How Log Cabin Republicans Convinced their Party to Drop Condemnation of Homosexuality
How Log Cabin Republicans Convinced their Party to Drop Condemnation of Homosexuality
By Lauren McGaughy | Dallas Morning News | June 19, 2018
"Marco Roberts strides across the convention hall floor. Calm and impassive, his face shows no sign he just achieved a goal that's been years in the making.
Spotting his partner, Michael Alberts, in the middle of a row of delegates, Roberts stops, his face illuminated by the red glow of the giant Ted Cruz motorhome parked in the middle of the convention center. He takes a short breath and lets it out, a grin gracing his lips, and raises his hands briefly in silent celebration.
"Two-and-a-half years of work," Roberts whispers, the convention chairman's voice booming over the speakers. "At this moment, I finally feel like I crossed the finish line."
This year, the Republican Party of Texas removed anti-LGBT language from its official platform. For most, the change is incremental, almost unnoticeable, the absence of just two sentences from a 45-page document.
But for Roberts and other gay Republicans and allies who convinced the party to take this small step, this moment provides them with some hope. Roberts looks at Alberts, the tension finally leaving his face, and says confidently, 'The Republican Party of Texas no longer condemns people simply for being gay.'"
Marco Roberts, President of the Houston Chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, is pictured at the 2018 Texas GOP Convention held at the Henry B. González Convention Center in downtown San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, June 16, 2018. (Luca/Staff Photographer)
Delegates watch as a sign is carried up and down the aisles in the session seating area detailing possible changes in the party plank addressing homosexuality during the 2018 Texas GOP Convention held at the Henry B. González Convention Center in downtown San Antonio. Texas on Friday, June 15, 2018. (Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer)
The Dallas Morning News ran a rare report detailing the actions of Log Cabin Republicans that led to a substantive change to the platform of the Republican Party of Texas. While the report refers to the change as "small." it is only so in the number of words involved. In fact, it was a fundamental change to the platform, akin to removing a cornerstone of a large edifice. It was why opponents fought so bitterly against the changes. But, contrary to what the opponents may have thought, the edifice was not the platform itself, but a far-reaching and consequential defect within it, one that imperiled even the defense of the freedoms of those opponents.
"After four decades of fighting to make inroads, we are finding our way."
