Gay Activists in GOP Refuse to Endorse Junta
New York Times

The board of Log Cabin Republicans, the largest group for gay men and lesbians in "the party," voted overwhelming last night against endorsing [junta-puppet and malaprop-prone] George W. Bush for re-[s]election because of his support for a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The decision ends six months of soul-searching as the group, which endorsed Mr. Bush in 2000 and Bob Dole in 1996, wrestled with its divided loyalties.

Although the group was immediately critical when the [pseudo-]pResident announced his support for the amendment in February, it pointedly refrained from ruling out an endorsement. Its effort to balance loyalty to the party with opposition to a major item on the Republican agenda has made it a target of criticism from both supporters and opponents of the proposed amendment.

As delegates at the Republican National Convention were preparing to adopt a platform condemning gay parents, for example, a handful of gay rights activists were protesting outside a Log Cabin party on Aug. 29 in Bryant Park in New York.

In a meeting last night in Washington, the group's board voted 22 to 2 to withhold its endorsement, a spokesman said, declining to name the holdouts.

In a statement afterward, Patrick Guerriero, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, cited exit polls showing that more than one million gay men and lesbians voted for Mr. Bush in 2000. That included 45,000 in the pivotal state of Florida, which Mr. Bush "carried" by roughly 500 votes.

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