June 2003
Ready
for a Gay GOP?
Dear
Friend of FRC,
How
do you feel about the Republican Party flirting with the homosexual lobby?
What
would you think if the Republican Party became a virtual mirror image of the
Democrats when it comes to its position on special rights for homosexuals?
Even
more to the point—how ready are you for the GOP to abandon its historic
commitment to traditional moral values, including man-and-woman-only marriage,
for the sake of winning a few gay votes?
I’ll
tell you how I feel about all this—and it’s probably the same way you
feel.
I
am extremely disappointed by Republican leaders’ recent
failure to stand up to intolerant radical homosexuals and to defend the
party’s most basic pro-family principles.
In
fact, it seems that some so-called “big tent” Republicans think they can
have it both ways: both accommodate gay activists and their extreme
anti-family, anti-free speech agenda and retain the loyalties of the
conservative voters who put President Bush in the White House and Republicans
in control of both houses of Congress.
It
cannot happen. Either the Republican party stays true to its core principles
or, I am convinced, millions of conservatives who thought their values had a
home in the GOP will stay home next election day.
And that is why I am
writing to ask you to help the Family Research Council mount an intense and
focused effort to persuade Republican leaders to stop courting the radical
homosexual lobby before they take over and destroy the GOP.
To
help us communicate this clear and unmistakable message, please sign the two
important documents I have enclosed and return them to my attention today. We
will tabulate your and our other friends’ response to this special effort,
then deliver your signed messages to the two people who urgently need to
receive them.
The
first, a Message of Support, is to Sen. Rick Santorum. The second, a Statement
of Concern and Opposition, is to Marc Racicot, chairman of the Republican
National Committee.
First,
let me tell you why chairman Racicot needs to understand that he must stop
acting as if the GOP wants and needs the input and votes of gay
extremists. As you may know by now, Chairman Racicot held a secret meeting
with the leaders of the Human Rights Campaign last March. The HRC is the
biggest and most influential gay rights group in America—a group that
constantly and viciously attacks conservative Christians and groups like the
Family Research Council.
Incredibly,
when news of the secret meeting leaked out through a gay newspaper, Chairman
Racicot’s official spokesman defended the meeting and said the RNC chairman
was “honored” to meet with the homosexual lobbying group!
Strange. I
have never felt particularly “honored” to come face-to-face with the Human
Rights Campaign. I have debated HRC President Elizabeth Birch on television.
She and her organization are extremist in every sense of the word and have
utter contempt for those of us who oppose her radical views on homosexuality.
More than that, the Human Rights
Campaign wants to implement its agenda no matter what you or the majority of
Americans think about homosexuality and its disastrously negative impact on
individuals, families, children, and society. Right now, the HRC is actively
promoting same-sex “marriage;” federal and state “hate crime” laws
that would punish you for having the “wrong” thoughts about homosexuals;
the teaching of homosexuality to every public school child; the “right” of
lesbians and homosexuals to adopt children, and much more.
In addition, the HRC opposed and
sought to defeat the confirmation of Timothy Tymkovich, nominated by President
Bush to the federal appeals court, and is working to block confirmation of
several other Bush judges.
So clearly, the HRC is not just
another benign special interest group seeking to advance its views. It is a
key player on the political left. It is a radical organization working to
advance an extremist agenda at odds with the Republican party platform and the
views of the overwhelming number of rank-and-file, pro-family Americans.
So why
would the chairman of the Republican Party risk alienating this base of GOP
support?
Because some of the party’s
most influential movers and shakers think the party is not “inclusive
enough” and to gain more votes and win more elections they must make
concessions to the radical gay agenda.
Unfortunately, Chairman Racicot
is one of these leaders. In fact, he is so committed to his views that he
is actually using his authority to silence and punish fellow party members who
won’t embrace the GOP leadership’s new “gay-friendly” stance.
For instance, Chairman Racicot
is quoted in Washington’s gay newspaper as saying he would not tolerate what
he calls “gay baiting” ads by Republican candidates who defend marriage
and family. In last year’s elections, GOP bosses took the unprecedented step
of warning some congressional candidates they would lose party funding if they
dared to utter a word about issues involving homosexuality.
This is amazing—a Republican
party chairman and his underlings gagging candidates so they don’t
articulate the party’s own platform! But this is just the tip of the
iceberg. Does the name Mary Matalin ring a bell with you?
Married to Democrat partisan
James Carvi1le, Bill Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 campaign manager, Matalin
until recently was Vice President Dick Cheney’s top political advisor. Ms.
Matalin is a driving force
behind
the Republican’s pro-homosexual strategy. Here are some recent direct quotes
by Mary Matalin that reveal where she and others want to take the party:
“The
[Republican] Party has to come to the consensus that to discriminate or even
be judgmental about gays is plain wrong.”
“If science is in any way part of
your life, you just can’t agree with
[Christians] about homosexuality.”
“We are here to honor gay and lesbian Republican ... to be a real
conservative is to be pro-gay.”
Mary
Matalin couldn’t be more wrong. Yet I have no doubt that her harsh rhetoric
and powerful influence within the party helps explain the GOP’s near total
silence as Sen. Rick Santorum was attacked last April.
This
brings me to the second enclosed document—a Message of Support to Senator
Santorum— which I ask you to sign and return to me as soon as you can. This
outstanding pro-family conservative and good friend of the Family Research
Council needs to know you support him and want him to be a vocal defender of
the GOP’s pro-family principles against attacks by homosexual activists who
want to bend the party to their radical agenda.
I’m
sure you recall how Senator Santorum ignited a firestorm in April when he
commented on the homosexual sodomy case, Lawrence v. Texas, that is now
before the Supreme Court. The Family Research Council filed a friend of the
court brief in this case about the dangers of granting a constitutional
“right to privacy” to engage in homosexual sodomy.
In
an interview with an Associated Press reporter, Senator Santorum expressed his
views about this case, articulating both FRC’s position and the position
of the Supreme Court itself in a 1986 ruling that upheld state sodomy
laws!
Homosexual
activists—and even some Republicans!—poured scorn on Senator Santorum and
even demanded his removal from Senate leadership. You would think his own
party would have defended him. But did you read even a word of support
from Chairman Racicot? Even the White House only mustered a few tepid words of
support, and then it scheduled a “briefing” for the Log Cabin Republicans
a few days later.
Yes,
you read that correctly. Within mere days of the Santorum tempest, the
White House hosted 200 members of this homosexual lobbying group for a
“policy briefing.” The Log Cabin Republicans were among the leaders of
the attack on Senator Santorum. In fact, following the White House meeting,
Log Cabin members unleashed even more venom, calling Senator Santorum’s
remarks “stupid.” Another member quoted in the New York Times said
Senator Santorum’s views are “not really representative of what the
Republican Party is moving toward. I think we are the future of the Republican
Party, people like us.”
Are
they really? Unfortunately, that is very much an
open question right now. But I will tell you what is not in question,
and that is a party cannot stand for two opposite things. As Abraham
Lincoln, the first Republican president, famously observed, a house divided
against itself cannot stand. Neither can a political party divided against
itself long endure.
And
so I ask you today to send a message to the only party that, on paper
at least, through its platform and other position statements, still professes to reflect
your pro-family, pro-life values.
I can
assure you that there are far more pro-family conservatives in America than
there are radical homosexuals. And the Republican Party needs to understand
that it has everything to lose if it continues to pander to homosexual
extremists while ignoring your and my concerns.
To
be blunt: The Republican Party can’t have it both ways. Conservatives did
not put President Bush in the White House and Republicans in Congress to
promote an anti-family, anti-Christian agenda at the behest of extremist
groups like the Human Rights Campaign.
So please
sign and return your Statement of Concern and Opposition to Chairman Racicot
telling him there is no “honor” in meeting with and acceding to any of
the demands of the homosexual lobby. And sign and return your Message of
Support to Senator Santorum, encouraging him to continue speaking the truth,
as the conscience of his party, on the critical matter of gay rights.
And when
you reply, please be sure to enclose a generous tax-deductible contribution
to the Family Research Council. This is just one of dozens of costly
battles we are fighting in Washington right now. But with your financial
support, which we urgently need during the financially “dry” summer
months, I am confident we can prevail.
I firmly
believe this, in part, because of the Family Research Council’s recent
highly successful leadership in stopping the “Global AIDS” bill that would
have pumped $15 billion into pro-abortion and pro-homosexual organizations.
Under pressure from FRC and other pro-family groups, the White House and House
Republicans came around and supported key amendments which denied the radical
anti-family left the billions they wanted. One conservative member of Congress
called our last-minute victory a “miracle.” (Read the details in your June
FRC Washington Watch.)
And
that’s what I’m counting on again—a victory for the family in this
incredibly important battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
Please do your part to help make it happen. Send your most generous
contribution and your signed messages to Chainnan Racicot and Senator Santorum
today. Thank you, and God bless you.
Kind
regards,
Ken Connor
President
P.S. One final note-Republican National Committee Chairman Marc
Racicot met with the Family Research Council and other pro-family groups in
early May. We expressed our profound concern over the party’s drift toward
accommodating homosexual extremists and ignoring pro-family conservatives.
Chairman Racicot heard the message, but he needs to hear it again and
again—from you and from thousands of other Family Research Council
supporters. Mail your Statement of Concern and Opposition today with your
contribution to help us win this most important battle!
