Stereotypes are prominent in all areas of life”even in politics. That's why Clarke Cooper believes so many people are surprised when he speaks of a significant LGBT surge within the Republican Party.
“I believe there's an expectation in the gay community that if one is gay, that it's predetermined their political ideology is Democrat,” says Cooper, the executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans who spoke to Watermark from his office in Washington, D.C. “If they are gay are they pro labor? Does that mean they should be supportive of having a weak national defense just because they're gay? If someone is gay are they immediately ascribed to support a government mandated health care system? Not necessarily.”
Cooper is an Army Combat veteran and former diplomat elected to the role of executive director in 2010. He is also openly gay and says the Log Cabin Republicans are the key to the advancement of LGBT rights in the United States and that the RNC is more accepting than many may believe.
“It's fair to make the broad generalization that in many cases and in many places it is much easier to be gay in conservative circles than to be conservative in gay circles,” he says. “I have found that personally to be the case.”
Coming out Republican
According to the Log Cabin Republican website, the organization operates chapters in 24 states, including Florida. Florida's chapter operates four branches”in Broward County, Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
“When our members participate in Pride events,” Cooper jokes, “the punch line we apply is, “So, you've come out gay. Have you come out politically?'”
And according to a 2010 CNN Exit Poll, there has been an increase in LGBTs “coming out” as Republican. That poll says that 31% of gay voters cast their ballots for Republicans during the 2010 midterm elections”a 4% increase from 2008's similar CNN poll. In 2006, the poll reported 24% of gay voters choose the GOP, one percent more than in 2004, when 23% did so.
“LGBT people are sharing that they are conservative,” says Cooper.
It's a wake up call, according to Jimmy LaSalvia, who is the Executive Director of GOProud, a conservative LGBT group that is not directly affiliated with the GOP or with the Log Cabin Republicans.
“The gay left would have you believe that gay conservatives don't exist,” LaSalvia said in a statement. “Now we see that almost a third of self-identified gay voters cast ballots for Republican candidates for Congress in [the 2010] midterm. “This should be a wake-up call for the out-of-touch so-called leadership of Gay Inc. in Washington, D.C., which has become little more than a subsidiary of the Democrat Party.”
St. Petersburg resident Aaron Norton is a Log Cabin Republican who currently supports Ron Paul. He's quick to note it's a personal endorsement, and not one from the LCR.
“I voted for him in the Presidency 5 straw poll in Florida,” Norton says. “I have met Congressman Paul in person, and he has publicly made several pro-equality statements. Like President Obama, he does not support gay marriage. However, he does oppose the federal government affording any rights or privileges to heterosexual couples that are not available to gay couples. And as a libertarian-leaning conservative, I appreciate his fiscal conservatism.”
Cooper says that he often hears that being a gay man and a Republican is counter-intuitive or even an oxymoron”but he always welcomes that dialogue.
“I'm happy to have that conversation,” Cooper says. “But what isn't helpful is when there's not a dialogue at all or an overly emotive conversation and negative comments are made toward myself or another staff member. Then there's no discourse.”
In the trenches
In the past two years, LGBT equality has reached a number of milestones”from the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell to same-sex marriage becoming legal in a handful of states.
And it's the work of the Log Cabin Republicans that have helped those milestones become reality, according to Cooper.
“I'm quick to remind those who are critical of us that without us there is no success, no movement and there is no progress on gay rights,” he says. “You have to have Republican support to make these things happen. Frankly no one else is doing it and we're the only game in town. The evidence is there.”
Brian Ellner, senior strategist for the Human Rights Campaign agrees. Without support from both parties, the advancement of LGBT rights wouldn't happen.
“It was essential to send a clear signal around the country that we will support those who support equality, irrespective of party,” says Ellner. “We were able to win marriage in New York with a bipartisan coalition of fair-minded elected officials. We need to replicate that if we are to keep winning.”
According to Cooper, many members of the U.S. House and Senate have told the Log Cabin Republican organization that it was the first group to approach them about the repeal of the law banning gay and lesbian members of the military from serving openly. It's the behind-the-scenes work of the LCR that whips votes for legislation, he says.
“If someone looks at the metrics of voting records and looks at where Republicans are, those that are supportive and on the tip of the spear of bringing inclusion to Republican party and advocating for rights for all Americans”that's the space we occupy,” Cooper says. “That's why we are necessary. No other gay organization has the credibility to produce that kind of result. They just don't. It takes a conservative talking with other conservatives to reach a result.
Finding the Obama alternative
Barack Obama will always be the president who signed the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, an act that cemented him as the most LGBT-accepting president in the minds of many LGBT voters. However, Cooper believes that the 44th President was given more credit than he was due in the measure.
“The White House was on cruise control,” Cooper says. “It was not in charge of whipping those votes. That's more of a condemnation of how they ran their legislative affairs ops. It was different for Bush”it was a priority. It didn't matter if it was an actual authorization bill or legislation, his administration worked the phones, pounded the pavement and he had staffers who did their part to get things done.”
Cooper says that from speaking to Senate and House Republicans prior to the DADT repeal, there were no offers of horse trading [political vote trading] from the White House.
Orlando resident Kelly Denyse believes that the “hype” surrounding Obama's apparent LGBT support is overrated.
“When he was a senator, he supported gay marriage,” says Denyse. “Now that he's president, he's “evolving' on the issue. To me that means he's pandering and doesn't stick with his convictions. He's not the leader so many LGBT people think he is.”
Norton doesn't plan on supporting Obama in November either. If his favorite Republican, Ron Paul, doesn't get the GOP nomination, he'll support Romney, despite the former Massachusetts governor's anti-gay marriage position.
“I don't think that Mitt Romney would be bad for gay rights,” Norton says. “In fact, he has taken some very supportive public positions on LGBT rights issues over the years. However, I am uncertain as to what degree he would advance equality. I would consider voting for him if he is the candidate, although I would prefer a more fiscally conservative, constitutionalist candidate.”
One thing most LGBT Republicans seem to agree on is that Rick Santorum would never get their vote.
No Santorum
While polls currently show Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum as front-runners for the GOP nomination, Norton is certain he won't vote for Santorum.
“To me he epitomizes the “Religious Right' wing of the GOP, a faction within the party that conceptualizes government as an acceptable tool to impose and legislate personal theological morality onto the public,” Norton says. “Not only do I believe he will be bad for gay rights, but he also impresses me as having a difficulty managing his anger.”
Cooper seems to think that's a common thread among LGBT GOP voters, who are disenfranchised by the former senator's ongoing tirade against same-sex intercourse and reproductive health.
“Santorum's perspective of governance goes beyond the role of government and he won't get the nomination,” Cooper says. “We want a commander in chief, not a theocrat in chief.”
The Log Cabin Republicans are planning to attend the GOP Convention in Tampa this August, and the organization will be represented in the delegates for three candidates”Romney, Newt Gingrich and Paul.
“Santorum isn't only anti-gay, he's anti-conservative,” Cooper explains. “And that's not just a concern among the Log Cabin Republicans. That's a concern across the entire Republican party.”
