"Critical Mass" — Is Gay Republican The New Black?

Just after Prop 8 passed in 2008, the phrase sweeping America was "gay is the new black." You could see it printed everywhere, from t-shirts to protest signs, to the cover of The Advocate. An MSNBC story published in late November of that year included this quite au courant quote.

"Black people are equal now, and gay people aren't," said Emil Wilbekin, a black gay man and the editor of Giant magazine. "I always have this discussion with my friends: What's worse, being a black man or a black gay man?"

Of course, we know "Black people are equal now" wasn't true then or now, but for a moment, perhaps to some, it felt like it.

Times have changed in two short years, and while then it felt like gay was the new black, today it's feeling like gay Republican is the new black.

And, according to those in the know, it's reaching "critical mass."

Up until last week, the worst-kept secret that everyone knew (everyone, except, reportedly, Ken Mehlman,) that Ken Mehlman is gay, came as no surprise inside the Washington Beltway. But it was in fact the climax in an already slowly-growing tale that has shaken to their core the radical, extreme, and religious Right. Conservatives are either "coming out," or coming out in support of gay rights, especially marriage equality. And this has the Right and the Republican party shaking.

The GOP has suffered the greatest schism in recent history. Two years ago, with the failure and subsequent persona non grata status of George W. Bush, even before the end of his presidency, and with John McCain's loss of his presidential run, no one was left to lead the Republican party. Hence the rise (again) of Rush Limbaugh, not to mention Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and their now-co-worker and the now-Mama Grizzly-In-Chief, Sarah Palin.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and these third-wheel fourth-estate pundits are the squeakiest. They have taken the reins and, along with their Tea Party compatriots, stolen the direction of the Republican Party, effectively splitting it in two.

On the one side, you have Republicans who hearken back to the days of the Bush Dynasty — Bush 41 and Bush 43. These are the wiser sages, the more statesman-like leaders and (more often than not, former) politicians. On the other side, the radical, extreme Tea Party types, like Sharron Angle and Rand Paul, whose lack of experience is only out-distanced by their lack of introspection (or, as New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks might say, "a metacognition deficit,") — not to mention a lack of understanding of American history, our laws, and our constitution.

But even within the divided Republican Party lies a divided Tea Party. Some Tea Party activists will tell you they care only about financial issues, i.e., lower taxes, and not social issues. But it's clear that for most who self-identify as Tea Partiers, a return to "traditional values," like being pro-religion, anti-abortion, and anti-gay anything, are what fuels their "patriotism."

Ken Mehlman was, indeed, "the most powerful Republican in history to identify as gay." But Mehlman is not the only top-tier Republican who supports gay rights and marriage equality. Long ago we won the support of then-Vice President Dick Cheney. More recently, climbing on board are Elisabeth Hasselbeck and former first lady Laura Bush, along with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and GOP strategist Mary Matalin.

Then there are the McCains. Senator John McCain's wife Cindy, along with their daughter, Meghan, have come out in support of marriage equality — though the Senator has formally come out against it. Meghan McCain, currently promoting her book, Tuesday night "opined" to Fox anchor Bill O'Reilly, "We get the bad rap, as Republicans, as being against gay marriage. But [Obama] isn't doing anything for the gay community."

The other voice from the McCain camp is none other than McCain's former campaign manager Steve Schmidt, who last year "came out" in support of marriage equality, and, perhaps sensing it's time to push the issue, has offered his support again. Schmidt, a highly-regarded political operative at the top of the GOP, told the Huffington Post's Sam Stein this week, "[t]here is a strong conservative case to be made in favor of gay marriage," echoing the thoughts of none other than the man who fought against Prop 8 in federal court (and won!), ultra-conservative Ted Olson.

In the same Huffington Post piece, Stein writes of another unnamed yet "prominent Republican," who perfectly characterizes the chasm in the GOP today.

"I think there is a growing mass of people in Republican politics who are fundamentally sick and tired about being lectured to about morality and how to live your life by a bunch of people who have been married three or four times and are more likely to be seen outside a brothel on a Thursday night than being at home with their kids... There is a fundamental indecency to the vitriol and the hatred directed against decent people because of their sexuality. People have reached a critical mass with this."

"Critical mass," indeed.

So critical, in fact, that even Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball Wednesday evening invited Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese and Log Cabin Republican executive director R. Clarke Cooper to discuss Mehlman's coming out and Schmidt's statement.

Olson, along with Schmidt, and many huge Republican Party donors, are appearing at a $5,000 a plate fundraiser later this month for AFER, the American Foundation for Equal Rights. (AFER is the organization created to support the Prop 8 plaintiffs and which retained attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies.)

Other Republican notables headlining the AFER fundraiser include Mary Cheney, Margaret Hoover, William Weld, Christie Todd Whitman, and Henry Kravis.

All of this is why people like NOM's (the National Organization for Marriage's) Maggie Gallagher are, to say the least, concerned. They see this new-found support of gay rights and same-sex marriage as a direct threat to their years of working against inclusion and equality — and as a direct threat to their funding.

Enter Ken Mehlman, who is keynoting the AFER event, and has committed to fund-raise for and support marriage equality. NOM sees political heavyweights like Mehlman, especially, as a giant threat to their pocketbooks. So what does Gallagher do? Label him (along with Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck, of all people,) as part of the "GOP establishment elite." You just have to read Maggie Gallagher's statement regarding Mehlman's "coming out" to feel the vitriol, condescension, and fear.

But vitriol, condescension, and fear are not unique to the National Organization for Marriage. Ken Blackwell, the man who lost the election for chairmanship of the Republican National Committee to Michael Steele in early 2009 had plenty to say on Mehlman and marriage equality. So did extreme right-wing columnist Don Feder, who wrote, "If marriage is lost, we lose everything."

There are plenty on our side who would agree with those words.

It is clear that the war for a direction within the Republican Party is just beginning. It is ironic that marriage equality — the very issue that secured a second term for George W. Bush, the very issue that former RNC Chair and Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman used to push conservative voters to the polls in 2004 and 2006 — is the very issue that in fact may divide the Republican party enough this year to help Democrats retain Congress.

And it is ironic that the very man who helped polarize the nation and kept marriage from millions of gay and lesbian citizens, is one of many Republicans who are now ready to fight for marriage, for themselves, and for us.

Photo credit: stevebott