An article in today’s New York Times says that as more Republican gays come out, overt gay bashing is on the outs in the GOP.
The muted reaction reflects not only changing values in the country generally, but also, more notably, among many Republicans and conservatives.
The center of gravity of the conservative movement in this election season is with fiscal conservatives. The Tea Party is infusing the Republican Party with new energy, and Tea Party leaders and supporters say they do not want to talk about social issues: even if they do not personally support same-sex marriage or abortion, they think the Republican Party spent too much time talking about them and not enough time trying to rein in spending.
Truth Wins Out was one of the first organizations to recognize that a tipping point has occurred. As early as May I wrote:
The war over gay rights in America and other modern nations has been largely won. Too many people have come out of the closet and will never go back in for the clock to be turned back.
Most of these out individuals have loyal friends and family members who offer unequivocal love and unqualified support. We have reached a tipping point where LGBT people are even coming out in traditionally conservative bastions where the issue has long been seen as taboo.
This huge shift in society is why we are holding our noses and welcoming people like Ken Mehlman (after his redemption tour), in hopes that thousands of other Closet Kens will come out and end state sanctioned homophobia. This process is happening at an stunningly fast rate, as social conservatives are losing momentum.
“There are now more and more Republicans, and conservative Republicans, who have talked about this issue through the prism of being an equal rights issue, and being an issue that should not define the conservative movement and the party,” said Steve Schmidt, who was part of that inner circle as a spokesman and strategist for Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign.
This shift is occurring because cynical Republicans that rely on wedge issues to win elections are seeing that gay bashing is losing its power. It seems that border fences, tax giveaways to the rich and launching ill-advised wars in the Middle East pack more punch, these days.
Matthew Dowd, another top strategist for Mr. Bush who broke with him after the re-election campaign, said that same-sex marriage had ceased to be a big issue for many voters — including conservatives and religious ones — even in 2004. In polling and focus groups before that election, he said, Republicans and conservatives cited terrorism, taxes and the war in Iraq as the issues that would move them to the polls.
Of course, the Caveman Cabal will fight like crazy to make sure the GOP remains firmly entrenched in Medieval times.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Mr. Mehlman’s announcement helped explain “the scandalous failure” of the Republican establishment to fight same-sex marriage. “It is important for the conservative movement that the Republican Party remains committed to its longtime stance on core social issues,” he said.
Perkins can bleat and beat his chest all he wants, but the numbers are no longer on his side:
In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in March 2004, a plurality of Americans under 45 — 35 percent — said there should be no legal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships. Forty-five percent of Americans 45 and older said the same. By April 2010, just 24 percent of Americans ages 18 to 44 surveyed said that there should be no legal recognition, and 35 percent of Americans 45 and older said the same.
For the past decade, every time voters wiped away LGBT rights at the ballot box, Perkins and others of his ilk would bellow, “majority rules.” I’m curious if these neo-Puritans will still respect the will of the people when they are entrenched on the minority side of public opinion. My hunch is that they will suddenly lose respect for “the people”.
Let’s analyze the Atlantic Magazine story about the coming out of former Republican National Committee Chairman, Ken Mehlman, and discuss what steps he must take to redeem himself with the gay community:
“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” said Mehlman, now an executive vice-president with the New York City-based private equity firm, KKR. “Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”
Perhaps, if he had not worked for a party that used LGBT people as a wedge issue, he would have accepted himself 10 or 20 years earlier. In a sense, he helped construct his own stifling closet. I can respect that he had his own path, but Mehlman cannot deny that his abhorrent actions negatively affected the paths of so many other people. His odious work led to broken families, gay teenagers committing suicide, LGBT couples who were not able to marry, broken people joining silly “ex-gay” programs and individuals who lost their jobs or were hate crime victims. Mehlman should own up to his hideous mistake and offer a heartfelt apology. Yes, he will be forgiven, but first he must make amends. So far, his coming out has been all about himself, without acknowledging the extent of his toxic legacy.
He insisted, too, that President Bush “was no homophobe.”
It is probably true that George W. Bush was not homophobic and he always seemed somewhat comfortable around gay people. However, this is not comforting, because it means that the former president’s anti-gay policies were nothing more than a cynical and amoral attempt to divide America for the sake of political power. Ken Mehlman played along with this tragic game. He willingly demonized marriage equality. He orchestrated some of the most vile anti-gay campaigns in history and profited handsomely from the wreckage. Did Mehlman intervene or speak up in 2006 when Bush brought so-called “ex-gay” activists from Exodus International to the White House to lobby for the Federal Marriage Amendment?
He often wondered why gay voters never formed common cause with Republican opponents of Islamic jihad, which he called “the greatest anti-gay force in the world right now.”
Like most people, the vast majority of LGBT individuals oppose Islamic jihad. However, the GOP proposed replacing Islamic fundamentalism with a form of Christian fundamentalism. Quite frankly, neither vision is particularly appealing. Living in America, a Republican-led theocracy was always a much greater threat than Islamic jihad. Furthermore, most LGBT voters were rightfully skeptical of the cooked-up “intelligence” that railroaded us into the quagmire of Iraq. The policies of the Bush administration made us less safe, not more secure.
Mehlman’s leadership positions in the GOP came at a time when the party was stepping up its anti-gay activities — such as the distribution in West Virginia in 2006 of literature linking homosexuality to atheism, or the less-than-subtle, coded language in the party’s platform (“Attempts to redefine marriage in a single state or city could have serious consequences throughout the country…”). Mehlman said at the time that he could not, as an individual Republican, go against the party consensus. He was aware that Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief strategic adviser, had been working with Republicans to make sure that anti-gay initiatives and referenda would appear on November ballots in 2004 and 2006 to help Republicans. Mehlman acknowledges that if he had publicly declared his sexuality sooner, he might have played a role in keeping the party from pushing an anti-gay agenda.
Mehlman was an adult and a very powerful man in Washington. He had a clear choice to make, and he elected to embrace unadulterated greed over integrity. He willfully abandoned the LGBT community (including suicidal teens) for the sake of privilege, power and money. His choice was one of cowardice and self-interest. As a direct result of his decision, he became famous, well-connected and earned enough money to buy a multi-million dollar condo in New York’s gay Chelsea district. Many people are faced with such choices every day and act with dignity and good character. What Ken Mehlman should have done, was demand that the GOP not use LGBT people as a wedge issue. If Karl Rove refused, Mehlman should have resigned.
“It’s a legitimate question and one I understand,” Mehlman said. “I can’t change the fact that I wasn’t in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally.” He asks of those who doubt his sincerity: “If they can’t offer support, at least offer understanding.”
What can reasonably be offered, given the circumstances, is a pragmatic acceptance of Mehlman. It is important to include him in order to make it easier for the next 10, 20 or 100 Ken Mehlman’s to come out of the closet, so we can end anti-gay prejudice for future generations. This is about the greater good and the future — rather than wallowing in the sordid past. But, Mehlman would be wise not to attempt to whitewash history. The LGBT community in not as gullible as the rubes he used to trick with divisive social issues.
“What I do regret, and think a lot about, is that one of the things I talked a lot about in politics was how I tried to expand the party into neighborhoods where the message wasn’t always heard. I didn’t do this in the gay community at all.”
Come on, Ken. Stop the spin. The GOP was not going to be able to walk through Chelsea or San Francisco’s Castro district knocking on doors to promote the Federal Marriage Amendment. If Mehlman wants to be accepted, honesty will be his greatest ally.
“I wish I was where I am today 20 years ago. The process of not being able to say who I am in public life was very difficult. No one else knew this except me. My family didn’t know. My friends didn’t know. Anyone who watched me knew I was a guy who was clearly uncomfortable with the topic,” he said.
Would it truly have made a difference? Would Mehlman really have traded his access to power, wealth and fame just to live out and proud? Only he can answer this question. But, one point is undeniable. If he had come out 20 years ago, he never would have become the chairman of the GOP or a key player on the Bush team, because the Republican Party had long cast its lot with religious extremists.
Ed Gillespie, a former RNC chairman and long-time friend of Mehlman acknowledged that the party had been inhospitable to gays in the past, and said that he hopes Mehlman’s decision to come out leads the party to be “more respectful and civil in our discourse” when it comes to gays.
For openly LGBT people to have a place of influence and distinction in the Republican Party, the GOP must decide it will no longer be hostage to social conservatives. This party’s alleged “big tent” is simply not large enough to hold both the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins and Ken Mehlman. The agendas of these two men are incongruous. Who is the GOP going to choose? (If the line-up of Republican backed Tea Bagger candidates is any indication, they are still on-board with anti-gay activists)
Mehlman said that his formal coming-out process began earlier this year.
Formal coming out process? Huh? Did he buy a tuxedo for the occasion? I don’t care what Mehlman says. He is 43 years old and must have known he was gay for decades before he started professionally gay bashing for the GOP. What he was really trying to say was, now that he is rich, successful, lives in Chelsea and no longer shills for the Republican Party, he felt safe enough to come out of the closet.
Chad Griffin, the California-based political strategist who organized opposition to Proposition 8, said that Mehlman’s quiet contributions to the American Foundation for Equal Rights are “tremendous,” adding that “when we achieve equal equality, he will be one of the people to thank for it.”
Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award winning writer of “Milk,” said, ”Ken represents an incredible coup for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. We believe that our mission of equal rights under the law is one that should resonate with every American. As a victorious former presidential campaign manager and head of the Republican Party, Ken has the proven experience and expertise to help us communicate with people across each of the 50 states.”
Let’s cut Griffin and Black a little slack. They are trying to strategically move forward with LGBT equality as a bipartisan issue. If their opportunistic use of Mehlman leads to more Republicans openly backing our efforts, we will be much better off. To do so, would further relegate anti-gay activists to the fringe and make our uphill struggle a downhill victory march.
To sumarize, Mehlman has three steps to take before he is warmly welcomed:
1) Repent for past sins
2) Be honest with the LGBT community
3) Work tirelessly to undo the damage and propel the LGBT towards equality
But in reporting on the Ken Mehlman story today, MSNBC anchor Peter Alexander Thomas Roberts came out openly discussed his sexual orientation in a discussion with Chris Barron of GOProud:
BARRON: We know that opinion poll after opinion poll shows that the single most important factor in determining how someone feels about gay rights or about gay issues is whether or not they know someone who is gay or lesbian….
ROBERTS: I think for probably most heterosexual Americans this isn’t going to come as a big deal, but I think for millions of gay and lesbian Americans — me included — find this to be kind of a shocking admission, especially when Mehlman’s leadership, in the positions that he held, came at a time when he was part of talks that would have put discrimination into the Constitution. When they were ramping up anti gay rhetoric and now he wants to come out say, ‘hey I’m one of you.’ So how does he go about trying to get millions of gay and lesbian Americans to believe that he is not just a big hypocrite.
Watch it:
That, by the way, is my favorite coming-out style ever. The completely casual, “Oh by the way, you didn’t know? Well anyway” style is so effective. It hits people differently. Especially when they are already out of the closet, like Thomas Roberts.
UPDATE: Originally the Think Progress story said that “Peter Alexander” was the anchor, and that he had “come out.” Unfortunately, the man’s name is Thomas Roberts, and his gayness was already well known! My bad for not being able to correctly identify MSNBC anchors beyond “The Joe and Mika ones” and “The Rachel Maddow one.”
Rumors about former RNC chair Ken Mehlman’s Complete Gayness have been swirling around for years and years. Mike Rogers outed him several years back, as part of his campaign to rid the political world of homosexuals who cynically use the rest of the gay community as bait in order to convince rubes, yahoos, bumpkins and other morons to set down the teevee clicker even if it means missing the last five minutes of The 700 Club, in order to go out and vote Republican, due to abject fear of gays. Mehlman’s sins were particularly egregious, since we are after all talking about the guy who helped run the most anti-gay presidential campaign in history, which gave us Four More Years of the Crawford hick and his handlers, Karl and Dick.
Look him up on opensecrets.org, and you’ll see that Kenneth Mehlman has given money to a wide range of politicians working to take away rights for LGBT Americans.
There’s $2,400 to Missouri Republican Roy Blunt, who has voted to add a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage, as well as to ban gay adoption.
There’s $2,400 to Sen. John McCain, who wants to keep gay servicemembers out of the military.
There’s $1,000 to Ben Quayle, who is running for Congress in Arizona and who just labeled Barack Obama the worst President in history, and who just sent out a mailer to voters touting his opposition to marriage equality.
There’s $2,400 to Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, who voted to keep “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in place (and who himself is subject to lots of rumors about his sexual orientation).
There’s $2,400 to Utah Republican Sen. Robert Bennett, who tried to stop marriage equality from becoming a reality in Washington, D.C.
And the list goes on and on and includes Republicans like Rob Portman, Kelly Ayotte, Bob Corker, Richard Shelby, and Johnny Isakson, all of whom have taken positions completely contrary to full equality for LGBT Americans.
The piece directly below this one broke the news that Ken Mehlman, former RNC chair, would be coming out in an article from Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic. It also featured a pre-emptive smackdown from Mike Rogers, which is completely warranted. Well, Ambinder’s piece just appeared, and all I can say is “Oy.”
Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He agreed to answer a reporter’s questions, he said, because, now in private life, he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage and anticipated that questions would be asked about his participation in a late-September fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California’s ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition 8.
“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” Mehlman said. “Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”
Bully for him.
Privately, in off-the-record conversations with this reporter over the years, Mehlman voiced support for civil unions and told of how, in private discussions with senior Republican officials, he beat back efforts to attack same-sex marriage. He insisted, too, that President Bush “was no homophobe.” He often wondered why gay voters never formed common cause with Republican opponents of Islamic jihad, which he called “the greatest anti-gay force in the world right now.”
Oh, that’s because the Republican plan for fighting Islamic extremism is laughably stupid, driven by emotion and fear, and exemplifies all the characteristics of Severe Small Penis Syndrome. Additionally, it’s been a hilarious failure everywhere it’s been tried. Thanks, Bill Kristol! Also, because under Ken Mehlman’s tutelage, the RNC and the Bush administration used people like Ken Mehlman as a political wedge issue to scare the bumpkins, rubes and yahoos into voting.
For many years, Ken Mehlman worked to prop up elected anti-gay bigots, including running the virulently anti-gay reelection campaign of George W. Bush in 2004. Now that he’s finally coming out, Mike Rogers is giving Mehlman his ‘Roy Cohn Award’, his reporting from several years ago having been validated:
If I first started writing about Mehlman in 2004, why is Ken getting his Roy Cohn Award now? Because I am able to report – here for the first time — that Ken Mehlman, the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee is set to come out of the closet in a column by Atlantic writer Marc Ambinder Friday morning or early next week. This will be on the heels of him being included in fundraising letter supporting marriage equality.
[...]
The three people most responsible for the anti-gay actions of the Bush reelection campaign are Mehlman, Karl Rove and Bush. In addition to his role at the RNC, Mehlman served in the first Bush Administration as White House Political Director. In 2004 he was the general chairman of the Bush reelection campaign.
[...]
If this move doesn’t call for a Roy Cohn Award, I don’t know what does. Ken Mehlman is horridly homophobic and no matter how orchestrated his coming out is, our community should hold him accountable for his past.
If it seems like Mike is being harsh, it’s because he is, and I understand where he’s coming from. Mike goes on to explain how Mehlman could actually redeem himself:
I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for being the architect of the 2004 Bush reelection campaign. I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for his role in developing strategy that resulted in George W. Bush threatening to veto ENDA or any bill containing hate crimes laws. I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for the pressing of two Federal Marriage Amendments as political tools. I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for developing the 72-hour strategy, using homophobic churches to become political arms of the GOP before Election Day.
And those state marriage amendments. I want to hear him apologize for every one of those, too.
I agree. Ken Mehlman cynically used his position of influence to rake in mountains of cash for himself, and he willingly did it on the backs of his gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. If Mehlman is still a Republican, I’m sure the GOProud people will embrace him with open arms, because they don’t really care if a person is anti-gay or gay-supportive. They’re pretty much in it for tax cuts and self-shaming purposes. Mehlman will fit right in, in that case. But if he suddenly wants to become a spokesman for The Gays and The Equality, he’s got a lot of explaining and apologizing to do.
Apparently, Ken Mehlman is my new neighbor. For those who don’t remember, he was the Bush administration’s campaign stooge who resigned as chairman of the Republican National Committee not long after he was accused of being a two-faced closet case.
Mehlman presided over a nasty presidential campaign where marriage equality was written out of the constitutions of several states and divisively used as a wedge issue to help propel Bush to a second disastrous term.
Now that Mehlman has profiteered from the pain of LGBT people and attacks on liberalism, he has conveniently moved to our little gay/liberal enclave to take advantage of the gains made by the very people bashed by his beloved Republican Party. (To his credit, he did try to make the GOP more racially and ethnically diverse, so he wins points on that front)
Mehlman just paid $3.775 million for a 2,200-square-foot 2BR/3BA loft the Chelsea Mercantile, where neighbors include Marc Jacobs and Lance Bass. He should love it! I hear the place has the most fabulous walk-in closets. However, the GOP spin doctor paid $100k above the asking price. So much for fiscal conservatism!
In any case, we don’t want to be be accused of intolerance. So, now that I have given him shit — in the most loving, neighborly way possible — I will officially welcome Kenny to the hood. Plus, in Chelsea we like to pride ourselves on diversity — and having an admitted, practicing Republican operative is true to our values of inclusion.
For many years, Ken Mehlman worked to prop up elected anti-gay bigots, including running the virulently anti-gay reelection campaign of George W. Bush in 2004. Now that he’s 
Apparently, Ken Mehlman is 
