GOPers longing for Pink Purge
Los Angeles Times - October 18, 2006
Some Seek ‘Pink Purge’ in the GOP By Johanna Neuman, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — In recent years, the Republican Party aimed to broaden
its appeal with a “big-tent” strategy of reaching out to voters who
might typically lean Democratic. But now a debate is growing within
the GOP about whether the tent has become too big — by including gays
whose political views may conflict with the goals of the party’s
powerful evangelical conservatives.
Some Christians, who are pivotal to the GOP’s get-out-the-vote
effort, are charging that gay Republican staffers in Congress may
have thwarted their legislative agenda. There even are calls for what
some have dubbed a “pink purge” of high-ranking gay Republicans on
Capitol Hill and in the administration.
The long-simmering tension in the GOP between gays and the religious
right has erupted into open conflict at a sensitive time, just weeks
before a midterm election that may cost Republicans control of Congress.
“The big-tent strategy could ultimately spell doom for the Republican
Party,” said Tom McClusky, chief lobbyist for the Family Research
Council, a Christian advocacy group. “All a big-tent strategy seems
to be doing is attracting a bunch of clowns.”
Now the GOP is facing a hard choice — risk losing the social
conservatives who are legendary for turning out the vote, or risk
alienating the moderate voters who are crucial to this election’s
outcome.
“There’s a huge schism on the right,” said Mike Rogers, a gay-rights
activist who runs a blog to combat what he calls hypocrisy among
conservative gay politicians. “The fiscal conservatives are furious
at the religious conservatives, because they need the moderates for
economic policy. But they need the social conservatives to turn out
the vote.”
A recent incident that upset social conservatives involved remarks by
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week. With First Lady Laura
Bush looking on, Rice swore in Mark R. Dybul as U.S. global AIDS
coordinator while his partner, Jason Claire, held the Bible. Claire’s
mother was in the audience, and Rice referred to her as Dybul’s
“mother-in-law.”
“The Republican Party is taking pro-family conservatives for
granted,” said Mike Mears, executive director of the political action
committee of Concerned Women for America, which promotes biblical
values. “What Secretary Rice did just the other day is going to anger
quite a few people.”
It’s not just anger at Rice that worries Republicans; it’s the
possible effect on evangelical voters next month.
The Dybul incident “was totally a damper to the base that we need to
turn out,” said the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the
Traditional Values Coalition, a California lobbying group that
focuses on religious and social issues.
Adding to the conservative Christians’ disaffection has been a new
book asserting that the White House used President Bush’s faith-based
initiative for political purposes while mocking evangelicals behind
their backs.
The tension between Republican gays and evangelicals has been
highlighted in recent weeks by the scandal involving Rep. Mark Foley
(R-Fla.), who resigned over explicit messages he sent to underage
male House pages.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a television
interview last week that there should be an investigation into
whether gay congressional staffers were responsible for covering up
for Foley.
Perkins also has questioned whether gay Republican staffers on
Capitol Hill have torpedoed evangelicals’ priorities, such as a
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. “Has the social
agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members and/or
staffers?” he asked in an e-mail to supporters.
Some social conservatives deny they are interested in removing gay
staffers from the party.
“We’re not calling for what I’ve heard referred to as a pink purge,”
McClusky said. “We’re asking that members [of Congress] might want to
reflect on who’s serving them: Are they representing their boss’
interest?”
Mears of Concerned Women for America said purging gays from the GOP
would not necessarily help the evangelical cause. “If you get rid of
all the homosexuals in Congress and on the staff, you’d still have
Republicans like Chris Shays [the Connecticut congressman] and Susan
Collins [the Maine senator] pushing the gay agenda.”
This week, a list that is said to name gay Republican staffers has
been circulated to several Christian and family values groups —
presumably to encourage an outing and purge. McClusky acknowledged
seeing the list but said his group did not produce it and had no
intention of using it.
Still, gay Republican staffers on Capitol Hill say it feels as if the
noose is tightening. Fearful of having their names on such a list and
losing their jobs after the election, they are trying to keep a low
profile.
None of the gay Republican staffers contacted for this article would
speak for the record.
But Eric Johnson, a former GOP staffer who left the party over its
policies on gays and who now works for a Democrat on the Hill, said
many of his old friends were worried.
“There’s a real concern, a legitimate concern, about a lower glass
ceiling — preventing them from attaining higher positions in the
party,” Johnson said. “Most Republicans do lip service to the
conservative side of gay issues. But on hiring practices, most of
them have been pretty reasonable.”
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage,
has a campaign manager who is gay. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who
linked gay sex to bestiality, has a press secretary who is gay. Both
senators are in perilous races for reelection, and neither staffer
would comment.
The GOP has at times seemed a bit disjointed in its approach to gay
issues. Political advisor Karl Rove ran Bush’s reelection campaign in
2004 by mobilizing opposition to same-sex marriage, even as Vice
President Dick Cheney said consenting adults of any orientation
should be free to marry. Cheney’s daughter Mary is a lesbian, and her
partner was welcomed at presidential events.
The president recently reappointed Israel Hernandez, a gay man who
had been a personal aide to Bush when he was Texas governor, to be
assistant secretary of Commerce and head of an international trade
office.
The Republican National Party says its tent is open to anyone who
shares its political views.
“The Republican Party welcomes individuals from all walks of life,”
said Republican National Committee Press Secretary Tracey Schmitt.
Regarding the threat of losing support from social conservatives, she
added: “Our core supporters understand that a Congress led by Harry
Reid and Nancy Pelosi [the Senate and House minority leaders] would
be devoid of a values agenda. They are mobilized and committed to
electing Republicans on Nov. 7.”