Log Cabin Republicans

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The Log Cabin Republicans is a federated political organization in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, DC. The group consists of gays and lesbians who are supporters of the Republican Party. While the organization has long been formally committed to supporting gay and lesbian civil rights, transgender rights have not historically been a primary focus.^[1]

On December 18, 2006, the National Board of Directors named Patrick Sammon as the organization's new President.^[2] Sammon also will serve as President of the Liberty Education Forum, a non-partisan educational foundation that is associated with Log Cabin. Sammon has been leading these organizations on an interim basis since September 1st and succeeds Patrick Guerriero, who on January 1, 2003, succeeded Rich Tafel as the leader of the Log Cabin Republicans. Guerriero stepped down as leader of the Log Cabin Republicans on September 1, 2006 to lead the Gill Action Fund.

Contents 1 History 2 The Briggs Initiative and Ronald Reagan's legacy 3 National prominence during Dole presidential campaign 4 Platform 5 Log Cabin's criticism of President Bush 6 Log Cabin today 7 Criticism 8 Famous members 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] History

The name of the organization is a reference to the first Republican President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin.

Many of the persons involved in Log Cabin Republicans are also involved in The Liberty Education Forum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.

The California organization had initially popularized the "Log Cabin Republicans" name, so the national organization adopted the name as well.

According to their website, the California group initially proposed to name themselves Lincoln Club, but found that name was already in use by another California Republican organization. Thus, an alternate name was chosen that still invoked the memory of President Lincoln: Log Cabin Republicans.

The organization originally featured a portrait of Lincoln on its website and other publicity material. The name has been harshly criticized by other LGBTI groups because it does not specifically identify the organization as representing persons who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersexual.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The Briggs Initiative and Ronald Reagan's legacy

There were many "gay Republican" groups and organization through the country beginning in the '70s. The most prominent of these, in 1977 California, founded Log Cabin Republicans, as a rallying point for Republicans opposed to the Briggs Initiative, which for a time was winning in polls conducted prior to the election with about 61% of voters supporting it while 31% opposed it. The extreme right state legislator John Briggs was pushing Prop 6, the ballot initiative describing it as an initiative that would "would defend your children from homosexual teachers." Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Supervisor Dan White, was leading the campaign for the passage of the Briggs Initiative.

It was the first attempt to restrict gay and lesbian rights through a ballot measure. However, it is historically significant that the polls changed in the opponents favor when former Governor Ronald Reagan, later President opposed the measure. As legend has it, Reagan penned an editorial for a major California newspaper in which he opposed the initiative. The timing is significant because he was then preparing to run for president, a race in which he would need the support of conservatives and moderates who felt very uncomfortable with homosexual teachers, however Reagan chose to state his convictions.

However, in the fall of 2006, a committee of Log Cabin Republicans began researching the legend of the Reagan editorial and the Briggs Initiative and utilized the services of a student worker, Grant Grays, at the Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Grays discovered that there was no editorial penned by Reagan but rather he sent a letter to a pro-Briggs Initiative group in which he opposed the initiative. The entire text of Reagan's letter of opposition was never printed in the public media. The most extensive excerpts from his statement were reprinted in the San Francisco Chronicle of September 24, 1978 where it was revealed that the future President opposed the Briggs Initiative. Reagan's letter also allegedly stated, "Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual's sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child's teachers do not really influence this." If true, this was a remarkably progressive thing for a politician, especially a conservative one about to run for president, to say in 1978.

In the end the Briggs Initiative was defeated by over one million votes and would have prevented gay men and lesbians from being public school teachers in California. Even John Briggs' home territory, the conservative Orange County, rejected the measure. Without Reagan's personal opposition to Briggs it's likely the measure would have passed. There is, however, no public acknowledgment of Reagan's historic stance on the Briggs Initiative at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Currently, that same committee of Log Cabin Republicans are involved in searching for a copy of the actual letter and working towards having Reagan's involvement in the defeat of the initiative recognized at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

[edit] National prominence during Dole presidential campaign

It was not until August 1995, when the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole returned the group's $1,000 campaign contribution, that they gained significant national attention.^[3]

The campaign returned the contribution after being asked by openly lesbian columnist Deb Price of the Detroit News about it after she saw it on a public report from the Federal Elections Commission. The campaign sent a written statement to Price saying that Dole was in "100% disagreement with the agenda of the Log Cabin Republicans.^[4]

The story took on prominence in the media when it was revealed that before it was returned, the finance office of the campaign had solicited the contribution from Log Cabin, and at the event where it was given, Dole had personally spoken with Log Cabin's then-executive director Rich Tafel about the group and AIDS legislation it was promoting in the Senate, which Dole had agreed to co-sponsor after a meeting held at the campaign's headquarters with Tafel weeks earlier.^[5] It resulted in a front-page story in the New York Times, penned by Richard L. Berke, then-chief political reporter for the daily.^[6]

As reporters, including Berke, were seeking confirmation of the story before it broke, Dole's finance chairman, John Moran, asked Tafel to not speak to the press, and that Tafel's "steadfastness and statesmanship at this moment will be handsomely appreciated in the long run by the campaign." Tafel refused.^[7]

Leading pundits accused Dole of being a "flip-flopper and a hypocrite".^[8] Editorials ran in major newspapers, including the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe,Atlanta Constitution and the Times of London, condemning Dole's action, joined by radio commentators Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus.^[9][10] Under the pressure, Dole admitted during an October 1995 press briefing on Capitol Hill that he regretted the decision to return the check, that his campaign was responsible for it without consulting him.^[11] "I think if they'd have consulted me, we wouldn't have done that, wouldn't have returned it," Dole said.^[12] In fact, Dole was privately angered by the action when he first learned of it, but chose to defend his campaign manager for fear of facing the same problems he had with second-guessing his staff in his failed 1988 bid. Dole later told Washington Post editor and author Bob Woodward that the Log Cabin episode was a "mistake" because the decision to return the check "gets into Bob Dole the person. It's not so much about Bob Dole the candidate. It's the person. Is he tolerant? Does he tolerate different views? Tolerate someone with a different lifestyle?" He added, "This is basic, this is what people ought to know about you. Are you going to just do this because it sounds good politically?"^[13]

Log Cabin's leadership met with Dole's coalitions manager to discuss an endorsement after Dole's reversal.^[14] Among various items, Tafel demanded there be no gay bashing in the speeches from the podium of the 1996 Republican National Convention, nor any anti-gay signs on the convention floor, in stark contrast to the previous party convention in 1992. He also wanted to see a gay person address the convention, and a public request from Dole's campaign for the Log Cabin nod.^[15] On the opening night of the convention, Stephen Fong, then-president of the San Francisco chapter, gave a one-minute speech in a series of speeches from "main street Americans", but was not identified as gay.^[16] While there was no mention of Fong's homosexuality in his speech, his presence at the podium for the Log Cabin delegates in the arena "was something that would have been unimaginable four years earlier," Tafel later wrote.^[16] Two days later, Dole spokesperson Christina Martin told a reporter that the campaign "welcomed the endorsement of the Log Cabin Republicans."^[16] Log Cabin voted to endorse Dole for President, and then-Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour approved the use of the RNC's press briefing room for Tafel, Log Cabin's convention delegates and officers of its national board to announce their decision.^[16]

Later in the campaign, Tafel met with Dole's chief aide Sheila Burke, and the remaining demands Log Cabin made for their endorsement were met. In a statement released by Log Cabin, and confirmed to reporters by the campaign, Dole had pledged to maintain an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal workforce, and full funding for AIDS programs.^[16] Dole went on to lose the election to Bill Clinton, but won 23% of the gay and lesbian vote.^[17]

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[edit] Platform

The Log Cabin stresses its loyalty to the Republican Party: "We are loyal Republicans," its website says. "We believe in low taxes, limited government, strong defense, free markets, personal responsibility, and individual liberty. Log Cabin represents an important part of the American family—taxpaying, hard working people who proudly believe in this nation's greatness."

But Log Cabin dissents from conservative Republican views on matters relating to gay and lesbian rights. "We also believe all Americans have the right to liberty, freedom, and equality," it says. "Log Cabin stands up against those who preach hatred and intolerance. We stand up for the idea that all Americans deserve to be treated equal—regardless of their sexual orientation."

[edit] Log Cabin's criticism of President Bush

The 1992 Log Cabin Republican convention was held in The Woodlands, Texas, a Houston exurb. It was the first time LCR had such a large presence of the major national press at a convention. The big issue was whether or not LCR would endorse the re-election of President George H. W. Bush. The group voted to deny that endorsement, based on the 1992 Republican National Convention that preceded it in Houston.^[3]

Although Log Cabin supported the election of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election, in September of 2004 LCR's board voted to withhold its endorsement of President George Bush's re-election, Bush's support of Federal Marriage Amendment being one of the significant reasons, although LCR tried to avoid criticizing Bush by name, preferring to attack the influence of the "radical right" on the Republican Party.^{[citation needed]} Since then LCR has been critical of many actions (and inactions) of the Bush Administration. LCR said: "The radical right has drawn Republican leaders into a culture war as the 2004 election approaches. With polls against them, the radical right has responded with more desperate rhetoric. They're using fears about gay civil marriage in their effort to engineer a public backlash. Scare tactics have failed in the past. They will fail again. That's because most Americans understand the meaning of freedom. It is not reserved for the select few. We all have the right to freedom and personal liberty."^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, a United States Presidential poll showed that roughly seventy percent of self-identified gay and lesbian voters (roughly four percent of those polled) supported Democratic Party Presidential candidate Al Gore, with roughly twenty percent supporting Republican Party Presidential candidate George W. Bush.^{[citation needed]} Another five percent voted for Green Party Presidential candidate Ralph Nader.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Log Cabin today

Since 1977, Log Cabin has expanded across the United States and has 47 chapters and 39 organizing committee in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.^[18] It claims to have thousands of members but does not release membership figures. It has a staff of lobbyists in Washington, D.C., holds an annual convention, and raises funds that it donates to Republican officeholders and candidates whom it considers sympathetic to gay and lesbian rights issues.

Some believe the group has been diminished in recent years as the 2004 Republican Party Platform made "defense of marriage" a political hot button issue similar to the deficit in the '90s, the Iranian hostages in the '80s and the Panama Canal in the '70s.

Some believe the organization is growing in states such as California because Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, while vetoing a controversial bill in 2005 that would allow gay marriage (which would have been the first such legislatively enacted law in the United States), has signed 21 LGBT progressive bills into law. In fact, according to official records, the Log Cabin Republicans PAC raised $10,000 for "Californians for Schwarzenegger" in 2006.^[19]

[edit] Criticism

Many social conservatives and Christian evangelicals in the Republican Party refuse to recognize Log Cabin as part of the party, and many Republican office-holders refuse to meet with them or respond to their initiatives.^{[citation needed]} In March 2004, for example, Kansas senator Sam Brownback said that Log Cabin's activities in support of same-sex marriage were "hurting the party they claim to support." He commended Bush for what he called "his bold and principled stand in support of a constitutional amendment protecting marriage."^{[citation needed]}

In May 2004, the Republican Party's North Carolina state chairman Ferrell Blount said that he would not allow the Log Cabin Republicans to purchase a booth at the party's State Convention. "I reviewed what the Log Cabin national web site was advocating and promoting," said Blount, "and in my opinion, it is diametrically opposed to the values of the North Carolina Republican Party.... As state party chairman, I support the definition of marriage as being a union sanctioned by God between a man and a woman. That is what the Republican Party talks about in its platform and will talk about this weekend."^{[citation needed]}

On September 8, 2004, the Log Cabin Republicans chose to withhold endorsement of President Bush in the 2004 election on the grounds of his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment.^{[citation needed]}

Although most socially conservative Republicans have distanced themselves from the group, in 2004, Log Cabin made allies with mainstream GOP groups such as Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party Too, Ann Stone's Republicans for Choice, The Republican Majority for Choice, The Wish List, Republicans for Environmental Protection, and The Republican Main Street Partnership.^[20] In the last several years, these groups united to do political combat with social conservatives to re-assert the role of centrists and traditional conservatives in the Republican party. Christine Todd Whitman spoke at the LCR convention in 2005 and appeared at an LCR event in Cincinnati in 2006.^[21]

[edit] Famous members

• Aaron Smith
• Roger Hughes
• Marc Cherry
• Michael Huffington

[edit] See also

• Rockefeller Republican
• Stonewall Democrats
• Outright Libertarians
• Lavender Greens

[edit] References

1. ^ http://online.logcabin.org/news_views/articles/log-cabins-guerriero-talks.html
2. ^ Log Cabin Republicans National Board Selects Patrick Sammon as New President (2006-12-18). Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
3. ^ ^{a b} Alsdorf, Matt "An interview with Kevin Ivers of the Log Cabin Republicans". PlanetOut.com, April 2000. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
4. ^ Tafel, Richard (1999) Party Crasher, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-83764-1. p. 167-168.
5. ^ Tafel, p.164-166
6. ^ Woodward, Bob (1996) The Choice, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81308-4. p. 251.
7. ^ Tafel, p. 168.
8. ^ Rich, Frank "The Log Cabin Lesson". New York Times, October 21, 1995. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
9. ^ Tafel, p. 169-170.
10. ^ Woodward, p. 251.
11. ^ Tafel, p. 171.
12. ^ Woodward, p. 284.
13. ^ Woodward, p. 286.
14. ^ Tafel, p. 172.
15. ^ Tafel, p. 173
16. ^ ^{a b c d e} Tafel, p. 174.
17. ^ Crain, Chris "Bush wins same portion of gay vote as '00". Washington Blade, Blade Blog. November 3, 2004. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
18. ^ Log Cabin Republicans: Chapters. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
19. ^ ElectionTrack: Californians for Schwartzenegger. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
20. ^ http://www.logcabin.org/logcabin/press_081604.html
21. ^ http://online.logcabin.org/news_views/news_release_040505.html

[edit] External links

• Log Cabin Republican homepage
• Unofficial Log Cabin Blog
• Georgia state chapter of Log Cabin Republicans
• California state chapter of Log Cabin Republicans
• OUT Inside The Cabin Blog
• Gay Republican group won’t endorse Bush
• Log Cabin Republicans Fault Platform
• Comment in the Washington Blade hostile to Log Cabin
• Webpage parodying Bush and the Log Cabin Republicans at whitehouse.org
• Gay Republicans Come Out of the Cabin
• Preident Ford's Letter Of Support For Gay & Lesbian Rights
• Republican Unity Coalition