posted May 11, 2008 05:27 PM            

AKA: the delusional and confused.

Starring, Nosis!

Well, maybe.

They DO say geminis tend to go both ways

Interesting to note that the group is named after good ol' honest Abe, who many report was a homosexual. Of course it would take the wisdom and perspective of a queer person to see the injustice of slavery and end it.

Unfortunately this group has smeared his hallowed reputation.

he Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is a federated gay and lesbian political organization in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C. The group consists of supporters of the Republican Party who advocate for gay and lesbian rights and has long been formally committed to doing so.[1][2]
On December 18, 2006, the National Board of Directors named Patrick Sammon as the organization's new President.[3][4] Sammon also serves as President of the Liberty Education Forum, a non-partisan educational foundation that is associated with Log Cabin. Sammon has been leading these organizations on an interim basis since September 1st and succeeds Patrick Guerriero, who on January 1, 2003, succeeded Rich Tafel as the leader of the Log Cabin Republicans. Guerriero stepped down as leader of the Log Cabin Republicans on September 1, 2006 to lead the Gill Action Fund.

The name of the organization is a reference to the first Republican President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin.
Many of the persons involved in Log Cabin Republicans are also involved in The Liberty Education Forum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.
The California organization had initially popularized the "Log Cabin Republicans" name, so the national organization adopted the name as well.
According to their website, the California group initially proposed to name themselves Lincoln Club, but found that name was already in use by another California Republican organization. Thus, an alternate name was chosen that still invoked the memory of President Lincoln: Log Cabin Republicans.
Their website further states, "The GOP rose to power because it embraced the ideals of equality imagined by our nation's founding fathers and ensured by our Constitution. When Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a 'new birth of freedom,' was indeed given to our country. Now, more than 150 years later, the GOP has another chance to choose fairness over discrimination, equality over bigotry, hope over fear, and freedom over oppression."
The organization originally featured a portrait of Lincoln on its website and other publicity material.
[edit]National prominence during Dole presidential campaign

It was not until August 1995, when the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole returned the group's $1,000 campaign contribution, that it gained significant national attention.[5] The campaign returned the contribution after being asked by openly lesbian columnist Deb Price of the Detroit News 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."[6]
The story took on prominence in the media when it was revealed that before it was returned, the finance office of the campaign had solicited the contribution from Log Cabin, and at the event where it was given, Dole had personally spoken with Log Cabin's then-executive director Rich Tafel about the group and AIDS legislation it was promoting in the Senate, which Dole had agreed to co-sponsor after a meeting held at the campaign's headquarters with Tafel weeks earlier.[7] It resulted in a front-page story in the New York Times, penned by Richard L. Berke, then-chief political reporter for the daily.[8]
As reporters, including Berke, were seeking confirmation of the story before it broke, Dole's finance chairman, John Moran, asked Tafel to not 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.[9]
Leading pundits accused Dole of being a "flip-flopper and a hypocrite".[10] Editorials ran in major newspapers, including the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, Atlanta Constitution and the Times of London, condemning Dole's action, joined by radio commentators Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus.[11][12] Under the pressure, Dole admitted during an October 1995 press briefing on Capitol Hill that he regretted the decision to return the check, that his campaign was responsible for it without consulting him.[13] "I think if they'd have consulted me, we wouldn't have done that, wouldn't have returned it," Dole said.[14] 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 with second-guessing his staff in his failed 1988 bid. Dole later told Washington Post editor and author Bob Woodward that the Log Cabin 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?"[15]
Log Cabin's leadership met with Dole's coalitions manager to discuss an endorsement after Dole's reversal.[16] 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-gay 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 Log Cabin nod.[17] On the opening night of the convention, Stephen Fong, then-president of the San Francisco chapter, gave a one-minute speech in a series of speeches from "main street Americans", but was not identified as gay.[18] While there was no mention of Fong's homosexuality in his speech, his presence at the podium for the Log Cabin delegates in the arena "was something that would have been unimaginable four years earlier," Tafel later wrote.[18] Two days later, Dole spokesperson Christina Martin told a reporter that the campaign "welcomed the endorsement of the Log Cabin Republicans."[18] Log Cabin 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, Log Cabin's convention delegates and officers of its national board to announce their decision.[18]
Later in the campaign, Tafel met with Dole's chief aide Sheila Burke, and the remaining demands Log Cabin made for their endorsement were met. In a statement released by Log Cabin, 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.[18] Dole would go on to win 23% of the gay and lesbian vote but would lose the election to Bill Clinton. [19]
[edit]Platform

The Log Cabin stresses its loyalty to the Republican Party: "We are loyal Republicans," its website says. "We believe in low taxes, limited government, strong defense, free markets, personal responsibility, and individual liberty. Log Cabin represents an important part of the American family—taxpaying, hard working people who proudly believe in this nation's greatness."[1] They take no position on abortion.
But Log Cabin dissents from socially conservative Republican views on matters relating to gay and lesbian rights. "We also believe all Americans have the right to liberty, freedom, and equality," it says.[2] "Log Cabin stands up against those who preach hatred and intolerance. We stand up for the idea that all Americans deserve to be treated equally—regardless of their sexual orientation.[3]
[edit]Log Cabin's view of President George H. W. Bush

posted May 17, 2008 01:39 AM            

I know a couple of LCRs and at least THEIR idea is to hopefully make the Republicans more responsive to the gay community.

The problem right now is that the USA effectively has a 2-party system. And the Democrats take the gay vote for granted and so shaft the gay community over and over again with a shrug and implied question, "If you don't like it, then vote for the other guy, HA, HA!" Natch, this has bred A LOT of resentment among many gays. (I actually saw lesbians come real close to beating up someone that tried talking them into voting Democrat while they listed how many ways the Democrats had stabbed the gay community in the back as they worked themselves up into a fighting rage.)

Just as gays became part of the Democrat party, some want to become part of the Republican Party. Because if that happens, then the 2 parties will have to FIGHT for their vote. And for the VERY FIRST TIME, gays will have an actual voice worth counting, because their vote can no longer be taken for granted.