TAMPA - A standoff of sorts is brewing among gay rights activists as a group within the Log Cabin Republicans push the group's committee to withhold endorsement of the Romney-Ryan ticket because they support the Defense of Marriage Act and a federal amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. The Log Cabin Republicans raised $1 million in 2004 to protest George W. Bush's pro-DOMA position and ran televised campaigns nationwide.
The LGBT anti-Romney/Ryan controversy made its way down to the state level, as the Letz Get Real LGBT blog reports that Equality Illinois sponsored a party for Illinois Republican convention delegates in Tampa this week. Equality Illinois, a state focused gay rights advocacy group, is attempting to schmooze the IL GOP away from their support for Chick-fil-A and its staunch pro-traditional family state platform plank.
The EQIL bar bill pickup caused some stir among the ILGOP delegates. So much so, an unconfirmed LetzGetReal report says:
Well, Dan Rutherford, IL State Treasurer, is Mitt Romney’s state campaign manager, and he apparently made his feelings clear regarding anyone offended by EQIL’s sponsorship for the event. Those who don’t like it “can go someplace else and drink.”
EQIL's efforts are in direct opposition to the IL GOP's visible support for Chick-fil-A's freedom to start up a new restaurant in Chicago when Democrat Chicago boss Rahm Emanuel's condemned Chick-fil-A's pro-traditional marriage values.
IL GOP offered Chick-fil-A gift cards for a donation to the IL GOP during the heat of the Chick-fil-A controversy. The Chicago GOP held a press conference and filed a complaint blasting Mayor Emanuel and Alderman Morenzo's stances against the fast food franchise expanding into Chicago's Near North neighborhoods.
EQIL's bill bar payoff at the RNC Convention may or may not influence future IL GOP platforms and public positions on issues affecting LGBT issues. In the meantime, it is clear they do intend to apply pressure on the RNC and the IL GOP to be more accepting of their efforts promoting same sex marriage.
And why aren't EQIL and Log Cabin Republicans being scolded for being so obsessed with social issues?
