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| A Los Angeles newspaper reported that California Rep. David Dreier
is gay. Dreier has a long history of voting against gay civil rights issues. His
staff has refused to comment on the report that the congressman is gay. (Photo
by Reed Saxon/AP) |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: LOU CHIBBARO JR.
COMMENTS
Two high level officials with the Republican National Committee acknowledged they
are gay after becoming the latest GOP targets in an outing campaign by D.C. gay
activist Michael Rogers.
Jay Banning, the RNC’s chief financial officer and director of administration,
and Daniel Gurley, the RNC’s national field director and deputy political
director, each confirmed they are gay in telephone conversations that Rogers
recorded last month and released to the media two weeks ago.
Rogers disclosed details of his conversations with Banning and Gurley, including
their acknowledgement that they are gay, on his Web site, Blogactive.com.
Gurley also discussed his and Banning’s sexual orientation in an interview
with the Blade, saying the outing by Rogers did not appear to have any negative
consequences for the two men in connection with their RNC jobs.
“The reaction with Jay, at least to my knowledge, has been the same as
it’s been with me,” Gurley said. “Everybody’s been completely
supportive of us.”
Rogers said he targeted to the two RNC officials after learning about them
from reliable sources who knew them, including sources within the Republican
Party.
“They are gay while they are working to oppress gay people,” said
Rogers, who has said his aim is to expose gay members of Congress and their
staffs, as well as others involved in politics, if it can be shown that their
actions harm gay rights advances.
He said Banning and Gurley were “guilty” of helping to advance
the RNC’s election year efforts to use gay Americans and gay civil rights
as a wedge issue. He pointed to a recent mailing the RNC sent to households
in West Virginia and Arkansas linking “liberal politicians” to efforts
to ban Bibles while allowing same-sex marriages.
Rogers also pointed to the platform the Republican Party adopted at its convention
in New York City in August. The platform, among other things, calls for a constitutional
ban on same-sex marriage, a continued prohibition against gays serving openly
in the military, and strong opposition to legislation prohibiting employment
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Spokespersons for the RNC did not return repeated calls seeking comment on
the outing of Banning and Gurley, who became the highest-ranking known gays
in either the Republican or Democratic parties.
Banning also did not return calls from the Blade.
Gurley told the Blade he disputed Rogers’ claim that he is causing harm
to gays but declined to discuss details about his job duties. He said that although
he doesn’t work directly in the RNC’s policy-making section, he
does work on efforts to help GOP congressional campaigns.
“I think it’s totally counterproductive,” Gurley said of
Rogers’ outing campaigns. “What he’s doing is making it more
difficult for people to help from the inside,” referring to closeted gays
working for Republican organizations or members of Congress.
Rogers’ outing campaign against Banning and Gurley came less than two
months after Rep. Edward Schrock (R-Va.) ended his re-election bid and announced
he was retiring from Congress following a series of Web site postings by Rogers
saying Schrock was gay.
In postings on his site, Rogers released audio recordings of a telephone message
Schrock allegedly left on a telephone sex line catering to gay men, in which
the man speaking sought other men for sexual encounters. Rogers has declined
to disclose how he obtained the recorded phone message.
In his two terms in the House, Schrock voted against the interests of gay civil
rights and AIDS-related causes in every case such issues arose, prompting the
Human Rights Campaign, the national gay political group, to give him a rating
of 0 out of a possible 100. Even after being outed, he voted two weeks ago in
favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to ban states from marrying gay couples.
Earlier this month, Rogers also posted information on his Web site targeting
Congressman David Dreier (R-Calif.). Dreier is a 12-term congressman and the
influential chair of the House Rules Committee.
Rogers’ postings about Dreier came one month after Dreier declined to
say if he was gay or straight when asked about his sexual orientation during
a radio interview at the Republican National Convention in New York City.
Gay journalist Michelangelo Signorile conducted the interview with Dreier on
the Sirius Satellite OutQ Radio network on Aug. 29.
Signorile raised ...
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