“Let me warn you! There is a gay conservative agenda. It goes like this: we want free markets, smaller government, the repeal of Obamacare, and we want to win. We want to win just like every other conservative out there.” This was the opening to a lecture given by Gregory T. Angelo, Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a widely known group that represents the interests of gay conservatives.
Angelo continued his remarks on discussing the foundation of the Log Cabin Republicans and its mission to get gay conservatives elected, conservative ideals represented, and the movement for marriage equality.
“Log Cabin was founded by a group of gay Republicans in 1977 in California was a response to a bill called Prop 6, similar to that of Prop 8 that went to the voters recently in California. The bill would have banned open gay teachers from teaching in schools.” He continued, “at great political risk, Ronald Reagan, who was preparing to run for president at the entered into the discussion. The polls showed that the bill was supported 2-1 in California, but Reagan, risking the presidency, came out against the bill and claimed it to be discriminatory.” The Briggs Initiative, as it was called, “went down 2-1. Reagan made the difference.”
Angelo himself was involved in a large gay marriage fight while Chairman of the New York Log Cabin Republicans. “For the first time in history, while under Republican leadership, New York State passed marriage equality laws!” Angelo exclaimed. “We even added religious protections to protect religious liberty.” New York State has been the only state to pass a marriage equality bill while under a Republican majority. “The Democrats,” he claimed, “overreached and ended in partisan bickering.”
Angelo then laid out a case for marriage equality. “If you are for personal freedom, you should support marriage equality,” he argued, “because you should support the rights of two individuals to enter into any relationship they please. If you support religious liberty, you should also support marriage equality. The Log Cabin Republican’s goal is to make sure that all marriage laws come with religious protections so that all religions can be protected.”
Angelo stressed however, that the most important thing in the present state of things was to get conservatives elected. He also stressed the Log Cabin Republicans’ support for the repeal of Obamacare. “We are the only identifiable gay group supporting its repeal, Angelo claimed. “We know it is bad, and just like many Americans, gay Americans are losing vital coverage too.”