never mind that he not only supported but made TV ads for the Arizona anti-gay marriage amendment. John McCain not only opposes marriage equality, he opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Hate Crimes Legislation, and supports the military's anti-gay policies.

The LCR tried to mislead gay voters by claiming that McCain won the GOP primary by OPPOSING the religious right. Wrong. He pandered to them. He called anti-gay pastors (John Hagee and Rod Parsely) his "spirital advisors" and praised them. He embraced their anti-gay extremist views. He is going out of his way now to get their support.

So it is time for the Log Cabin Republicans to face the reality that the Republican Party is NOT a party that embraces gays and lesbians. It is not a party for progressives. It is not a party that embraces diversity. It is still and will be for the distant future, an extremist, neo-fascist party that is the base of anti-gay, racist and sexist bigots.

And I'm sick of hearing gay Republicans say they are not "single-issue" voters. As if equality and social justice are just "single-issue" politics. What about racism, sexism, peace, social justice and peace. Those are not "single issues".

The only reason for any gay person to support the Republican Party is because they support militarism, anti-labor, anti-environmental, sexist and racist policies.

Why would gay Republicans want to support the candidate of THESE PEOPLE ??

Christian Conservatives Uniting Behind McCain

Make no mistake, the Republican Party IS going to use gay marriage as a wedge issue to win the 2008 election!

1 comment:

Richard said...

Not all Republican candidates support militarism, anti-labor, anti-environmental, sexist and racist policies.

Take me, por ejemplo -- please.