Oct 08, 2004  |  By: PATRICK GUERRIERO  | COMMENTS     

AT THIS HISTORIC time in the path to fairness and equality for gay and lesbian Americans, party loyalty must be matched with personal integrity. That is why Log Cabin Republicans decided last month to withhold endorsing President Bush’s re-election.

As loyal Republicans, it is difficult deciding not to endorse our party’s nominee. However our integrity requires it and the GOP’s future and the fight for fairness will be stronger because of it.

The push for a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage has been driven by politics, not principle. The U.S. House recently voted on the anti-family amendment even though it had no chance of passing and had already been defeated in the Senate.

Using the Constitution as a campaign tool and using gay families as a political wedge sets a new low for shameful campaigning.

We are proud that 27 House Republicans joined with Democrats to stop this discriminatory proposal. However, it was discouraging to hear amendment supporters use distortion and fear to make their case for intolerance and exclusion.

A DECISION NOT to endorse the president was especially difficult for Log Cabin because our members support the president’s leadership in cutting taxes to improve the economy and battling terrorists to make our nation safer. At the same time, it is impossible to overstate the depth of anger and disappointment caused by the president’s support for an anti-family constitutional amendment.

This amendment would not only ban gay marriage, it would also jeopardize civil unions and domestic partnerships. The president’s decision to support an unnecessary and discriminatory constitutional amendment ignores the party’s commitment to state autonomy and disregards the nation’s reliance on federalism.

Some Republicans will accuse us of being disloyal. However, it was actually the White House that has been disloyal to the 1 million gay and lesbian Americans who voted for Mr. Bush in 2000, including more than 50,000 in Florida alone.

IT DIDN’T HAVE to be this way. In 2000, Bush ran an inclusive campaign that appealed to social and fiscal conservatives, independents and gay conservatives.

The early days of the Bush administration saw significant victories for Log Cabin. The administration maintained existing anti-discrimination protections for federal employees, made openly gay appointments, continued thoughtful dialogue with Log Cabin, and extended survivor benefits to gays who lost loved ones on 9/11.

Even as we saw the GOP’s future highlighted with fair-minded primetime convention speakers, we saw the passage of an extremist party platform that opposes any basic protections for gay families. The incongruity between the platform and primetime speakers symbolizes a wider battle for the GOP’s heart and soul.

SOME ON THE LEFT SAY WE SHOULD surrender this battle and move to the Democratic Party.

History has taught us that the passage of civil rights legislation requires a coalition of fair-minded lawmakers from both political parties.

We still have work to do with too many Democrats, 36 of whom in the U.S. House voted to support the anti-family amendment. Too many Democratic-controlled state legislatures have passed anti-gay ballot questions this year.

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry supports efforts to write discrimination into the Massachusetts Constitution. Instead of attacking gay Republicans, who courageously stand up to intolerance in our party, those on the left might be better off getting more Democrats allied with the forces of fairness.

Log Cabin Republicans offer a hopeful vision for the GOP’s future built on a foundation of fairness. Republicans have a choice: be the party of Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger or the party of Alan Keyes and Rick Santorum.