By Richard J. Rosendall

First published in Bay Windows, October 9, 2008

All the talk of mavericks during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate started me humming the theme from The Magnificent Seven. There they are, a ragtag bunch of rugged loners in a wild country. Will they learn to work together in time to save the beleaguered townsfolk from the marauding villains? Hey, wait a minute — they ARE the marauding villains.

Maybe I just have movies on my mind, since Washington’s gay film fest starts next week; but the McCain campaign increasingly feels like a movie in which the director is desperately trying to make us suspend our disbelief and buy the Republican nominee as the guy to fix the wreckage wrought by the Republican incumbent over the past several years.

Barney Frank is having none of it. The congressman from Massachusetts pounds a simple point he has made for years regarding the gay dimension in politics: that the far better record of Democrats on gay rights points to a partisan conclusion.

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By Alex Blaze
Cross-posted at Bilerico

Patrick Sammon has an article up in the Washington Blade about why John McCain is good for LGBT people. I kid you not – even though he lied to The Advocate and said that LCR is focused first on LGBT rights in the Republican Party, he turns around and writes a column telling LGBT to vote for John McCain.

His reasons are hilarious, absolutely hilarious. But then he knows that he’s coming from an intellectually dishonest position in order to get new donors from the 23% of the LGBT community that voted for Bush in 2004 when LCR didn’t endorse him and that he has to push for a sub-par candidate.

His reasons and a few responses are after the jump.

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By Joan Garry
Cross-posted at Huffington Post

I thought the Log Cabin Republicans would withhold their endorsement of John McCain. Maybe I just hoped they would. After all, they withheld their endorsement of President Bush in 2004. So I thought it was possible.

In making its endorsement today, the group pointed to the Arizona senator’s opposition to a federal constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being a man and a woman. The group also indicated that it had honest disagreements with Senator McCain on the subject of same sex marriage. The Log Cabin gang has traveled to St. Paul to carry the message that Republicans are on the “wrong side of history” when it comes to the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Where to start?

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By Michael Crawford

Despite the spin being put on John McCain’s anti-gay record by Log Cabin Republicans, there is ample evidence that McCain is no “maverick” on LGBT equality. As an example check out this ad from 2006 promoting an anti-gay constitutional amendment in in Arizona:

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By Elizabeth Birch

In a move as mind-numbing as it is bizarre, the Log Cabin Republicans (LCRs) today endorsed Senator John McCain for President. It happened at their “Big Tent” event in Minnesota. By doing so, they have put the GOP well ahead of their mission. By its tortured analysis only, the LCRs have made clear they would rather support the GOP’s choice for President, than deliver a truthful, rigorous analysis of McCain’s actual LGBT record to their members.

It is laudable that Senator McCain voted against amending the U.S. Constitution to curtail individual rights (for the first time in its 17 amendment history, except prohibition) and to enshrine discrimination into that document. But that is an extremely low bar. And, it is the only basis for the endorsement. But McCain is also against literally every other major goal held by the vast majority of LGBT Americans. (See policy analysis at LGBTforObama.com.) The LCRs say he paid a political price for his votes to preserve the Constitution. What price was that exactly: being selected as the Republican nominee for President?

Most annoying is the way the LCRs plant (as a kind of exclamation mark) statements such as the following at the end of their endorsement announcements:

“I expect Sen. McCain will receive strong support from gay and lesbian Americans,” said (Executive Director Patrick) Sammon. “LGBT people are not single-issue voters. Gay rights issues are a critical part of the equation, but so are many other issues impacting our daily lives—foreign policy, the economy, jobs, energy policy, health care reform, and taxes.”

So who needs the Log Cabin Republicans? Presumably the LCRs are there to evaluate a Republican candidate’s gay record, not his or her record on foreign policy, the economy, jobs, energy policy, health care reform, and taxes. Any voter can go to a variety of sources to get information on those policy positions. Indeed, the central purpose of the LCRs should be to deliver a detailed and honest analysis on where a candidate — especially for the top job in the world — stands on LGBT issues. They have failed miserably in this case.

And, by desperately wanting to be part of the Big Tent, they have folded their own.

Elizabeth is former Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign and a longtime LGBT activist.

By Michael Crawford

The Republicans has released its 2008 GOP Party Platform and let’s just say they don’t love The Gays.

Here are a couple of the anti-gay highlights:

On the Military:

Personnel policies

The all-volunteer force has been a success. We oppose reinstituting the draft, whether directly or through compulsory national service. We support the advancement of women in the military and their exemption from ground combat units. Military priorities and mission must determine personnel policies. Esprit and cohesion are necessary for military effectiveness and success on the battlefield. To protect our servicemen and women and ensure that America’s Armed Forces remain the best in the world, we affirm the timelessness of those values, the benefits of traditional military culture, and the incompatibility of homosexuality with military service.

(emphasis added)

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By Juan Ahonen-Jover, Ph.D.
Ken Ahonen-Jover, M.D.
Founders, eQualityGiving

Cross-posted at Bilerico

Open Letter to Log Cabin Republicans

First, congratulations on your upcoming convention and the historic choice of Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) now faces the important decision of endorsing, or not, the McCain-Palin ticket.

We applaud that LCR supports all Equality Goals, including marriage. We also applaud that in 2004 they had the good judgment not to endorse George W. Bush.

But should LCR endorse the McCain-Palin ticket? See after the jump.

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By Pam Spaulding
Cross-posted at Pam’s House Blend

I’m still reeling by the Log Cabin Republicans hearty approval of lightweight fundie Sarah Palin. Isn’t this supposed to be a group that believes government should get out of the lives of taxpayers? So far, the only folks jumping for joy are not fiscal conservatives, but the wingnut fringe who want to peep into your womb and bedroom. Here are some more, from Bob Unruh at WND’s, “Does chick mate spell checkmate for McCain?” –

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By Rod McCullom
Cross-posted at Rod 2.0 Beta

Denial is more than a river in Egypt. During the same week Michelle Obama, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton speak out for gay rights at the Democratic National Convention, a draft emerges of the new, anti-gay platorm of the Republican Party. Oh, and the capital gains tax-lovin’ homocons at the Log Cabin dismiss the platform as "symbolic." Priceless. The Associated Press reports:

The platform draft calls for constitutional bans on abortion and gay marriage, two steps McCain does not support.

It would put the party on record as accepting that economic activity contributes to global warming, in line with McCain’s views.

But the platform is loaded with caveats about the uncertainty of science and the need to "resist no-growth radicalism" in taking on climate change. …

Sharp divisions still exist in the party on social issues, but there appeared to be little taste for complicating McCain’s chances by mounting a symbolic platform fight as the document is hashed out in Minneapolis. "This isn’t a hill we’re going to die on," said Scott Tucker, a spokesman for the gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans.

Log Cabinette Tucker continues his denials over at Blog Cabin. You know, the same blog that never reported its off-the-record "backdoor" diplomacy with John McCain. Tucker’s revisionism is quaint. "Yes, the GOP party platform again includes anti-gay things that it shouldn’t," Tucker says. "As we said in this Associated Press article, the party platform isn’t the hill we’re going to die on. Party platforms are largely symbolic. That doesn’t mean that they don’t matter at all. They do. But sometimes you have to pick your battles."

Here is some straight talk for Scott Tucker, the Log Cabin Republicans and other gay McCain groupies: The Reopublican presidential nominee is just not that into you. What "battles" will you fight? McCain supports the marriage bans in California and Arizona and opposes pro-gay legislation such as ENDA or expanding hate crime definitions. The Log Cabinettes are quick to remind us that McCain opposes a federal amendment but he sure did campaign for the Arizona marriage amendment that ultimately failed. These are not “symbolic” gestures, these are positions and legislation that affects millions of gay men, lesbians and transgenders. Barack Obama opposes state and federal marriage amendments and supports increased rights for our community. ‘Nuff said.

At least we know the Republican Party’s position on "gay rights".

By Michael Crawford

Just yesterday Terry Bean wrote a fantastic post calling the Log Cabin Republicans out for considering an endorsement of John McCain even though McCain has one of the most anti-LGBT records in the Senate. Now comes word that the draft 2008 GOP Platform is calling for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The GOP platform co-chairmen, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy and North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, told AP on Monday they wanted the party principles to be about the actual party. And in the past, Burr said, “there was a lot of Washington-speak.”

Despite the stylistic change, familiar divisions are back as Republicans debate the principles over two days and strive for a united front behind McCain. That means bridging some differences, detouring around others.

The platform draft calls for constitutional bans on abortion and gay marriage, two steps McCain does not support.

Okay, so McCain supposedly does not support a federal constitutional ban on marriage, but he has come out in favor of the anti-gay state level amendments that will be on the ballot in Arizona, California and Florida. That for me is enough of a reason to oppose him as the president of a country that includes some 25 million LGBT people.

I admit that our friends at Log Cabin Republicans are in a serious bind. Their party’s nominee has opposed LGBT civil rights at every turn while Barack Obama has issued the strongest LGBT platform of any presidential nominee from a major party.

I feel bad for them. I really do.

But, the leaders of LCR have a very clear choice to make: they can either stand with the Republican Party even as it continues its assault against LGBT Americans or they can stand with their LGBT brothers and sisters who are fighting every day to live their lives openly and honestly and free from anti-LGBT discrimination.