Bush's former campaign manager and RNC chairman comes out gay
Wed. August 25, 2010 5:35 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
ken mehlman
photo credit // nbc news
Can Mehlman redeem himself from "the most homophobic national campaign in history?"
Washington, D.C. -
Former 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign manager and chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman, has come out gay.
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."
The high profile Republican, who was RNC chairman from 2005 to 2007, says he wants to become an gay marriage advocate and has been fundraising for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California's ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition 8.
Gay blogger Mike Rogers, who has a solid record of outing politicians, asks how Mehlmen can redeem himself from what he calls "the most homophobic national campaign in history."
"I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for his role in developing strategy that resulted in George W. Bush threatening to veto ENDA or any bill containing hate crimes laws," writes Rogers. "I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for the pressing of two Federal Marriage Amendments as political tools. I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for developing the 72-hour strategy, using homophobic churches to become political arms of the GOP before Election Day."
"And those state marriage amendments. I want to hear him apologize for every one of those, too."
"I can't change the fact that I wasn't in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally," Mehlman told The Atlantic.
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."
The high profile Republican, who was RNC chairman from 2005 to 2007, says he wants to become an gay marriage advocate and has been fundraising for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California's ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition 8.
Gay blogger Mike Rogers, who has a solid record of outing politicians, asks how Mehlmen can redeem himself from what he calls "the most homophobic national campaign in history."
"I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for his role in developing strategy that resulted in George W. Bush threatening to veto ENDA or any bill containing hate crimes laws," writes Rogers. "I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for the pressing of two Federal Marriage Amendments as political tools. I want to hear from Ken that he is sorry for developing the 72-hour strategy, using homophobic churches to become political arms of the GOP before Election Day."
"And those state marriage amendments. I want to hear him apologize for every one of those, too."
"I can't change the fact that I wasn't in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally," Mehlman told The Atlantic.