The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that the Utah Republican Party has saught out state Log Cabin Republican President Mel Nimer to fill a vacancy in its line up of candidates for the State Senate:

Nimer said he had been considering a bid for office for some time, but had anticipated running for city or county council.

“This is a bigger spot and a bigger jump than I’d anticipated,” he said.

…

Nimer said he believes sexual orientation will not be an issue in the campaign. Voters have shown their willingness to vote for a gay candidate when they elected Scott McCoy to the Senate in 2008, he said, and McAdams has been a strong ally to the gay community.

“More than anything else, what I’m doing is giving the Republicans and independents an alternative to vote for,” Nimer said. “I bring a different viewpoint to this stuff. I am a conservative Republican as far as limited government and individual responsibility.”

If he wins, Nimer would be the first openly gay Republican legislator in the state. There have been three gay Democrats in the Legislature. Nimer said he doesn’t anticipate any problems with the Republican caucus, which includes several conservatives who have been hostile toward gay issues.

“I’m not a new kid. I’ve been a Republican my whole life, and I know a lot of people on the Hill already. They’re friends and associates of mine,” Nimer said.

Read more in the Salt Lake City Tribune.

Posted: September 5th, 2010 under In the States, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper was featured Sunday in the New York Times discussing the GOP’s efforts to reach out to a broader base.  When asked about reconciling tension between social and fiscal conservatives, he answered:

Any tension between mainstream conservatives and social conservatives is less of an issue within Republican circles during the 2010 election cycle than previous cycles. Why? We lost and we lost big in 2008, which forced all Republicans to re-evaluate strategy, tactics and messaging with voters.

Many in party leadership came to realize that any sort of identity politics or wedge social issues had a diminishing political return and cut into our party’s broad base. Log Cabin Republicans has long advocated that the Republican National Committee focus on the core conservative principals of individual liberty and individual responsibility. From those two basic conservative principals, the L.C.R. helps the Republican leadership advance candidates and policies supportive of a free market economy, fiscal responsibility, immigration reform, strong national defense and a confident foreign policy.

Mr. Mehlman’s recent revelation that he is gay is actually good news for the party. He joins a growing chorus of elected Republican officials and well-known Republicans who support full civil rights, including former Vice President Cheney, former Solicitor General Ted Olson, former First Lady Laura Bush, as well as my former State Department colleagues Ambassador John Bolton and Ambassador Mark Wallace.

Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do – it is also smart politics. Today’s voters believe that people should be judged by the content of their character, not by their sexual orientation. This is entirely consistent with the traditional Republican respect for the individual. Promoting that value will help us win in at the ballot box. Also, openly gay Republicans running for office like L.C.R. member, Richard Tisei, candidate for Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, and former L.C.R. Board Member, Steve May, candidate for the Arizona Legislature, help personify diversity in the party.

Fortunately, the Republican National Committee and the campaign entities, the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee are making strong efforts to focus on common conservative themes. These entities have reached out to Log Cabin Republicans to help revitalize the party. Inclusion will help Republicans rebuild the party base and regain a majority in Congress that can benefit all Americans.

Posted: August 30th, 2010 under From the Right, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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The Log Cabin Republicans of Utah and nearly two hundred gay and lesbian activists recently met with Governor Gary Herbert at a reception at the Governor’s Mansion. This reception continues in the tradition of former Governor John Huntsman who first invited Log Cabin Republicans to the Governor’s Mansion in 2007.

Herbert met Tuesday with leaders from not only the Utah Log Cabin Republicans — an LGBT group that has endorsed Herbert — but also Equality Utah, the Utah Pride Center and the Human Rights Campaign. “You’re all part of the fabric of Utah,” Herbert told the crowd of 150 people, most of whom were LGBT community members. “We want to make sure you are appreciated, loved and supported.”

Herbert did not discuss specific political issues that affect the LGBT community, saying the reception at the governor’s mansion was a “social event.” He also praised the support of his wife, Jeanette, and noted their 40th wedding anniversary this year.

“I’m very impressed the governor is willing to meet with the LGBT community,” Eric Ethington, founder of PrideInUtah.com, said after the event.

…

Herbert was joined at the event by several other Republican leaders, including Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, state and Salt Lake County party chairmen, West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder and Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall. Both mayors have helped to pass anti-discrimination protections in their cities for gay and transgender residents.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Wall said in an interview, noting that he supports a statewide law. “It’s a group of people who are discriminated against, and really, for no reason other than they’re different.”

James Humphreys, vice president of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans, said he views Herbert as “neutral,” but not necessarily “friendly” toward LGBT issues.

“In Utah, that is certainly a step forward in most cases,” Humphreys said. “He and [the lieutenant governor] are very willing to sit down and discuss any issue with anyone. That gives us an opportunity to have meaningful discussions.”

Read more about the reception in the Salt Lake City Tribune.

Posted: August 25th, 2010 under From the Right, In the States, Log Cabin In Focus.
Comments: 1

Steve May, former Log Cabin Republicans National Board member and long-time warrior against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” appears to have succeeded in taking the first step toward returning to the Arizona State House of Representatives after his write-in campaign far exceeded the number of votes necessary to qualify for the ballot this November.  May served as a state representative from 1998 until 2002, during which time he was chairman of the House Ways and Means committee.

A successful businessman, former Army reservist (discharged under DADT) and firm advocate for the GOP values of fiscal responsibility and individual liberty, Log Cabin Republicans is proud to support Steve May for the Arizona State House of Representatives.  For more about his campaign, see here.

Posted: August 25th, 2010 under Elections, In the News, In the States, Log Cabin In Focus.
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CORNYN DUE AT A GAY FUNDRAISER
THE SENATOR SAY HE THINKS IT IS BETTER TO TALK

By Trish Choate
Times Record News
Posted July 30, 2010 at 3:47 a.m.

WASHINGTON – Staunch social conservative Sen. John Cornyn said he’s accepted an invitation to appear at a gay and lesbian group’s fundraiser in September to seek common ground.

The junior Texas senator in charge of getting Republicans elected to the Senate has voted against same-sex marriage and opposed a recent push to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting known gays and lesbians from serving.

But Sept. 22, he plans to drop by the Log Cabin Republicans Polit­ical Action Committee reception before the national group’s 2010 dinner in Washington, D.C.

“Some things we won’t agree on,” Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said. “But I think it’s always better to talk and then try find those things we can agree on rather than just assume there’s no common ground whatsoever.”

Cornyn said same-sex mar­riage is “absolutely” one of those things he and LCR members don’t agree on, but he’s happy to talk to them.

“I don’t want people to misun­derstand and think that I don’t respect the dignity of every human being regardless of sexu­al orientation,” Cornyn said.

In that vein, he thought at­tending the fundraising event was something he should do, he said.

In late May, Cornyn called for lawmakers to wait to consider repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” until military leaders know more about how lifting the ban would affect the armed forces.

The LCR is leading a legal fight against it.

But LCR executive director R. Clarke Cooper said his organization hopes to usher in an era of reconciliation between gay and lesbian Republicans and other GOP members.

The gay and lesbian group has captured the attention of the NRSC, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, the fundraising arm for House Republicans, Cooper said.

After all, LCR members have both votes and contributions to offer, he said.

Republicans got their teeth “kicked in” in the 2008 elections, bringing about some realizations among top GOP officials, Cooper said.

They’ve seen that while wedge issues associated with gays and lesbians might have yielded some small victories, the GOP and some candidates have seen a diminishing return, Cooper said.

“So our role within the party is to help educate current elected leaders … and also educate candidates as to how they can be still true to themselves as far as issues, as far as core conservative, back-to-basics issues without using the gay and lesbian community as a target,” he said.

Robert Schlein, president of the Dallas Chapter of the LCR, said Cornyn and Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, NRCC chairman, are in a party building mode.

“They understand the importance of reaching out and adding to the Republican ranks,” Schlein said.

Sessions has attended the Dallas group’s meetings, Schlein said.

Republicans aren’t going to agree on all the issues, but they can agree on core conservative beliefs such as fiscal responsibility, national security, liberty, less regulation in business and the anti-President Obama agenda, he said.

“I, as a Republican, do not want to trade the hope for gay rights for the destruction that’s happening right now in our economic system,” Schlein said.

Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri said 100 percent of Republicans don’t have to agree with each other 100 percent of the time.

The RPT platform posted online includes a provision on homosexuality that reads in part, “We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases.”

Munisteri said his role doesn’t include going through the RPT platform and saying what he’s for or against. “My role as chairman is to recognize that the delegates pick a platform, to recognize not everybody agrees with every particular plank or word and move forward and work on elections,” he said.

Munisteri said he’s a anti- abortion social conservative in favor of marriage only between a man and a woman.

Would Munisteri appear at meeting of the Dallas Chapter of the LCR if he were invited?

“I don’t deal with hypotheticals,” he said. “I’ll deal with that when it happens.” The LCR began in the late 1970s in California.

Gay and lesbian Republicans who helped former President Ronald Reagan get elected as governor of California successfully appealed to him to speak out against state legislation to oust gay and lesbian teachers from public classrooms, Cooper said.

Posted: July 30th, 2010 under Log Cabin In Focus.
Comments: 1

Associated Press July 23, 2010

“RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Lawyers for a Republican gay rights organization will ask a judge for an injunction to halt the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy during their closing arguments in a federal trial challenging the law.

Lawyers for the Log Cabin Republicans say they will ask U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips on Friday to declare the law unconstitutional.

The case is unique in that it is not based on an individual’s complaint but rather is a broad, sweeping attack on the policy. It is the biggest legal test of the law in recent years.

The case has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of defending a policy the president wants repealed. Government attorneys have argued throughout the two-week trial that Congress should decide on the policy — not a federal judge.

They presented only the policy’s legislative history in their defense.

The Log Cabin Republicans’ witnesses included former officers discharged under the policy and other experts who presented studies of how openly gay troops do not affect unit cohesion or military readiness, as proponents of the law have argued. The group’s attorneys also submitted President Barack Obama’s remarks that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy weakens national security.

The plaintiff’s lead lawyer, Dan Woods, argued the policy violates the rights of gay military members to free speech, due process and open association.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or are discovered to be engaging in homosexual activity, even in the privacy of their own homes off base.

The group says more than 13,500 service members have been fired under the law since 1994. The 19,000-member Log Cabin Republicans include current and former military members.

Phillips is expected to issue her verdict in writing. Lawyers say she could take weeks or longer to make her decision.

Legal experts say she may hold off to see if Congress is going to repeal it.

The U.S. House voted May 27 to repeal the policy, and the Senate is expected to take up the issue this summer.

In deciding to hear the challenge, Phillips said the “possibility that action by the legislative and executive branches will moot this case is sufficiently remote.”

Woods, a Los Angeles attorney from the firm White & Case, said if Phillips rules in their favor and the government appeals, he will ask her to suspend the policy until the case is decided.”

Posted: July 23rd, 2010 under In Focus, In the News, Issues in Focus, Log Cabin In Focus.
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‘DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL’ IS A THREAT TO THE CONSTITUTION AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

The following quotes are extracted from Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper’s  Op-Ed on the DADT policy.

“Recent headlines lead many in the gay community to believe the fight to repeal DADT is over, but the policy and discharges remain fully in force.”

“As a veteran of the Iraq campaign and a current Army reserve officer, I can attest that DADT is a hindrance to servicemember integrity, readiness and security, and is a waste of tax dollars.”

“Further, striking the DADT policy and implementing repeal will be a force multiplier for the retention and expansion of much-needed personnel and resources to fulfill the expeditionary campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other training and peace-keeping missions around the globe.”

Read the entire Op-Ed at Metro Weekly

Posted: July 22nd, 2010 under In Focus, In the News, Issues in Focus, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Yesterday in Riverside California, the head of Servicemembers United Alexander Nicholson, testified in the Log Cabin Republicans lawsuit challenging the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.

Nicholson is the founder and Executive Director of the nation’s largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans. He was one of the lead witnesses in the trial in federal court. Through testimony and facts, Log Cabin hopes to get DADT declared unconstitutional by the federal judge.

“I am especially honored to be the lead veteran witness in this case and to have the opportunity to represent all gay and lesbian troops and veterans on the witness stand today at this very important and historic trial,” said Nicholson, who was discharged under DADT.

“This unnecessary and bigoted law has caused untold harm to each and every person who has served under it, and that, in turn, has harmed the quality and readiness of our armed forces,” he said.

Read full testimony from the trial on Log Cabin Republicans’s website here.

Posted: July 21st, 2010 under In Focus, In the News, Issues in Focus, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Testimony and personal stories are being heard this week at the Log Cabin Republicans v. United States court case challenging the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. The trial began on Tuesday in Riverside California and is schedule to continue through next Thursday. Thousands of servicemembers have been discharged under the policy causing for thousands of lives to be thrown into disarray. Testimony from several members about their personal discharge is often very somber and upsetting.

Former petty officer 3rd class Joseph Christopher Rocha was discharged after harassment and hazing from commanders and other servicemembers. He testified that even with this treatment, if the ban is lifted he will rejoin the military.

Even though President Obama made repeal a goal on his agenda, his administration is defending the policy in court. White and Case partner and Log Cabin attorney Dan Woods stated about the US attorneys, “The fact that they are offering no witnesses, no documents other than evidence from 1993 — I think it weakens their case. They’ve chosen a conservative strategy. And they’re not trying to prove that DADT has worked.”

Today Major Mike Almy will testify about his 2006 discharge from the Air Force after a search of Almy’s private e-mails was conducted by his commanding officer. Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, will also testify about how the policy fails to prove any justifiable military objectives.

 Read the entire article by The Advocate here.

Posted: July 16th, 2010 under In Focus, In the News, Issues in Focus, Log Cabin In Focus.
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The Washington Post conducted an interview with Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper about the Log Cabin trial against the United States ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. Here are some memorable quotes from Mr. Cooper in the interview

“If [the policy] ends through the executive process, fine; if it ends through the legislative process, fine. But to achieve victory, as in military operations, one has to look at multiple theaters.”

“You can’t walk up to a judge and ask him when to set the trial. We’ve been working up to this court date. It didn’t happen overnight.”

“If you break down those metrics, registered Republicans generally support repeal.”

“For others, it’s the fiscal side. . . . There’s a lot of support data out there that Log Cabin and other organizations have used to show it’s expensive to discharge somebody.”

 “Our moniker is “Inclusion Wins.” We’ve been advocating for years that we should focus on basic, core conservative values and stay away from divisive wedge issues and social issues.”

 Read the entire interview here.

Posted: July 15th, 2010 under Action Alert, Chapter News, In Focus, In the News, Issues in Focus, Log Cabin In Focus.
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