News

Log Cabin to Governor Bush: Do the Right Thing

GOP Delegates Demand that Bush Repudiate Vicious, Unprovoked Public Attacks by State GOP against Republican Organization

June 9, 1998

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The president of Log Cabin Republicans of Texas and the leader of over 50 openly gay delegates and alternates to the state Republican convention demanded that Governor George W. Bush (R-TX) repudiate a series of unprovoked statements by the Texas Republican Party against his organization, comparing it to the Ku Klux Klan and to pedophiles, and banning it from the exhibit hall of the state convention.

"We urge Governor Bush to speak out against this behavior as soon as possible and unify all Republicans by saying that excluding GOP groups is wrong," said Steve Labinski, president of Log Cabin Republicans Texas and a convention delegate at a press conference today at the State Capitol in Austin. "We are elected Republican delegates and alternates who support Republican candidates for office. If our members don't count as Republicans, maybe our party officials don't know a real Republican when they see one."

Bush has not publicly commented on the escalating attacks by Robert Black, communications director of the Texas GOP. In addition to labeling the gay Republican organization a "hate group," the state GOP singled out Log Cabin Republicans Texas as the only Republican organization denied a space at the state convention's exhibit area, even though it represents a group of elected delegates and alternates. Labinski called on Bush to repudiate the state party's statements, particularly the comparison of Log Cabin with the KKK and to pedophiles, and to call on the state party to permit Log Cabin to rent an exhibit space like every other Republican organization which applied.

The Ku Klux Klan is a racist organization implicated in the intimidation and murder of thousands of blacks in the United States. The Associated Press reported that a group of KKK members were charged just today with the murder of a black man in Jasper, Texas. The murder victim was found without limbs.

"We want to believe that these attacks do not reflect the views of Governor Bush, and we understand how there are pressures on a governor to avoid controversy," said Richard Tafel, a Christian minister and the executive director of the national Log Cabin Republicans in Washington, D.C. "But there is a clear moral imperative in this situation, and there comes a time in every political leader's life when they can no longer pander to the lowest common denominator and must do what is right."

In response to the Texas GOP action, Log Cabin Republicans Texas will hold a rally at the Fort Worth Water Gardens on Saturday, June 13, at noon, in support of an inclusive Republican Party. At the Rally for Liberty, the GOP delegates will read statements of support from leading Republicans around the country, including Members of Congress, Governors and members of the Republican National Committee.