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Following the Log Cabin Republicans’ endorsement of John McCain for president at the Republican National Convention, The Advocate caught up with Log Cabin president Patrick Sammon to discuss the group’s advocacy work, McCain’s stances on LGBT issues, and how Gov. Sarah Palin affected the decision to endorse.
The Advocate:
Where do gay rights fall in terms of priorities for
Log Cabin Republicans as an organization?
Patrick Sammon: We’re a gay rights
organization working from inside the Republican Party, and
so we’re completely focused on how do we
advance equality for LGBT people. And the fact is,
doing so will require votes and support from Republicans,
and so we made this endorsement of Senator McCain with
the very clear focus on how this decision will impact
and benefit our community. The fact is, even those who
disagree with our decision should realize there’s a
50% chance that Senator McCain wins this election, and
I ask those people, do they really want our community
sitting on the sidelines for the next four years? I
say no. I say that Senator McCain, in the totality of his
record, is someone who has demonstrated that he can be a
maverick, that has demonstrated he’s an
inclusive Republican, and I believe that if he’s
elected, as a community we will make progress on some of the
issues that are so important to all.
What demonstrates that to you?
He’s the only candidate in the field who’s
actually paid a political price for a vote that
benefited gay and lesbian people. The fact is, one of
the reasons social conservatives distrust him is because he
twice voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment --
that took political courage, and he paid a price for
it with his base. He paid a price that made it harder
to win the nomination. I think he needs to be applauded
for that. He’s not where we want him to be on every
issue -- I’m the first one to admit that -- but
at the end of the day, on the most significant issue
that our community has faced, he was on the right side
of it.
Voting against the FMA is certainly a pro-gay vote.
Other than play defense on a crucial bill, has Senator
McCain done anything to advance LGBT rights?
Senator McCain took a tough stand. We can quibble about
whether that’s a pro-gay vote or defensive
vote, but he’s the only candidate in this field
who paid a political price for a vote related to gay rights.
In Senator [Barack] Obama’s U.S. Senate career, there have been a lot of strong words about LGBT people, but I haven’t seen the leadership. Another thing about Senator Obama is that he’s shown a willingness on a whole range of other issues in the last four months to make political calculations and decisions and adjust his positions accordingly, whether it was on telecom immunity or offshore drilling, we’ve seen equivocating, which leads one to believe it is politics as usual. So you have to wonder if, on gay issues, all of a sudden there’s a political calculation made, are we going to be sold out if it happens to benefit him politically? I hope that’s not the case. But he’s been presenting himself as a different kind of politician -- well, over the last six months we’ve seen he’s just like any other politician. I say all of this not to denigrate the positive words he’s saying but to remind LGBT people that we’ve been down this road before -- where politicians say great things and then don’t deliver. So it’s a mistake, consequently, to put all our eggs in one basket and not develop a strategy where we can work with and move Senator McCain on these same issues.
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