Log Cabin Republicans

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Log Cabin Republicans
Abbreviation LCR
Motto Inclusion Wins
Type Gay Conservatives
Headquarters Washington, D.C.[1]
Region served United States
Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper
Affiliations Republican Party (United States)
Website LogCabin.org

The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians in the United States. The group's constituency supports the Republican Party and advocates for the rights of gay and lesbian Americans.[2][3]

LCR is the only Republican organization dedicated to representing the interests of LGBT Americans and their allies. The 30-year old organization has state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time office in Washington, DC, a federal political action committee and state political action committees.[4]

In May 2010, the National Board of Directors named R. Clarke Cooper as the organization's new Executive Director.[5][6] Cooper also serves as President of the Liberty Education Forum, a non-partisan educational foundation that is associated with LCR that informs conservatives and people of faith about issues affecting gay and lesbian Americans. Cooper is a veteran of the George W. Bush Administration. He last served as a Counselor at the United States Mission to the United Nations for U.N. management and reform where advocated for transparency, accountability and reform of the UN. Prior to Cooper, Patrick Sammon led the organizations on an interim basis. Previous leaders of the group have been its founding Executive Director, Richard L. Tafel (October 1993 to January 1, 2003), and his successor, Patrick Guerriero (January 1, 2003 to September 2006).

Contents

[edit] History

Log Cabin Republicans was founded in 1977 in California as a rallying point for Republicans opposed to the Briggs Initiative, which attempted to ban homosexuals from teaching in public schools.[7] The California organization had initially popularized the "Log Cabin Republicans" name, so the national organization adopted the name as well.

The group initially proposed to name themselves Lincoln Club, but found that name was already in use by another California Republican organization.[8][7] Thus, the name Log Cabin Republicans was chosen as an alternative name that still evoked the memory of President Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin.

[edit] Support withheld for re-election of President George H. W. Bush

The 1992 Log Cabin Republican convention was held in Spring, Texas, a Houston exurb. It was the first time LCR held a gathering of its members that attracted significant media attention. LCR also had two open delegates: Martin K. Keller and Frank N. Ricchiazzi, both of which were appointed by Governor of California Pete Wilson. The main issue discussed was whether or not LCR would endorse the re-election of President George H. W. Bush. Bush was not endorsed.

[edit] National prominence during Dole presidential campaign

In August 1995, the group gained significant national attention when the campaign of Republican presidential candidate, Bob Dole, returned the LCR's $1,000 campaign contribution.[citation needed] The campaign returned the contribution after openly lesbian columnist, Deb Price, of the Detroit News, asked 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."[9]

The story took on prominence in the media when it was revealed before it was returned, the finance office of the campaign had solicited the contribution from LCR. At the event where it was given, Dole had personally spoken with LCR's then-executive director, Rich Tafel, about the group and about AIDS legislation it was promoting in the Senate. Weeks earlier, Dole agreed to co-sponsor the legislation after a meeting with Tafel at the campaign's headquarters.[10] It resulted in a front-page story in The New York Times, penned by Richard L. Berke, then-chief political reporter for the daily.[11]

As reporters, including Berke, were seeking confirmation of the story before it broke, Dole's finance chairman, John Moran, asked Tafel not to 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.[12]

Leading pundits accused Dole of being a "flip-flopper and a hypocrite."[13] Editorials ran in major newspapers, including the Washington Post, The New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and the Times of London, condemning Dole's action, joined by radio commentators Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus.[14][15] Under the pressure, Dole admitted during an October 1995 press briefing on Capitol Hill that he regretted the decision to return the check, and that his campaign was responsible for it without consulting him.[16] "I think if they'd have consulted me, we wouldn't have done that, wouldn't have returned it," Dole said.[17] 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 second-guessing his staff in his failed 1988 bid. Dole later told Washington Post editor and author Bob Woodward that the LCR 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?"[18]

LCR's leadership met with Dole's coalitions manager to discuss an endorsement after Dole's reversal.[19] 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-homosexual 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 LCR nod.[20] On the closing night of the Convention, Stephen Fong, then-president of the San Francisco chapter, spoke at the dais as part of a series of speeches from "mainstreet Americans," but was not publicly identified as gay.[21] Nevertheless, his presence on the podium for the organization and for the gay and lesbian community "was something that would have been unimaginable four years earlier," Tafel later wrote.[21] Two days later, Dole spokesperson Christina Martin told a reporter that the campaign "welcomed the endorsement of the Log Cabin Republicans."[21] LCR 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, LCR's convention delegates and officers of its national board to announce their decision.[21]

Later in the campaign, Tafel met with Dole's chief aide Sheila Burke, and the remaining demands LCR made for their endorsement were met. In a statement released by LCR, 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.[21] Dole would go on to win 23% of the gay and lesbian vote but would lose the election to Bill Clinton.[22]

[edit] 2008 Presidential election

In September 2008, the group voted to endorse the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket in the 2008 presidential election. LCR President Patrick Sammon said the most important reason for their support was McCain's opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.[23]

[edit] Platform

LCR acts under the mission statement: "We stand for the proposition that all of us are created equal - worthy of the same rights to freedom, liberty, and equality."[24]

The organization advocates for the traditional tenants for which the Republican Party represents, including low taxes, limited government, strong defense, free markets, personal responsibility, and individual liberty. LCR represents an important part of the American family—taxpaying, hard working people who proudly believe in this nation's greatness."[24]

On social issues, LCR either dissents from socially conservative Republican views or is neutral. On matters relating to gay and lesbian rights, LCR advocates for same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and equal protections for members of the LGBT community. However, LCR takes no position on abortion.

Also, LCR includes in its sill resolution 10 central themes as to what LCR advocates:[25]

  • Conservatism
  • Balanced budgets and fiscal discipline
  • Comprehensive tax reform
  • Revitalizing Social Security through allowing individuals to invest in their futures
  • Strong national defense
  • Legal immigration reforms that are fair and humane
  • Marriage equality for all Americans
  • A broad, inclusive definition of family in America
  • Non-discrimination in employment
  • Market driven health reform

[edit] Membership

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses Log Cabin Republicans.

Since 1977, LCR has expanded across the United States and has 43 chapters, representing 26 states and the District of Columbia.[26] Log Cabin has thousands of members nationwide and a staff of registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C. In addition to this, the Log Cabin Republicans hold an annual convention in different cities around the country, and raise funds which are donated to Republican officeholders and candidates, in local, state and federal races, who are sympathetic to LGBT issues. The archives of the Log Cabin Republicans are held within the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Minnesota under Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.

[edit] California

The California Log Cabin Republicans supported Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during his term. Although he vetoed a controversial bill in 2005 that would allow same-sex marriage (which would have been the first such legislatively enacted law in the US), he has signed 21 other 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.[27]

In late February, 2008, gay and lesbian activists led by Log Cabin Republican leaders lobbied Governor Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver to publicly oppose the Family Research Council's Anti-Gay Marriage initiative.[28]

[edit] Log Cabin Republicans v. United States

Main article: Log Cabin Republicans v. United States

A lawsuit filed by LCR in federal court challenging the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" (DADT) policy, which excludes homosexuals from openly serving in the U. S. military, went to trial on July 13, 2010, presided by Judge Virginia Phillips. LCR argued that the policy violates the rights of homosexual military members to free speech, due process and open association.[29] The government argued that DADT was necessary to advance a legitimate governmental interest.[30] LCR introduced several admissions by President Barack Obama, including that DADT "doesn’t contribute to our national security," "weakens our national security," and that reversing DADT is "essential for our national security". Rather than address plaintiff's claims or bring evidence to support their own claims of national interest, the government relied exclusively on the policy's 1993 legislative history.[31]

On September 9, 2010, Phillips ruled in favor of plaintiffs, finding that DADT violates the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution.[32][33]

After another year of legal wrangling, on September 29, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the district court's decision, ruling that the legislative repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" in December 2010 rendered the case moot. The dismissal left the lower court ruling without value as precedent.[34]

[edit] Coalition Groups

Most socially conservative Republicans have distanced themselves from the group; however, in 2004, LCR made allies with other moderate GOP groups such as Former New Jersey Governor 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.[35] In the last several years, these groups united to oppose social conservatives and to re-assert the role of centrists and traditional conservatives in the Republican party.

[edit] See also

Portal icon LGBT portal
  • Equivalent organizations from across the world holding centre right views and principles include:

[edit] References

Notes
  1. ^ Contact Information. Online.logcabin.org. Retrieved on 2010-11-28.
  2. ^ Log Cabin's Guerriero Talks Aggressive Strategy
  3. ^ About Log Cabin
  4. ^ "Welcome to Log Cabin Republicans.". Log Cabin Republicans - Home. http://www.logcabin.org. 
  5. ^ "R. Clarke Cooper". About Log Cabin. Log Cabin Republicans. Archived from the original on 2007-03-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20070301025950/http://online.logcabin.org/about/patrick-sammon.html. Retrieved 2007-09-02. 
  6. ^ "Log Cabin Republicans National Board Selects Patrick Sammon as New President". 2006-12-18. http://online.logcabin.org/news_views/reading-room-back-up/new-president.html. Retrieved 2006-12-20. 
  7. ^ a b "A Proud History". online.logcabin.org. http://online.logcabin.org/about/history.html. Retrieved September 12, 2010. 
  8. ^ "Log Cabin: A Proud History & A Bright Future". 2008-05-20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm-lr2z34Yk. Retrieved 2008-07-07. 
  9. ^ Tafel, Richard (1999) Party Crasher, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-83764-1. p. 167–168.
  10. ^ Tafel, p.164–166
  11. ^ Woodward, Bob (1996) The Choice, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81308-4. p. 251.
  12. ^ Tafel, p. 168.
  13. ^ Rich, Frank "The Log Cabin Lesson". New York Times, October 21, 1995. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
  14. ^ Tafel, p. 169–170.
  15. ^ Woodward, p. 251.
  16. ^ Tafel, p. 171.
  17. ^ Woodward, p. 284.
  18. ^ Woodward, p. 286.
  19. ^ Tafel, p. 172.
  20. ^ Tafel, p. 173
  21. ^ a b c d e Tafel, p. 174.
  22. ^ Crain, Chris "Bush wins same portion of gay vote as '00". Washington Blade, Blade Blog. November 3, 2004. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
  23. ^ Jansen, Bart (2008-09-02). "Gay Republicans Endorse McCain-Palin Ticket". CQ Today Online News. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002943377. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  24. ^ a b About Log Cabin. Logcabin.org. Retrieved on 2010-11-28.
  25. ^ http://www.logcabin.org/site/c.nsKSL7PMLpF/b.6416879/k.A664/Sill_Resolution.htm
  26. ^ "Log Cabin Republicans: Chapters". http://online.logcabin.org/chapters/. Retrieved 2006-12-20. 
  27. ^ "ElectionTrack: Californians For Schwarzenegger". http://www.electiontrack.com/lookup.php?committee=1261585&orderby=name-asc. Retrieved 2006-12-20. 
  28. ^ Ryan J. Davis: The Great California Gay Marriage Shift
  29. ^ The Associated Press: GOP group challenges policy on gays in military
  30. ^ Law.com: Constitutional Challenge to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Reaches Trial
  31. ^ Woods, Daniel (2010-07-23). "Closing arguments, Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America" (PDF). Log Cabin Republicans. http://online.logcabin.org/closing-argument-updated.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-24. 
  32. ^ "Judge: Military's ban on gays is unconstitutional". Associated Press. 2010-09-09. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIWJ1V2EsAQ8O7sPsyfXG0OAQTBwD9I4OQ5O0. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  33. ^ Willon, Phil (2010-09-09). "Judge declares U.S. military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy openly banning gay service members unconstitutional". The Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/federal-judge-declares-us-military-ban-on-openly-gay-service-members-unconstitutional-.html. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  34. ^ Levine, Dan (September 29, 2011). "U.S. court vacates ruling on gays in military". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/29/us-usa-gays-military-idUSTRE78S5NE20110929?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews. Retrieved October 24, 2011. 
  35. ^ Coalition of Mainstream Republican Groups Calls for Party Unity Plank in GOP Platform
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