After being tipped off by a recent Washington Blade article about GOP LGBT groupsâ attempts to influence the Republican Party platform at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins says those groups should expect a fight.
In a recent âWashington Update,â Perkins warns that âactivists are already plotting to overthrow the Republicansâ pro-life, pro-family platform. ⌠Homosexual groups like GOProud and the Log Cabin Republicans are hoping to elbow their way into the conversation, but theyâll meet strong resistance from the solid conservatives that have historically dominated the platform process.â
Gay GOP groupsâ strategy, as reported by the Blade, is to try to make the partyâs 2012 party platform more LGBT-friendly than 2008â˛s, which denounced same-sex marriage as well as statues against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in areas such as employment and adoption.
âLog Cabin Republicans plan to actively participate in the process to revise the partyâs platform,â Log Cabin Deputy Executive Director Christian Berle told the Blade. âWe recognize there will be a lot of work to be done to strengthen the importance of reaching out to LGBT Americans as a part of strengthening the party.â
Despite Perkinsâ insistence that such efforts should be tamped down, he disputes the idea that there is a gay constituency in the Republican Party, stating, âAlthough Gov. Jon Huntsman is the only candidate with a pro-gay agenda, [GOProud board chair Christopher] Barron says heâs âconfidentâ that this almost non-existent constituency is âgoing to have a nominee that gay conservatives can work with.ââ (Perkins ignores the fact that openly gay Republican candidate Fred Karger is still in the race and has been fighting for recognition from his own party.)
Last month, GOProud was uninvited to next yearâs Conservative Political Action Conference âfor pushing this same divisive agenda,â according to Perkins. However, as a boost to their credibility within the Republican Party, GOProud recently acquired conservative commentator Ann Coulter as the new âhonorary chairâ of its advisory council.
Perkinsâ major concerns with Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud appears to stem from a concern that the Republican Party might bend a little on LGBT issues, but itâs the 2012 Democratic Party platform (which he says is also âunder attackâ by LGBT lobby groups) he fears more:
Homosexuals are already leaning on Democrats to step up their support for the LGBT cause when the Left convenes in Charlotte more than 13 months from now. In 2008, delegates made it clear that this is not your grandparentsâ Democratic party. For the first time in history, the Leftâs planks called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the militaryâs âDonât Ask, Donât Tellâ policy. Now, homosexuals want more. They want âmarriage.â
But the Research Councilâs lobbying arm, FRC Action, and new Super Political Action Committee, Faith Family Freedom Fund, are prepared to push back on LGBT agendas from both parties.
âAs always, the FRC Action team will be on hand in Florida, fighting for the values and priorities of Americaâs families,â Perkins says. âWeâll make sure the conservative base has a solid platform to stand on.â