The evolution of a Gay Republican
FLASHBACK: Mehlman Supports 2005 Federal Marriage Amendment
"In January 2005, GOP Sen. Wayne Allard (CO) introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment (a verbatim restating of the earlier failed Federal Management Amendment) with 21 Senate GOP co-sponsors. Later that year the bill was approved for review by the full Senate Judiciary Committee. Newly appointed RNC chair Ken Mehlman gave the bill his full support to reporters at an Ohio GOP fundraiser that March [2005].
During his Akron remarks, Mehlman put forth political and policy statements often viewed as anti-gay. “Republicans are for government that stands on the side of marriage,” he said, “and on the side of strong families.” After the dinner, he was asked by a reporter about the GOP’s support for the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, introduced in the House last week by Rep. Dan Lundgren of California. Mehlman made it clear that he supports the amendment. “I don’t think it’s anti-gay,” said Mehlman. “I don’t think the intent is to be anti-anything.”"
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/08/fl ... deral.html
Mehlman coming out draws mixed reactions
"The coming out of former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman — who led the GOP at a time when the party was backing the Federal Marriage Amendment and marriage amendments in states throughout the country — is inspiring mixed reactions among LGBT advocates as some criticize him for his past actions and others welcome his new public support."
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/08/ ... reactions/
Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: I'm Gay
"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."
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc ... gay/62065/
Mehlman comes Out
"Marc Ambinder had the story yesterday: “Ken Mehlman, President Bush’s campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay.”
The Guardian’s Richard Adams wrote afterwards that, “In doing so Mehlman becomes the most senior Republican figure to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality, at a time when the Republican party remains deeply opposed to same-sex marriage and the abolition of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars homosexuals from serving in the US military.” Ambinder says that, as of yesterday, “Mehlman is the most powerful Republican in history to identify as gay.”
I’ve always been a little disconcerted by reporting on the powerful and famous “coming out,” usually the fodder of the gossip rags and talk shows. The less the hoopla surrounding such stories, the farther along I think we’ve come. Curiosity drives coverage so much more than any level of import. It shouldn’t matter; it’s a private issue, and all that usual stuff. True, such stories give readers a fuller understanding of the kind of struggles gay people face while deciding whether to take the scary step of letting people know who they truly are. But, the idealist in me still longs for a day when those struggles are fewer, and our need-to-know, or care, or pry, less intense.
Mehlman’s is a different case, a private story inextricably tangled up in some very public national debates he often helped steer. His decision to talk to Ambinder is an acknowledgement of this, as is his new involvement in pro-gay marriage groups. So too is his confession that “he ‘really wished’ he had come to terms with his sexual orientation earlier, ‘so I could have worked against [the Federal Marriage Amendment]’ and ‘reached out to the gay community in the way I reached out to African Americans…’ "
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/mehlman_comes_out.php
