Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyFebruary 1st, 2009
The new chairman of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, told Chris Wallace this morning that the party needs to reach out to supporters of abortion rights and gay rights:
WALLACE: You are one of the co-founders of something called the Republican Leadership Council…
STEELE: Yep.
WALLACE: … which supports candidates who favor abortion and gay rights.
STEELE: Yep.
WALLACE: Does the GOP need to do a better job of reaching out to people who hold those views?
STEELE: I think — I think that’s an important opportunity for us, absolutely, because within our party we do have those who have that view as well as outside.
And my partnership with Christy Todd Whitman was an effort to hopefully build a bridge between moderates and conservatives in the party. I’m a pro-life Roman Catholic conservative, always have been.
WALLACE: You also support a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.
STEELE: That’s right. And the reality of it is this, because I don’t think we should muck around with the Constitution. We can deal with that at the state level, OK? That’s my personal view.
[Ed: Steele may have misunderstood Wallace’s question. Steele supports anti-marriage amendments on the state level but has spoken against a federal marriage amendment – which seems to be what he is saying here.]
But the reality of it is the party has to recognize the diversity of opinion that’s out there. And we’re not going to get everyone to agree with the — Ronald Reagan said it best. If you agree with me 80 percent of the time, I think that’s good enough. I mean, I think we can move forward on that 80 percent.
So there are some 80-percent issues out there that we can work with those within our party and outside our party and create a new bridge and a new opportunity. That was my involvement with the RLC, and I’m very happy about that.
WALLACE: But just to press on this…
STEELE: Yep.
WALLACE: … if you believe — if someone believes in a woman’s right to choose, if someone believes in gay civil rights, where’s the 80 percent agreement with the Republican Party?
STEELE: It could be — it could be on our — on economics.
WALLACE: No, but I’m talking about on those issues.
STEELE: Well, you know, see — now, Chris, you’ve just defined — you’ve just defined the world in which there are issues. You’ve just narrowed — you’ve just narrowed my scope to two issues.
WALLACE: No, I’m just saying on those issues, is there 80 percent agreement?
STEELE: Well, if there — if that’s the 20 percent they disagree with us on, let’s work on the 80 percent where they agree with us. That’s my point.
I’m not going to allow anyone to define the issues for us and say, “Well, these are the only two issues that really matter.” There’s a whole range of issues out there in which we can address the American people and the American people can come to our table.
Michael Steele is not a supporter equality for gay citizens. But he is a supporter of those who are. And this is a very positive step for the party. Not because of what Steele believes, but because his election was a symbol of a desire to change and a willingness to place inclusion ahead of dogmatism.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Lucrece
February 1st, 2009
Um, no. What this says is “You can disagree with my lobbying for anti-gay marriage amendments, but the party could still suit you on the economical views”.
He pretends to tell people that they will not deny the Republican party their vote based on that single disagreement, as if it’s just a disagreement. It’s not. It’s one whopping disconnect. Social issues do not share equal space with financial issues. If someone runs a party that consistently advocates anti-marriage amendments and anti-abortion legislation, I’m not going to vote for them regardless of how much we agree with the economic perspective.
This was clearly a message to those LCR’s that are willing to sacrifice gay rights progress for other issues.
elaygee
February 1st, 2009
You’ll see monkeys fly out of my ass before anyone I know supports the Creepublican party.
John
February 1st, 2009
How is Republican opposition to gay rights not an economic issue?
I always thought that health-care benefits, tax breaks, inheritance rights, pension survivor rights, medicare and social security survivor rights, the right to sue for wrongful death when the bread winner of a family is killed by someone, the right not to fired from your job just because of your sexual orientation, the right to apply for a loan and the right to buy or rent a home (just to list a few) were economic issues.
I guess this new Republican Party leader is telling me that I just don’t understand economics. I am not so sure that he understands what the average voter thinks about when they think of economics.
Not a great start in my opinion.
Joe
February 1st, 2009
Timothy, I think you are desperately looking for a sliver of a silver lining in the Republican Party.
You are reading way too much into this and giving them too much credit.
Fred
February 2nd, 2009
Outside of crises (such as the current economic one) political parties do not to leap from one mutually exclusive belief to another. Generally speaking, positions shift gradually something like this.
They start at ‘this is an article of faith issue, anyone who doesn’t believe this isn’t one of us’, then move to ‘we believe this, there is a small minority amongst us who disagree, but we can work with them on other issues’. Then to ‘In general we believe this, there is however a significant even large minority who disagree, it certainly isn’t an article of faith issue’. Then to ‘there is a real on-going debate about this within our party, just as there is within wider society. Next, ‘we no longer believe this as a party in general although we have many older respected members who still do’ and finally to ‘we no longer believe this’.
Small though this first step is, it is a necessary first step.
Jarred
February 2nd, 2009
I’m inclined to agree with Lucrece. This inclusion seems nothing more like trying to attract pro-gay and pro-choice voters on economic issues. If that inclusiveness is used merely to gain power and then continue to enforce an anti-gay, anti-choice agenda, I find it hard to see it as nothing more than an illusion and, ultimately, betrayal.
If the Republican party doesn’t want to lose people due to gay rights and abortion issues, then let them table those issues altogether.
Patrick
February 2nd, 2009
“Michael Steele is not a supporter equality for gay citizens. But he is a supporter of those who are.”
He is a supporter of those who support equality for gay citizens? You mean the gays who support equality for gays? He supports gays by not supporting their equality?
He is a supporter of those who support equality for gay citizens? Or do you mean straights who support gays? He supports straights who support gays? Exactly what rights do those straights not have?
The republican party has led the charge to deny gays equal rights. They have been unapologetic and relentless. Enough said until they issue a flat out apology and repent of their sins.
Leave A Comment