FOR
MORE
THAN
a
decade,
gay
Republicans
ignored
imminent
warnings
of
dangerous
climate
change
in
the
GOP.
Signs
of
impending
doom
date
as
far
back
as
1992,
when
firebrand
Pat
Buchanan
declared
a
cultural
war
at
the
GOP
convention.
Would
it
take
something
dramatic
like
tidal
waves
submerging
the
upcoming
GOP
convention
in
New
York
for
gay
Republicans
to
see
the
dangerous
atmospheric
shifts
in
their
party?
Last
week,
the
great
cataclysmic
storm
finally
barreled
ashore
with
consequences
that
may
prove
to
be
“The
Day
After
Tomorrow”
for
gay
Republicans.
D.C.
Republican
Party
Chair
Betsy
Werronen
refused
to
certify
D.C.
Council
member
David
Catania’s
election
as
a
delegate
to
the
GOP
convention.
She
is
punishing
Catania,
the
openly
gay
at-large
Council
member,
because
he
said
he
might
not
vote
for
George
W.
Bush
after
the
president
announced
his
support
for
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
same-sex
marriage.
This
disaster
signifies
the
party
is
finally
over
for
gay
Republicans.
They
are
now
in
a
mess
so
big
Halliburton
couldn’t
even
clean
it
up
with
a
Dick
Cheney
no-bid
contract.
The
message
to
gay
Republicans
is
clear:
behave
or
face
banishment
from
the
GOP’s
mythical
“big
tent.”
Catania’s
Republican
credentials
are
flawless.
He
is
a
dutiful,
life-long
member
of
the
GOP
who
was
designated
a
“Maverick”:
a
prominent
title
bestowed
on
people
younger
than
40
who
raise
at
least
$50,000
for
the
Bush
campaign.
Nonetheless
he
was
branded
disloyal
and
blacklisted.
This
consummate
insider
suddenly
found
himself
locked
outside
on
the
back
porch
with
no
key.
The
fallout
was
swift
with
moderate
Republican
City
Council
member
Carol
Schwartz
courageously
resigning
as
a
delegate
to
the
GOP
convention.
We
can
expect
Catania’s
demise
to
snowball
and
cause
further
dejection
and
defections
among
other
fair-minded
Republicans.
IT
IS
NO
surprise
that
the
storm
hit
now.
Bush’s
political
mastermind
Karl
Rove
has
repeatedly
said
that
a
key
to
re-election
is
mobilizing
the
estimated
4
million
evangelical
voters
he
believed
stayed
home
in
2000.
To
woo
this
right-wing
base,
Rove
knows
he
has
to
stir
up
emotions
and
exploit
red
meat
wedge
issues
such
as
same-sex
marriage.
Catania’s
protests
got
in
the
way
of
this
election
strategy,
so
Catania
got
steamrolled.
While
Rove’s
strategy
has
an
upside,
it
is
also
risky.
First,
there
is
no
guarantee
that
those
supposed
4
million
evangelicals
who
allegedly
stayed
home
last
time
would
now
come
out
to
vote.
If
they
couldn’t
get
motivated
in
2000
to
vote
for
a
born
again,
anti-choice,
pro
sodomy
law
candidate,
what
makes
Rove
think
he
can
motivate
them
to
the
polls
now
to
vote
for
a
president
mired
in
Iraq
controversies?
Meanwhile,
in
2000
an
estimated
one
million
gay
people
voted
for
Bush.
These
are
proven
voters
who
will
likely
be
at
the
polls
in
November.
The
singular
goal
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans
should
be
to
persuade
all
one
million
gay
Bush
voters
to
cast
protest
votes
against
the
president.
LET’S
BE
HONEST.
If
Bush
wins
gay
Republicans
are
doomed.
The
political
establishment
will
interpret
victory
as
proof
that
gay
bashing
pays.
The
right
wing
will
take
credit
for
Bush’s
reelection
and
further
disenfranchisement
will
occur.
If
Bush
loses,
however,
it
may
be
construed
that
his
gay
bashing
and
embrace
of
the
extreme
right
boomeranged.
So,
the
only
way
gay
Republicans
can
get
an
invitation
back
into
the
party’s
mainstream
is
to
prove
that
gay
baiting
is
politically
ineffective
by
helping
to
send
Bush
back
to
Texas.
Unfortunately,
a
few
gay
Republican
leaders
are
still
in
denial.
For
example,
Carl
Schmid,
a
widely
respected
gay
GOP
activist,
has
said
he
will
replace
Catania
and
cast
his
ballot
for
Bush
at
the
New
York
convention.
He
justifies
this
by
saying
he
thinks,
“It’s
important
for
a
gay
person
to
be
there
and
to
speak
out.”
Schmid
is
well
intentioned,
but
he
should
ask
himself,
what’s
the
point
of
“speaking
out”
to
a
party
that
isn’t
listening?
In
a
sign
of
solidarity,
he
should
immediately
step
down
and
work
to
defeat
Bush.
The
bitter
Catania
episode
makes
it
crystal
clear
that
the
only
way
gay
Republicans
can
save
the
soul
of
the
GOP
is
to
temporarily
leave
the
party.
Today’s
storms
are
nothing
compared
to
the
ice
age
to
come
if
gay
Republicans
help
propel
Bush
to
victory
in
November.
