As I reading Peggy Noonan’s reflection on the past ten years, I wondered if the explanation she offered for the failure (and/or disappointing performance) of many institutions in that era could also apply to one whose decline accelerated in the “aughts,” all but collapsing in the year just concluded:

Maybe the most worrying trend the past 10 years can be found in this phrase: “They forgot the mission.” So many great American institutions—institutions that every day help hold us together—acted as if they had forgotten their mission, forgotten what they were about, what their role and purpose was, what they existed to do. You, as you read, can probably think of an institution that has forgotten its reason for being. Maybe it’s the one you’re part of.

The problem with Log Cabin, however, was that its leaders never really seemed to develop a mission beyond their own advancement.  Or so it often seemed to those of us Republicans who happen to be gay.  If they had a mission, they didn’t do the greatest job of communicating it.

As did many institutions about which Peggy writes in her essay.  Their leaders, like those of the Catholic Church, “forgot they were servants of a great institution, and came to think the great church existed to meet their needs.”

One leader of Log Cabin departed to take a job with a left-wing group which had generously supported the organization during his tenure, causing one to wonder if he adopted its agenda while at the helm of the supposedly Republican organization not merely because of their financial support but also in order to further his own career.

Food for thought.  And perhaps future blog posts.

In Log Cabin’s latest missive, they do the right thing in defending Vice President Cheney against attempts by a left-wing radio host to misrepresent his records, but use the wrong terms, telling us that that good man spoke out on “equality issues” while Vice President. He did no such thing. He merely registered his opposition to a constitutional amendment defining marriage then-President Bush backed.

Earlier this month, Log Cabin issued a release, calling for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and dubbing that interventionist legislation “pro-business.”

ENDA”s not pro-business, it’s anti-competition. It’s just an excuse to expand the scope of the federal government, a solution in search of a problem.   Indeed, in his organization’s very release touting ENDA, Log Cabin Republicans Spokesperson Charles T. Moran shows us what it’s unnecessary:

ENDA is reflective of policies already in place by the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies in America, as well as supported by many small-businesses which form the backbone of the American economy.

Why do we need the federal government to tell businesses to do what they’ve already been doing volunarily?  Even during the supposedly dread (for gays) Bush era, an increasing number of private corporations enacted non-discrimination clauses, without pressure from the federal government. In 2008, 472 (94.4%) Fortune 500 had adopted such policies, up from 323 (64.6%) in 2003.

Most corporate executives recognize that in order to be competitive, they need an inclusive workforce.  Why should the government force all companies to do what many have already done, reducing the competitive advantage of companies that have sought to make employment in their workplace more attractive to gay men and lesbians?

Those businesses, small as well as large have enacted non-discrimination policies (as well as those offering benefits to same-sex partners of their employees), because they know it’s good for business.  They didn’t do so because of a mandate from the federal government, but because they have learned responding to changing social conditions is good for business.

Let’s let businesses determine how to respond to the increasing social acceptance of gay men and lesbian.  They’ve been doing a great job so far.

Trying to dress up ENDA as “pro-business,” Log Cabin’s leaders betray a limited understanding of the free market.  This legislation works to the disadvantage of companies which have already reached out to gay and lesbian employees and clientele.

RELATED: The Hullabaloo over Microsoft.

*Just one example, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has joined a number of left-wing outfits in Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), a George Soros-supported “coalition” pushing for passage of Obamacare.

GOProud Applauds Introduction of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Bill
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) lead co-sponsor in the Senate
and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) lead co-sponsor in the House.

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the bipartisan Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations (DPBO) bill will be introduced in both the House and Senate. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is the lead co-sponsor in the Senate and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is the lead co-sponsor in the House.

“GOProud applauds the bipartisan, bicameral introduction of the DPBO bill,” said Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud. “GOProud strongly supports this common sense legislation.”

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) join Collins and Ros-Lehtinen as original co-sponsors.

“Passage of the DPBO bill would make retirement benefits, healthcare benefits and life insurance benefits available to domestic partners,” continued LaSalvia.

“As conservatives, we believe that the federal government should take its cues from the successful practices of private enterprise. With more than half of Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits, it is clear that the time has come for the federal government to do the same.”

“GOProud looks forward to building conservative support for the passage of this legislation,” said LaSalvia.

Major kudos to Senator Collins and Rep. Ros-Lehtinen — she is one of my favorite Members of the US House, I might add.

And I would also note that it seems to me (and I am certainly biased as the Treasurer) that GOProud is doing a lot more to advance gay conservative causes in the past few weeks than Log Cabin Republicans did for the past few years.

I’m just sayin’.

There is a LOT more to come.  Thanks to Jimmy & Chris, GOProud is on Capitol Hill talking with leading GOP lawmakers on a regular basis.  It is a great time.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I’ve always believed that one way to determine the strength of an organization is to see how its leaders react to sincere criticism honestly expressed.

It now appears I was wrong about the organization rebounding under Patrick’s leadership.  I don’t think he’s to blame for its continuing decline.  It was beyond his power–or perhaps anyone’s–to arrest the forces long since in motion which have been driving Log Cabin down.

When I was a Log Cabin club president, I kept hearing from gay Republicans who wanted a gay group to challenge the liberal agenda and anti-Republican rhetoric of the national gay organizations.  The national office rarely did that, if at all.  Indeed, while eager to take on his fellow Republicans, Sammon’s predecessor Patrick Guerriero

. . . dedicated himself to stopping “the infighting with other LGBT groups.”  So concerned he is with this goal that he “instituted a new policy inside Log Cabin: If you speak ill of another LGBT group, that is grounds for dismissal.”

In short, the organization did its best to avoid distinguishing itself from the national gay groups, particularly HRC, which even some liberal bloggers have noted, has become little more than a gay front for the Democratic National Committee.

That failure to offer a different approach to gay issues cost it the support of numerous gay and lesbian Republicans who would otherwise readily support a gay conservative or Republican organization.  That failure become magnified when we learned that the group got substantial funding from a leading left-wing philanthropist.  Its credibility was shot.

There are other reasons for the decline.  Until Sammon took over, the national leadership had developed quite a flair for antagonizing activists and contributors who dared voice their opposition to this or that policy of the national office or posed a threat (in the eyes of the national office) to the standing of the-then Executive Director or President.

In the 1990s, an acquaintance of mine, who had given the organization well over $15,000, left the national board because they continually rebuffed his requests to be less antagonistic to the GOP.  Another friend, a man widely respected in D.C. and national gay circles, stopped working for the group after they constantly pushed him aside and had lambasted him for speaking on a national panel on gay issues.  The organizers of the event had not included a representative of the national office.

When I read that former Virginia Congressman Tom Davis who once served as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), is addressing the Log Cabin National Convention tonight, I was reminded of a slight the Log Cabin Republican Club of Northern Virginia (LCRC NoVA) endured when I was its president.

You see, through a strategy* developed by leaders and members of our club, we succeeded in getting Davis to speak to our January 1999 meeting.  He had then been newly elected as NRCC chair.  It was the first time a member of the Republican congressional leadership had addressed a gay group.  The event drew a reporter from the Journal newspapers of Northern Virginia (but interestingly not the Washington Blade).

The Journal ran an article on our meeting.  Since leaders of the various social conservative groups read that paper, they found out and became very upset, wanting Davis to apologize for attending.  He refused.  The story made the Washington Post and the Advocate, gave Log Cabin national some free publicity.  Never once did the national office thank our club.  Indeed, when contacted by the press, the national office even made out that it was their event, despite the fact that not a single representative of national Log Cabin joined us to hear Davis speak.

Instead of praising us for our efforts and our success, they ignored us.  When, upon moving to LA and attending a local Log Cabin function in 2000, I told a member of the national board that after the presidential election, the group would need new leadership. I put forward the name of a member of LCRC NoVA who had been instrumental in getting Davis to speak to us.

The board member said he’d heard bad things about that guy from the national office.  Why, I wondered, would they trash someone so key to the success of one of their largest (and then-fasting growing) chapters.  When I had stepped down as president of Northern Virginia Log Cabin, he stepped up as a Vice-President of the group.  They were thus trashing one of their grassroots leaders!

The national office turned potential allies into adversaries. They hadn’t learned from LBJ on how to treat someone who might pose a threat to your power, “It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”

With each contributor who ideas they brushed aside, with each club leader whom they insulted over the years, the national office pushed people willing to contribute to the organization outside their tent.  No longer helping build the organization, they were not criticizing it.

Had Patrick Sammon’s predecessors been more like he, those allies turned adversaries might have been less public in their criticism, choosing to relay their concerns through private channels.  But, instead, those critics became a critical mass and I would daresay are providing much of the backing to GOProud.

There are a great variety of reason for the decline of Log Cabin, but the two which stand out to me are (1) the failure to distinguish themselves from the national gay groups and (2) the disrespect shown to internal critics of the organization.

——-

*This post is already longer than anticipated, but if readers are interested in learning the details of this strategy, let me know and I’ll devote a post to it.

I have a sense turnout is way down.  The only news I’ve been able to find on the web is the report that former McCain consultant Steve Schmidt gave a speech there saying he backed gay marriage.

At the San Diego convention last year, a presidential election year (when interest in politics tend to peak), turnout was down from the convention I had attended ten years previously in Dallas.  The organization didn’t seem to be growing, but contracting.

With the report in February that Log Cabin got most of the funds it used for ads slamming fellow Republicans from left-wing fund-raiser Tim Gill, the ostensibly Republican organization lost any credibility among gay conservatives and within Republican circles it had gained during the tenure of immediate past president Patrick Sammon.

Now with the launch of GOProud, Log Cabin is not longer the only group for gay Republicans around.  We have an alternative.

If you have any news from the convention, let me know and I’ll post it here.

Former Log Cabin Republicans President and founder of the National office, Rich Tafel, responded over the weekend to my request for a comment on last week’s news.  I asked Rich his thoughts on the Washington Blade article that suggested a close financial relationship between Log Cabin Republicans and left-wing gay activist Tim Gill.

Here is Rich’s response, unedited:

1. It’s not journalism when the whole story is built on anonymous quotes.
2. If you are on the board of an organization and you feel a need to say that stuff have the courage and integrity to say it publicly, don’t hide behind anonymity.
3. If you don’t like Tim Gill writing checks, write one or raise it.

As you can tell, I’m more disappointed at the cowardly behavior of the person who spoke to the Blade if they even did it.

Only when they go on the record could I respond, because I have no idea what was true.

GP Ed. Note: I believe it is fair to also apply Rich’s criticism to my original reporting last Friday which further detailed the financial connections between Gill and Log Cabin. I fully accept the criticism of my use of an anonymous sources, and understand the frustration with it.  I believe the information was too important to report and I was confident in my source based on a long association I have had with him.  But I take the criticism and I have to accept it for now.

That being said, I do not have the resources of the Washington Blade –  nor the time as blogging is a part-time “hobby”.  So I would share Rich’s frustration that a professional journalism organization bases its entire story on anonymous sourcing.  The New York Times, in fact, has been doing that a lot lately too.  I think professional news organizations should be held to a higher standard if they truly are “reporting”.   That may sound hypocritical, but so be it.  It is how I feel.

I will continue to follow the Tim Gill-Log Cabin connection and will report relevant updates that are important and backed up to my satisfaction.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

In the wake of the Washington Blade story yesterday suggesting strong ties between Log Cabin Republicans and left-wing liberal activist Tim Gill, I was contacted by a long-time Log Cabin insider.  He is aware of my long-time hunt to connect the money trail between Gill & the “gay Republican” organization. 

This individual has been a source for many of my Log Cabin-related postings since 2004 and continues to have unprecedented access to the affairs, both past and present, of the national gay Republican organization.  I shall refer to my source as “Lance”, in order to protect his identity.

Lance confirmed the Log Cabin financial dependency on Tim Gill raised in the Washington Blade story.  He personally witnessed money being exchanged between Log Cabin’s National Office and Tim Gill’s political organization in Colorado:

I can tell you that [in early 2004],  I personally saw transfers and checks for $350,000 from Gill Action to LCR.  

Lance also confirms suspicions that I have made repeatedly here at GP.org, that the anti-Bush TV ads in 2004 run by Log Cabin were significantly financed by Tim Gill’s money.

Some was sent in and went directly out to the TV stations the other money went to pay the bills and staff. 

(Yeah, I feel like saying “I told you so”… but I won’t.)  Sometimes you do live long enough to see yourself vindicated!

Lance also raises questions about the past financial dealings at Log Cabin in 2004-05:

Bill Davenport [another donor] was in for about another $100k (now he won’t give anything) but other monies were sent to a “new” account opened in Virginia — there was at least one of those.  Craig Engle, the counsel for Log Cabin at the time, was determined to hide the flow and never knew I had been aware [of the other account]. 

I am sure well over HALF the LCR budget came from Gill that year (2004) and the next.  Including many, many more funds that went to Liberty Education Forum [a Log Cabin affiliated group]. 

The troubles at Log Cabin have only just begun, according to Lance.  And they involve former LCR President Patrick Guerriero’s expenses, which I questioned last year:

The melt down over the board is another hurricane brewing.  Someone, not sure who, finally looked at the Patrick Guerriero expense logs and it is a real goat f**k.  Including billing Log Cabin for a trip to Iowa that he (PG) submitted identical billing to the school that invited him to speak!

WHEW.  I appreciate Lance’s candor and courage.  Shouldn’t someone — besides those trying to cover each other’s asses on the Log Cabin board – investigate these allegations since LCR is a membership-driven organization.

Oh, did I mention that Log Cabin Republicans and the Gill Action Fund are both 501(c)(4), non-profit, tax-exempt organizations under the IRS code?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

The story would lead their web-pages and dominate evening newscasts.

Scaife has already taken enough grief just for funding major conservative think tanks and periodicals, but here he’d have been caught playing the kind of dirty tricks that helped Richard Nixon earn the enmity of the news media.

So, what did my google news search yield when I typed in the name of a liberal philanthropist, Tim Gill and Log Cabin, an ostensibly Republican organization, to which said philanthropist had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, in large part, to run ads targeting leading Republicans?

I got two hits–and only one to an article referencing the matter–and here’s all it said, “TIm Gill rules the world, and, apparently, the Log Cabin Republicans.“  To be sure, Politico’s blogger Ben Smith also picked up the story, but rather than highlight that Democrat’s dirty tricks suggested the philanthropist’s largesse was a sign the GOP was unwelcoming to gays.

The amount of money that the Gill Action Fund has contributed to the Log Cabin Republicans — about one-third of its total budget in some years — is raising questions about Democratic influence over the GOP organization and its search for a new president.

Tim Gill, founder and chair of Gill Action, is widely known for funding the campaigns of pro-gay politicians, many of them Democrats. He’s a wealthy entrepreneur and founder of Quark who has donated tens of thousands of dollars to various Democratic causes and candidates, including to the campaigns of Sens. John Kerry, John Edwards and Chris Dodd, as well as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Gill is viewed as publicity shy, but made a rare public appearance at last year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver where he lives.

Now we’ve taken our hits for criticizing the organization.  But, our criticism has been largely muted since Patrick Sammon has taken over.  That outgoing Log Cabin President has shown an understanding for conservatives ideas, a commitment to Republican candidates and respect for right-of-center gay bloggers.

Now, we’ve got what is quite possibly the most responsible gay news source in the country looking into Log Cabin’s Democratic ties.

More on this as we learn more.

UPDATE:  If this following is true, it is truly damning:

The sources also said a controversial TV commercial that Log Cabin aired targeting anti-gay former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2007 before the Iowa caucuses was written and funded by Gill Action, but executed through Log Cabin to ensure the GOP organization’s name was attached to it.

That would mean an organization run by Democrats used an ostensibly Republican organization to attack a Republican presidential candidate. Talk about political dirty tricks!

As you may remember, I took Log Cabin to task for running those ads:

Log Cabin Launches Another TV Ad Campaign Attacking a Republican

Log Cabin & Romney: Media Success, but Political Failure

Romney’s Withdrawal/Log Cabin’s Absence of Class

UP-UPDATE: Ben Smith at Politico has an interesting take on this story saying it’s a “sign of how hard it is for gay Republicans to survive in the” GOP. I disagree. If Patrick Guerriero’s Log Cabin had not so readily trashed the party during the Bush era, the organization might more readily have found funding forthcoming from gay and other Republicans.

Smith needs to recall how before Sammon took over, Log Cabin bent over backwards to please the left-leaning gay groups, often at the cost of alienating even their own rank-and-file.

It seems there is more going on behind the scenes as well.  One of my very reliable LCR Board insiders tells me a shocking fact:  “Log Cabin is over $150,000 in debt.” 

And nearly the only source of income to Log Cabin lately is from none other than the Gay Left’s version of George Soros:  the infamous Tim Gill.   We have tracked Gill’s ties to Soros and Log Cabin extensively over the years here at GayPatriot.

So with Log Cabin leaderless and in serious debt…. is Tim Gill poised to take over the organization for good and move the “Gay Republican” organization permanently to the Gay Radical Left?

Only time will tell.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

After five years at this organization and more than two years leading Log Cabin, I am ready to tackle new challenges. I’ll be doing documentary filmmaking, which is what I did before joining Log Cabin’s staff. . . . I told Log Cabin’s national board earlier this year I would be moving on after the election. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and I know Log Cabin is well positioned to impact the GOP’s future direction.

I agree with Log Cabin National Board Chairman Pete Kingma who, in thanking Patrick “for the excellent job he has done” cited the outgoing leader’s “communication ability and political skills.”

Of the three heads of Log Cabin, Patrick was by far the most approachable. He returned calls and e-mails regularly and listened to his critics in stark contrast to the two previous executives of the organization. He recognized that those who criticized the organization were not his (or the organization’s enemies).  In short, he listened.

And more than those two individuals, he made clear his partisan affiliation and his support for the broad principles of the Republican Party. He truly sought a place for the gays within the GOP.

More than anything, I will appreciate his kindness and good nature. The National Board is going to have a tough time filling his shoes.

Only after I had sent out the e-mail did it occur to me that a year previously, I would not even considered recommending Log Cabin for such an event.  What a change Patrick’s leadership has brought to the organization.  To be sure, we have not always agreed with some of their actions, faulting them for running ads against Mitt Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But, since John McCain wrapped up the Republican nomination, they, as loyal Republicans should, reached out to the campaign and worked to support the party’s nominee, voting earlier this month to endorse him.

It’s not just this endorsement which put the organization in a better light.  It’s also Patrick Sammon’s attitude to Log Cabin’s gay conservative critics.  As I’ve said before, in contrast to his predecessors, Sammon listens to his opposing views, taking our criticism seriously.“

In his public statements, he has shown a greater readiness to defend our party than have either of his two predecessors.  (To be fair to his immediate predecessor, Patrick Guerriero, I only heard him address one public gathering (the 2005 Log Cabin Convention) and have been present to hear Sammon and the group’s first executive director on numerous occasions).

In St. Paul, at Log Cabin’s Big Tent Luncheon, Sammon said he was “never going to be silent when the subject turns to politics” and intended to make clear “how much we care about this party and how much we care about this nation.”  Not only that, echoing Ronald Reagan, he said intended to fight for the notion that government is not the solution to every problem.

That speech was the most forceful defense of basic Republican principles I had ever heard from a Log Cabin leader.  If this keeps up, we might have to remove the parentheses from the word “Republican” in our category devoted to Log Cabin.

I met so many good people, spent time with a number of old friends and finally got to experience a national convention something I have wanted to do for decades.

When I wasn’t watching the various speeches on the floor, I spent the week attending gay luncheons and social gatherings as well as hanging out with right-of-center bloggers.  I was delighted to be on the same side as the Log Cabin folks this time and pleased to finally meeting so many bloggers whom, as I noted before, I had only known as pixels on a screen.

One guest at Tuesday’s luncheon where Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon announced the McCain endorsement remarked later how enthusiastically I had applauded.  I replied I wanted to show my support of that decision.  I strive to be honest when evaluating Log Cabin, criticizing them when they are too harsh in criticizing Republicans Republicans or too soft in distancing themselves from the left-leaning gay groups.  Or when they too readily embrace the statist policies of those groups.

I’d rather be praising them, particularly because their new leadership has shown a greater readiness to engage their gay conservative critics.   It’s not just President Patrick Sammon.  Communications Director Scott Tucker, Vice President John Sinovic and Director of Programs & Policy Jimmy la Salvia have all shown a willingness to listen even when we take issue with their statements and policies.

It was not always easy to present myself to others as a gay blogger so that I could better gauge the participants’ reaction to a gay Republican in their midst (as I had hoped to do when I set off for St. Paul).  When I did, no one expressed any open hostility.  But, there were times when it was awkward to try to insert my sexuality into a conversation without seeming like I was advertising my difference.

When I spoke to a number of prominent Republicans who showed up for interviews at Pajamas TV, I couldn’t always readily raise the issue.  For example when participating in a conversation which included former Senator George Allen (R-VA), I mentioned the name of the blog; the Virginian seemed to raise an eyebrow, but said nothing.

I did identify the blog name when I introduced myself to every blogger I met, including some social conservatives (and self-identified evangelical Christians).  All were courteous, respectful.  Not a single one said anything offensive or which could be remotely construed as anti-gay.  Each continued the conversation.  Nearly all of them had heard of GayPatriot.

I am really going to miss these people.  Almost every blogger I met, particularly those associated with Pajamas, was intelligent, engaging, each offering an unique perspective.  Clearly, these guys and gals think for themselves and are as capable conversationalists as they are bloggers.  When I was around them, I felt like I was right where I belonged.  I’m really going to miss them, but at least I’ll have their blogs to read.

And that is some comfort. More than just some.

UPDATE: From the comments. Albert Schwartz writes: “For hyphenated Americans, Gay-Americans, African-Americans, Irish-Americans, etc., which party you support seems to depend on which side of the hyphen you place the emphasis.“

Schmidt mentioned his sister and her partner and encouraged us to “keep fighting.”

“You are an important part of our party . . . the party of freedom.”

Perhaps, Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon had briefed Schmidt that everyone here was raving about Sarah Palin’s speech last night. Calling the recent media attacks on the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, “unlike anything I had ever seen,” he labelled her speech, “one of the great speeches in the history of political conventions.”

I don’t think he’ll find any disagreement from GayPatriot readers.

He said he expected a backlash would occur. He concluded observing, that he earlier in the campaign he didn’t think McCain campaign would be in as “great shape” as it is now. He told us to stay tuned for some polls coming out this afternoon “that will be showing the race is even.”

That Schmidt showed up today puts truth to the lie we hear all too often from our critics that gay people aren’t welcome in the GOP. This is truly a Big Tent party, with the McCain Campaign reaching out to gay Republicans as well as evangelicals.

UPDATE:  The Advocate picked this up as well.

I told him I thought the endorsement was huge, particularly given the group’s failure to back the GOP presidential nominee four years ago.

This endorsement also shows that gay Republicans are united behind our party’s nominee. Indeed, in my experience both as a leader in Log Cabin and a gay Republican blogger, I have observed two basic types of gay Republicans, one the more vocal, the other more representative of the broad swath of gay conservatives.

The former, I would call “gay rights’” Republicans, many of whom want the GOP to take a stand on gay issues. Log Cabin does a good job of representing these guys.  Some of them may have pinched their nose and voted for Bush four years ago, but they were reluctant to support him publicly.

The other, the category in which I count myself, I would define merely as Republicans who happen to be gay. Basically libertarian, we’re content to have the party focus on its core conservative principles and just want the state to live alone.  We don’t believe we need gay-specific policies.  We supported Bush four years–and were willing to say so publicly.  We didn’t think he was perfect, but generally supported his record, particularly on national security issues.

We contend, indeed as the evidence shows, private institutions will adapt to respond to social changes without government prodding. Even during the supposedly anti-gay Bush Administration, things have improved for gay people with more states recognizing same-sex unions, more corporations offering domestic partnership benefits and adopting non-discrimination policies and great social acceptance of gay people. Simply put, we can live more openly today than we could ten years ago.

All that said, the important thing is that both groups of gay Republicans are united behind the GOP ticket this year. That’s why this endorsement is huge. Let’s hope more news outlets than Yahoo! take note.

The MSM just loves stories of a divided GOP.

Note how they were all over the story of Log Cabin running ads against Mitt Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire early in this presidential campaign.

Well, today while observing the festivities, chatting with fellow bloggers and scanning the news and blog, I found that Yahoo! for about two hours (as of this writing) led with the story of Log Cabin’s endorsement, “Gay Republicans endorse McCain.”

Never seen a story with Log Cabin backing GOP get such prominent coverage.

The article, while generally fair, was not without bias:

Being openly gay is not easy in a party with a strong base of evangelical Christians who read the Bible as the literal word of God and believe there are biblical sanctions against homosexuality.

Um, how would they know that?

It’s a lot easier being an openly gay person in the GOP than being an openly Republican gay person in West Hollywood.

Taking a quick break now that I’ve found wireless at St. Paul’s downtown University Club to report that that Log Cabin’s Big Tent Luncheon here, organization president Patrick Sammon announced that the group has endorsed John McCain for president of the United States.

Recall that Log Cabin made a big stink about not endorsing Bush four years ago.

I’ll have more in a bit and will offer some thoughts on the meaning of this endorsement.

UPDATE: Now that luncheon has concluded, I have finally have time to blog. This big news and not just because it shows that a group not always behind the GOP nominee is backing him this year. It’s also an interesting story for this blog. Indeed, our blog enjoys its prominence in large part because we were the first gay web-site to take issue with Log Cabin on its endorsement.

Indeed, I may not be blogging were it not for Bruce’s post on the issue. I e-mailed him praising him for saying something that I–and a lot of other gay Republicans–believed. We may not have approved of the president’s decision to back the Federal Marriage Amendment, but given his opponent’s wishy-washy record on national security issues, we thought the choice was clear and that Log Cabin should stand behind the president.

Today, as I rushed out to blog this news, I passed Chris Barron, Log Cabin’s political director four years ago, a man with whom Bruce and I often locked horns in the first months of this blog. I smiled, shook his hand, patted him on the back, noted the irony of being in the room with him as the group announced its endorsement and said, “I’m glad we’re on the same side this year.”

With a smile, he expressed his agreement.

Click below the jump to read excerpts of Patrick’s statement, a copy of which he handed to me in the room where we have internet access.

Those of us gathered here this week for the Republican National Convention are honored for this opportunity–an opportunity to participate in the political process, to share our stories with our fellow Republicans, and, to do everything we can to ENSURE John McCain BECOMES THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

On the most important issue that LGBT Americans faced in the last decade–the federal marriage amendment–Send. John McCain stood with us. Now we stand with him.

He is an inclusive Republican who is focusing the GOP on unifying our party around the core principles that bring our nation together. In recent years, too many Republicans have used divisive social issues in an effort to win elections. Sen. McCain is a different kind of Repubilcan.

He understands that we lost our majority in Congress in 2006 because we lose sight of core conservative issues and instead focused on divisive social issues.

. . . .

Our party is about to nominate a man who is going to put our party back on track. We are going to nominate a man who understands the crucial challenges our country faces . . . . I am so glad we have a nominee who is focused on the issues that unite us as Republicans–and the issues that are going to unite this country and bring the RIGHT change of change to our nation.

I am pleased to announce that Log Cabin’s national board voted last night to formally endorse John McCain for President of the United States and Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President of the United States.

While Ann Althouse finds in yesterday’s Supreme Court Heller decision overturning the District of Columbia’s handgun ban a victory for women’s righsts (via Instapundit) as the overturned law banned certain guns which are easier for women to use, I see it as significant advance for gay rights victory .

Indeed, I believe this decision is the best ruling for gays in many years, perhaps even more significant than Lawrence v. Texas, the decision overturning sodomy laws. Few states enforced those laws whereas many jurisdictions enforce gun bans. Both these pro-gay rights’ rulings were handed down on June 26, Heller this year, Lawrence in 2003. Given that day’s proximity to the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we can celebrate all three events during Pride month.

With this ruling, gay people will have greater and more ready access to handguns and so be better able to defend ourselves against gay-bashers. With such a victory for gay rights, I thought I’d check the sites of the various gay organizations to see how they’re celebrating, acknowledging how the constitutional freedom enshrined in the Second Amendment benefits us. Nothing on the websites of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) or the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

Silence on such an important victory for gay rights?!?!?

Log Cabin, however, devoted the better part of its homepage to a press release heralding the ruling. At least one gay group gets it. (Note to self: renew Log Cabin membership.) Organization President Patrick Sammon understands how this decision benefits gays:

Unfortunately, too many LGBT Americans still face the threat of anti-gay violence. . . We’re happy the Supreme Court has affirmed the right for us to protect ourselves and our families from harm. Self defense is not a privilege, it’s a right.

Exactly.

Tammy Bruce celebrated the decision on her blog, calling it “good news,” but warning that the 5-4 decision “is far too close for anyone’s comfort.” (Make sure to check out this piece where she builds on her celebration — and her warning.)

In my posts on gun control (here and here), I have set out why Patrick and Tammy are right, that this decision is indedd a cause for celebration.

Dale Carpenter, another gay person who likes the Heller result, has two great pieces on the decision at the Volokh Conspiracy, offering his initial impressions here and commenting on the prospects for originalism in the wake of this ruling here.

I have read a number of insightful blog posts and articles on the decision, but wanted to single out two: Randy Barnett’s Wall Street Journal piece on how the Constitution means what it Says and Glenn Reynold’s New York Post editorial where, like Tammy and I, he expressed delight about the decision but concern about the margin.

The margin may indeed be too close for comfort, but this is a significant victory for gay rights, making it easier for us to protect ourselves in our own communities, a victory indeed for all Americans.

UPDATE: My friend Rick Sincere reminds me that Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty (GLIL) and Pink Pistols, submitted a friend of the court brief on behalf of Heller and the Second Amendment. They understand how overturning the ban benefits gays.

A source with close ties to the Log Cabin Board of Directors provided information about the meeting to GayPatriot earlier this week.  This source disclosed that the Log Cabin meeting was not reflected on Senator McCain’s published schedule in advance and the meeting.  A second source familiar with the Log Cabin-McCain meeting reports that Senator McCain has routine personal meetings that are not shown on the Senator’s public schedule.  

The specific timeframe of the Sammon-McCain meeting is not completely clear, but appears to have taken place within the past couple weeks or so.

Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon confirmed the meeting with Senator McCain in email correspondence with GayPatriot earlier today:

“We’ve had a series of productive meetings with the campaign since Sen. McCain won the nomination—including a recent meeting with the Senator.  We expect to have more conversations with the campaign as we head toward November.” — Patrick Sammon, Log Cabin Republicans President — June 25, 2008

Based on published news reports, the meeting with Senator McCain would be the first between any national-level gay Republicans and a Republican Presidental nominee since “The Texas 12″ met with then-Governor George W. Bush in 2000.  Since his first election to the White House, President Bush has never met with anyone representing Log Cabin Republicans or any other American gay organizations.

Again, according to published news reports the Sammon-McCain meeting would be the first face-to-face dialogue between a Republican Presidential standardbearer and the President of the national Log Cabin Republicans organization since the check-refund controversy between LCR and the Dole Campaign in 1995.

There will be more details on this story to follow….

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

California GOP:  The Queer Enablers of Gay Marriage – Patrick Range McDonald & Michael Fleischer

For two weeks [October 1991], queer Angelenos rebelled against a Republican governor [Pete Wilson] they believed had double-crossed them. But two months earlier, on July 29, 1991, Wilson made a crucial decision for the historic advancement of gay rights, something no one could have foreseen: He appointed Judge Ronald M. George to the California State Supreme Court. Nearly 17 years later, the moderate Republican jurist would become a national gay hero.

Last Thursday, it was George’s carefully written majority opinion that legalized same-sex marriage in California. By nightfall, at the same West Hollywood intersection where a dummy of Pete Wilson went up in flames, gay activists stood on a stage and publicly lauded the judge as “courageous.” Speaker after speaker also praised another Republican, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for promising to “fight” against a November ballot measure that could still outlaw gay marriage in the Golden State.

<….>

Powerful Republicans, through happenstance and well-orchestrated public policy, were leading the charge for the legalization and defense of same-sex marriage in California. It was something state Democrats, the seemingly natural allies of the gay-rights movement, could never completely pull off.

You KNOW you want to read the whole thing now, don’t you!   Read it, READ IT! 

Bottom line for those popping champagne at the California court decision — in order to be true to reality, you must clink your glasses in honor of two Republican Governors — Wilson and Schwarzenegger.

Delicious, no?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)