Today’s Wall Street Journal features an excellent column by James Kirchick, assistant editor of The New Republic.  In his column, titled “The GOP Should Kiss Gay-Bashing Goodbye,” Kirchick makes the case that this year has proven to be a measurable improvement over 2004 for gay and lesbian Americans:

What was noticeably absent from last week’s Republican gabfest? Gay-bashing.

This is not an insignificant development for Republicans. In 2004, gays featured prominently at the Republicans’ convention and in their rhetoric.

Why is that?  One good reason, which all of us at Log Cabin spent most of last week at the RNC talking about, is the shifting attitude among Republicans on this issue:

Republicans might also have noticed the opinions of their own party members and realized that attacking the “gay agenda” would prove unpopular. On the eve of the convention, a New York Times/CBS News poll reported 49% of Republican delegates were in support of either civil unions (43%) or marriage (6%) for gay couples. While 90% of Democratic delegates support either marriage (55%) or civil unions (35%), Republican delegates — the party’s conservative base — are actually more liberal on this issue than Republican voters, only 39% of whom support either option. With 58% of the American public in favor of some form of legal recognition, Republicans are actually closer to the national mood, and are hopefully beginning to understand that Buchananite “cultural war” rhetoric is fast becoming a thing of the past.

The entire column is well worth reading.

-posted by Scott Tucker