The Republican Party has a proud history of standing up for freedom and opportunity for all Americans. In the 19th century, Abraham Lincoln built our party on a foundation of equality. In the 20th century, Ronald Reagan strengthened that foundation with a hopeful vision of freedom for all people. Now, in the 21st century, Republican leaders must either embrace those values and create a stronger Republican Party or choose the politics of division and exclusion that will only lead to defeat.
Twenty-seven years ago, Reagan stepped forward as a courageous defender of basic fairness and common decency. In 1978, California State Sen. John Briggs proposed a statewide ballot initiative to prevent gay and lesbian people from teaching in public schools. His vicious campaign to “defend your children from homosexual teachers” seemed headed for victory until Reagan announced his opposition and helped defeat the initiative. From this pivotal campaign, Log Cabin Republicans were born. Log Cabin is the nation’s largest organization of Republicans who support fairness, freedom and equality for gay and lesbian Americans.
Since then, Republican governors across America have taken courageous stands for basic fairness. Regrettably, in Colorado, the radical right’s obsession with promoting anti-gay legislation and opposing basic fairness for gays and lesbians has infected the halls of the state legislature. Republican legislators have opposed common-sense non-discrimination protections favored by the vast majority of Coloradans and providing law enforcement with extra tools to fight hate crimes. Gov. Bill Owens has sent mixed messages on issues of basic fairness: He vetoed non-discrimination legislation, but allowed hate-crime protections for gays and lesbians to be become law.
The radical right also is pushing a state constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and any other form of legal rights and responsibilities for gay and lesbian families. The outrageous rhetoric from the radical right is almost worse than the actual votes. State Sen. Ron Teck, R-Grand Junction, called being gay an abomination. Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, likened it to the crime of pedophilia. State Rep. Jim Welker, R-Loveland, went so far as to compare gay and lesbian families to people marrying dogs and horses.
The divisive national debate over the Federal Marriage Amendment sadly has been fueled by Colorado’s voices of intolerance. The amendment, sponsored by Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., and Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., seeks to weaken the U.S. Constitution. The amendment would impose a federal definition of marriage on all 50 states and deny legal rights and responsibilities to gay and lesbian couples.
In opposing the amendment, Colorado’s former Republican U.S. senator, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, cautioned us not to “institutionalize a form of discrimination” or our country will “endanger all minorities.”
While a clear majority of Americans support civil unions and non-discrimination protections, the voices of exclusion in the GOP have taken our party dangerously off course. Recently, former Republican Sen. John Danforth reflected on this disturbing trend. “As a senator, I worried every day about the size of the federal deficit. I did not spend a single minute worrying about the effect of gays on the institution of marriage. Today it seems to be the other way around.”
Here’s the greatest irony: The fight for basic fairness truly is a conservative one. What is more conservative than protecting hard workers and fighting violent crime? What is more conservative than putting our families first and taking on the responsibility of caring for a life partner so taxpayers don’t have to?
As Republicans, we must choose between hope and fear. The GOP can be the party of Lincoln, Reagan, McCain and Campbell, or the party of Musgrave, Allard, Dobson and Falwell.
Patrick Guerriero is president of Log Cabin Republicans. Daniel Merritt-LeSatz is president of the Colorado chapter.
