GOP: gay old party?

The Religious Right is so strong the Republican Party can't help but pander to them. They're the strict conservative power structure that is pushing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. They continue to engulf the GOP and to foster contempt for gays. Therefore, I don't blame the Republican Party directly for the amendment's support. I blame the Religious Right.\nThe commonly accepted idea is that the amendment will split the Democratic Party, but I say if the GOP isn't careful, it may very well split their own. Being an independent, I usually don't give advice to the political parties, but Republicans, you really need to lay off gay people. \nThey may be born gay, but they aren't born Democrats. A lot of gay people want to vote Republican but find the GOP asininely hostile, divisive and intolerant. However, the GOP can't afford to lose gay Republicans. The irony is that the Republican Party needs gay people more than gay people need the Republican Party.\nCNN exit polls in 2000 indicated nearly 5 percent of the electorate identified themselves as gay, with who knows how many more closeted. Bush got over a million gay votes, and in an election that close, I'm sure he appreciated every one. \nThe Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay Republican advocacy group in the country, and perhaps one of the most patient advocacy groups, exists to tackle the radical right's bigotry head-on. But the members are fighting an uphill battle for inclusion in a party that would rather keep them at arm's length and handle them with rubber gloves. \nMark Brostoff realized this. Brostoff, a local precinct representative who is openly gay, left the GOP last week in protest over President Bush's endorsement of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. \nWhen I spoke with him last week, he told me that, for him, it isn't a debate over whether you're for or against same-sex marriage. It's whether you're for or against amending the founding legal document of our country to limit individual rights. \nLog Cabin Republicans call it their "line in the sand." They are launching a cross-country television campaign to challenge President Bush's call for the amendment, but in the meantime, who knows how many low-profile gay people will decide not to vote for Bush.\nThis can't be explained to the Religious Right. They drop threats when they feel the GOP is straying too much into the societal norm. Bush probably doesn't even think the amendment has a chance to pass, but why lose an opportunity to kiss a little religious butt? The claim is that he's reassuring them and "energizing his conservative base."\nSo they weren't energized for him before? Who else were they going to vote for -- gay rights advocate John Kerry? Well, no. They're whining that if they feel betrayed by Bush's stands on social issues, they just won't vote in November. (Allow me to say: thanks, you won't be missed at the polls.)\nRepublicans should tread lightly. I'm not saying they need to abandon their commitment to family values, but they shouldn't start saying "my family is superior to your family." Bush will get the conservative vote and the religious vote anyway -- he needs to worry about the moderate vote that may find codifying bigotry into the Constitution a bit too extreme.\nI'm primarily concerned that it's morally wrong to use hate and alienate gay voters. But the GOP should be concerned they're being overwhelmed by corrupting radicals. If they're smart, they'll slowly try to divorce itself from religious zealots. If they're not, they risks placing themselves on the losing side of politics, or worse, the wrong side of history.