Bush's betrayal: by welcoming gay and lesbian Republicans into the party, George W. Bush earned 1 million gay votes in 2000. Four years later, many of even the most faithful gay Republicans have deserted him.(Politics)

Publication: The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)

Publication Date: 26-OCT-04

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2004 Liberation Publications, Inc.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, "a lot of us gay Republicans thought Bush would make gay issues [into] nonissues," says Steve May, a former Republican state representative from Arizona. "I thought Bush would put a muzzle on theocrats who didn't want part of America to be truly free. But Karl Rove [Bush's chief campaign strategist] deliberately decided that it was more important to win the 4 million evangelicals who didn't vote [in 2000] than the 1 million gays who did."

Four years ago, May was among a select group of gay and lesbian Republicans--known as the "Austin 12"--who met face-to-face with candidate Bush in Austin, Texas. Bush announced he was a "better man" for the meeting and the group helped deliver an estimated 1 million votes to the future president.

Bush promised the 12 that he would appoint gay men and lesbians to his administration, give a speaking slot to openly gay Arizona congressman Jim Kolbe at the 2000 Republican National Convention, continue President Clinton's executive order that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation for federal workers, and finally, keep the lines of communication open with them.

Bush delivered on the first three requests, including giving the job of AIDS czar to out Republican Scott Evertz. Even the Clinton administration's edict forbidding antigay discrimination in federal jobs remains in effect, despite a Bush appointee's aborted attempt earlier this year to halt enforcement of the policy.

But then the Bush...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.