Ken Mehlman: says he’s ‘sorry’ For his Role In 2004
Anti-Gay Marriage Push across the country
Ken Mehlman, the former Republican National Committee
chairman and President George W. Bush re-election campaign manager who came out
as gay in August 2010, said that he regrets his role in the campaign's anti-gay
marriage push 2004.
"At a personal level, I wish I
had spoken out against the effort," he told Salon in an interview
published Friday, referring to the campaign's attempt to draw out the
conservative base by attacking same-sex marriage.
"As I’ve been involved in the fight
for marriage equality, one of the things I’ve learned is how many people were
harmed by the campaigns in which I was involved," he continued. "I apologize to
them and tell them I am sorry. While there have been recent victories, this
could still be a long struggle in which there will be setbacks, and I’ll do my
part to be helpful."
In 2004, 11 states resoundingly passed gay marriage
bans, and Bush publicly supported a federal constitutional amendment banning gay
marriage. However, some political scientists have doubted that the gay marriage
referenda had much effect on re-electing Bush -- a view that Mehlman
shares.
Since coming out, Mehlman pushed for gay marriage in
New York, Maryland and New Hampshire. He has also raised money for the effort to
support a legal challenge against California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8.
He serves on the board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is the
sole sponsor to the Prop. 8 federal court challenge.
In the Atlantic interview where he acknowledged his
sexuality, Mehlman said that if he had come out sooner, he might have been able
to play a role in opposing the gay marriage bans.
"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," he said.
This is a hard one. This Man traveled the country to
encourage states to enact HORRIFIC laws that harm and even caused some Gays to
their death. And even now you’re holding fundraisers to those congressman who
want enact even worse laws against the LGBTQ Community?
BONEHEAD
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