Gay
Republicans
considered
but
withdrew
plans
to
oust
D.C.
Republican
Party
chair
Betsy
Werronen
from
office
this
week
after
Werronen
expelled
gay
D.C.
Council
member
David
Catania
(R-At-Large)
as
a
delegate
to
the
Republican
National
Convention.
In
a
development
that
rocked
the
D.C.
Republican
Committee,
Werronen
on
May
27
refused
to
certify
Catania’s
election
at
a
Feb.
10
party
caucus
as
a
delegate
to
the
GOP
convention,
saying
his
refusal
to
support
President
Bush’s
re-election
disqualified
him
from
serving
as
a
delegate.
Catania,
who
had
raised
nearly
$80,000
for
the
Bush
campaign
earlier
this
year,
renounced
his
support
for
the
president
in
late
February
when
Bush
endorsed
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
same-sex
marriage.
Party
loyalists
received
another
shock
hours
after
Werronen
disclosed
her
action
against
Catania
when
Council
member
Carol
Schwartz
(R-At-Large)
resigned
as
a
delegate
to
the
GOP
convention
in
protest
over
Werronen’s
decision
to
bar
Catania.
This
week,
veteran
D.C.
gay
Republican
activist
Mark
Sibley
announced
he,
too,
had
resigned
as
a
delegate
to
the
GOP
convention.
In
a
June
2
letter,
Sibley
said
Werronen’s
decision
to
oust
Catania
from
the
delegation
violated
democratic
principles
by
usurping
the
will
of
D.C.
Republicans
who
voted
for
Catania
at
the
Feb.
10
caucus.
Werronen
said
she
based
her
decision
on
Catania’s
public
statements
harshly
criticizing
Bush
for
endorsing
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
same-sex
marriage
and
vowing
to
work
for
Bush’s
defeat
in
the
November
election.
“At
the
end
of
the
day,
for
us
to
certify
a
delegate
for
the
convention,
you
have
to
support
the
re-election
of
the
president,”
Werronen
said.
“That’s
why
you
are
there.”
Catania
said
Werronen
overstepped
her
authority.
He
said
party
rules
require
her
to
certify
duly
elected
delegates
as
long
as
they
are
pledged
to
vote
at
the
convention
to
nominate
Bush
as
the
Republican
Party
candidate
for
president
—
something
Catania
said
he
had
agreed
to
do.
According
to
Catania
and
other
members
of
the
D.C.
Republican
Committee,
from
which
Catania
resigned,
party
rules
don’t
require
delegates
to
back
the
party
nominee
in
the
November
election.
“What
she
has
done,
on
its
face,
is
to
hold
me
to
a
standard
different
from
everybody
else,”
Catania
said.
He
said
he
believes
he
could
win
a
legal
challenge
to
Werronen’s
action,
but
said
he
doesn’t
plan
to
contest
the
decision.
“I
resigned
today
because
I
don’t
have
the
time
or
the
energy
to
deal
with
this
drama,”
he
said
last
week.
Paul
Dionne,
one
of
12
openly
gay
members
of
the
80-member
DCRC,
said
he
contacted
between
15
to
20
members
of
the
GOP
panel
to
determine
whether
enough
support
existed
to
wage
a
recall
campaign
to
oust
Werronen
from
office.
“Most
people
did
not
favor
an
attempt
to
recall
Betsy
because
they
felt
it
would
cause
too
much
division
and
strife,”
Dionne
said.
“But
most
people
[contacted]
supported
doing
this
on
principle,”
he
said.
D.C.
gay
Republicans
considered
an
effort
to
oust
party
chair
Betsy
Werronen
after
she
decided
not
to
certify
D.C.
Council
member
David
Catania
as
a
delagate
to
the
national
party’s
nominating
convention.
(Photo
courtesy
of
D.C.
Republican
Party) |
Added
Dionne,
“We
no
longer
have
the
support
of
our
two
local
elected
officials.
So
what’s
the
point?
Why
do
we
exist?”
Werronen’s
term
as
chair
ends
in
January.
Gay
DCRC
member
Bob
Kabel,
a
longtime
leader
of
the
national
gay
group
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
has
said
he
planned
to
run
for
the
party
chair
post.
However,
Kabel
told
gay
Republican
activists
during
the
past
week
that
he
is
uncertain
about
running
following
the
flap
over
Catania’s
ouster
as
a
delegate
and
Schwartz’s
resignation
as
a
delegate.
D.C.
gay
Republicans
have
considered
Catania
one
of
the
leading
forces
behind
an
influx
in
membership
in
the
local
party
among
gay
Republicans,
who
have
been
credited
with
energizing
the
party
in
a
city
where
registered
Democrats
outnumber
Republicans
by
a
nine
to
one
margin.
Catania
had
been
a
loyal
supporter
of
Bush
up
until
the
time
the
president
declared
his
support
for
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment,
which
would
add
language
to
the
U.S.
Constitution
banning
same-sex
marriage
in
all
50
states
and
U.S.
territories.
Prior
to
Bush’s
decision
to
back
the
FMA,
Catania
raised
nearly
$80,000
for
the
Bush
re-election
campaign
and
planned
to
campaign
for
the
president
in
the
gay
community.
He
said
he
felt
betrayed
by
Bush’s
decision
to
support
a
constitutional
ban
on
same-sex
marriage,
saying
the
president
had
privately
told
him
and
his
domestic
partner
at
a
reception
at
Bush’s
Texas
ranch
that
he
respected
the
relationships
that
two
individuals
choose
to
enter.
In
public
statements
in
recent
weeks,
Catania
has
said
he
believes
Bush’s
support
for
the
FMA
was
a
calculated
ploy
to
gain
votes
from
fundamentalist
Christians
and
social
conservatives.
“I
am
denouncing
him,”
Catania
said
in
March.
“I
will
not
be
supporting
him.
I
will
be
working
to
defeat
him.”
Earlier
this
year,
Werronen
and
other
party
leaders
picked
Catania
and
other
local
gay
Republicans
to
run
on
an
uncontested
slate
of
delegates
and
alternate
delegates
to
the
Republican
Convention
in
New
York
City
in
late
August.
D.C.
Republicans
elected
the
slate
at
a
party
caucus
that
same
month.
Werronen
also
appointed
Catania
to
represent
the
D.C.
GOP
convention
delegation
on
the
party’s
national
platform
committee.
Longtime
gay
GOP
activist
Carl
Schmid
will
replace
David
Catania
as
a
delegate
to
the
party’s
national
convention
in
August. |
After
Bush
announced
his
support
for
the
FMA,
Catania
said
he
hoped
to
advocate
on
behalf
of
gay
civil
rights
and
urban
issues
at
platform
committee
hearings
and
at
the
convention
itself.
Werronen
said
she
would
...
