Ken Mehlman, former head of the RNC, and architect, along with Karl Rove and a host of others, of various gay baiting and gay hating Republican initiatives, has come out as gay. This was an open secret at the time he was stirring up hate, but that’s another matter.
Here’s what the New York Times has to say:
Mr. Mehlman was in Mr. Bush’s inner circle in both presidential campaigns and ran his campaign in 2004, when the party courted Christian conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage. But Mr. Mehlman, in his work as chairman of the Republican National Committee and as head of Mr. Bush’s campaign, tended to personally avoid social issues.
You might get a bit more perspective here, where his coming out was first announced, or from Michaelangelo Signorile in the video below, via Americablog. (Ignore the Republican apologist).
Signorile makes the fundamental point. You don’t need to be gay to realize that demonizing gays is deeply and profoundly wrong. Being gay and actually engaging in, or enabling, the demonizing doesn’t make it more wrong, only less understandable. The Times account elides the central issue, and grossly minimizes Mehlman’s role in the hate campaign. He may have “personally avoided” social issues, but when called upon to assist in the war on whatever group was the demon of the week, he joined in.
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