Give Credit Where Due, but No Trophy for GOP.

Following up on my "It's A Dry Hate" post, it is wonderful to know that the end result was a veto of the bill.

There is a part of me that wanted it to go through. Yes, part of me wanted a fight. I have a favorite quote from the Sci-Fi series, Babylon 5, fifth season.

"I have been working up a good mad all day, and I will not let you undermine it by agreeing with me."
-President John Sheridan.

Lucky for me, I had an opportunity to re-direct the "good mad" I had going. Jan Brewer did exactly what she said she would do. She reviewed the bill on her desk, considered the possible outcomes of enacting the law, and vetoed SB 1062 because that was what was best for Arizona. And then, the gay Republicans had the balls to tell me that because of the veto, I should be thankful to the people who passed this piece of shit in the first place!

What did it take to make the veto happen? It took a lot of brave people taking a stand.

In "Dry Hate" I mention George Takei making a call to boycott tourism in Arizona if the bill passes. Response to his blog post indicated that his fans supported the action. Major corporations, including Southwest Airlines, JP Morgan Chase, GoDaddy and Apple, expressed opposition to the bill. Also, activists and regular citizens got the word out against discrimination.

I was relieved to hear that the bill was vetoed, and it was refreshing to hear that Republicans like John McCain and Mitt Romney encouraged Brewer to veto it. But the released statement of Log Cabin Republicans struck me as a huge hypocrisy. It's like a wannabe hero who builds a bomb and threatens the city with, then is lauded as a "hero" when he diffuses his own bomb. Sorry, LCR, but as much as I loved Megamind, this is real life. Or, I should say, these are real lives your party was messing with.

Now, I'll admit that I wasn't as focused on the outcome of this until hearing that it had passed. But surely the organization that works for LGBT causes from within the Republican Party would have been following this legislation in a Republican controlled state from the beginning, right? Surely, they would be calling on their members to write and tell Arizona Republicans to oppose the bill. Granted, I am not dialed-in to the Arizona chapter, but I am on the National email list, and visit www.logcabin.org from time to time. With similar bills moving forward (backward?) in more states than just Arizona, I would have expected to see some calls to action, or at least public appeals to legislators to oppose such bills. There were no press releases or mention of any effort on LCR's part to oppose these bills in the days leading up to SB 1062's passage. But once it became a national hotbed, they were quick to put forward the pragmatic calls for veto. These statements glibly overlook the fact that it was their party that sponsored and approved the bill, or that while a few who voted for it changed their minds, there were more that continued to support it.

Had there not been a great public outcry against the bill, I doubt that its supporters would have changed their minds. And I am in no way naive enough to think that their reversals represent a "change of heart." This is pointed out pretty well by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.   The politicians' answers show that they realized -not that the bill was wrong, but- that passage of the bill would result in consequences, and economic ones at that.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am in favor of the Log Cabin Republicans' mission, which states, in part "The mission of Log Cabin Republicans shall advance the interests of the gay and lesbian community within the Republican Party of the United States of America." (read the full statement on logcabin.org)

I have two objections. The mission statement speaks of supporting initiatives that promote non-discrimination. It unfortunately lacks a commitment to oppose initiatives that hinder equality and promote bigotry. I surmise that this is intentionally left out because the majority of those bills are created, sponsored, and approved by the Republican party.

My second objection is not with the statement itself, but with the action I see the group taking. They were silent while Republicans pushed SB1062 through the Arizona legislature, but brought out the trumpets when a few members changed their mind in response to being called out.  Now, I have no doubt that the Arizona chapter made calls to oppose the bill, but these efforts were not publicized because it put a spotlight on how strongly the Religious Right's agenda is still in control of the party.

The statements and actions that I have seen lead me to believe that LCR is more interested in changing LGBT perception of the GOP than they are in actually creating a more inclusive party.