My contact with gay Republicans has been limited. They are a rare breed. A poll once showed that 80% of self-identified gay men voted for Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry in '04, as I did. And no wonder--Republican politicians tend to make offensive remarks directed at gays. Republicans, almost by default, tend to oppose anything that might make life more bearable for gays, while favoring laws to make life worse for gays.
In 1996, the Log Cabin Republicans ran an ad in gay newspapers that pointed out that then-President Clinton had done little or nothing for gays. They were right. As a point of fact, the Clinton administration proved to be a disaster for gay Americans, as it oversaw the passage of the misnamed "Defense of Marriage" act as well as "Don't Ask / Don't Tell" in the armed forces. Clinton talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk. I was struck by the advertisement, because the claims it made were all true, and I could not find issue with them. I voted for Clinton anyway, because the alternative was no better, and I agreed with Clinton on other issues. However, Clinton served conservative business interests better than any other group. It is difficult to praise any particular accomplishment made by his administration. Perhaps the best that can be said is that Clinton made fewer blunders than the succeeding administration.
Recently, the Log Cabin Republicans have done something I support, challenging the military's DADT rule in federal court. It is my hope that DADT is struck down in the near future and the armed forces integrated, as is the case in many other countries, such as Israel and the UK.
More information on the Log Cabin Republicans' lawsuit can be found here.
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