Palm Beach Log Cabins Booted

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 9:48am

Poor Palm Beach Log Cabin Republicans.
Most Gay and Lesbians don't support them.
The Republican party doesn't support them, and now.
Do I feel sorry for them? No!





Palm Beach Log Cabin expelled over Bush endorsement
Group also endorses Martinez despite anti-gay ads during primary

By PHIL LaPADULA
Friday, October 22, 2004


The Log Cabin Republicans of Palm Beach County have been expelled from their parent organization, the national Log Cabin Republicans, because the club recently endorsed George Bush for president.

The 17-member Palm Beach gay GOP club voted 15-0 to back Bush, said Maurice Bonamigo, founder and president of the Log Cabin Republicans of Palm Beach County.

That vote clashed with the decision made by the national Log Cabin Republicans, whose board voted 22-2 in September not to endorse Bush because of his public support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Only club to defy national organization

Christopher Barron, political director for the national Log Cabin Republicans, said the Palm Beach group was expelled because it broke the club’s rules regarding endorsements.

“A local chapter is not empowered to make a decision about a presidential endorsement, just as the national organization is not empowered to make endorsements at the local or state level,” said Barron.

The Palm Beach County club was the only one of the 45 Log Cabin chapters across the country to defy the national board and endorse Bush, Barron said.

He noted that the endorsement rule does not apply to individual club members.

“Individually, they are free to support the president,” Barron said. “They are all free to follow their consciences. But as a club, you have to follow the club’s rules.”

Barron said the Palm Beach club’s membership privileges have been revoked, and it is no longer allowed to use the Log Cabin Republican name.


Club president opposes marriage
“We are Republicans, and we’ve been kicked out of a Republican club for endorsing a Republican president,” Bonamigo complained.

Born in Mexico City, Bonamigo has lived in West Palm Beach for three years. He is an independent hairdresser who owns his own line of hair-care products.

Bonamigo opposes gay marriage on religious grounds and because he thinks there are more important issues facing America.

“In the Biblical sense, marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman,” he said. “The purpose of marriage was to make children legitimate. That’s why I agree with the president.”

Bonamigo said he supports civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

He thinks the gay marriage movement is doomed to failure.

“I don’t believe you will find any mainstream churches in this country that will endorse gay marriage,” Bonamigo said.

Bonamigo suggested gay voters should focus on the war on terror, national security and the economy.

“We’ve not been attacked since 9/11,” he said. “[President Bush] has liberated two nations, and we’re winning the war on terror.”

Bonamigo also defended Bush’s record on appointments, noting that the president has appointed openly gay people to a few senior positions, such as director of AIDS policy.

He also commended Bush for “approving more money for AIDS research than any other president.”


Club endorses Martinez despite anti-gay ad
Besides endorsing Bush, the Palm Beach Log Cabin club also voted to endorse Mel Martinez in Florida’s U.S. Senate race.

In the waning days of the primary season, the Martinez campaign aired a TV ad that accused his opponent, former Congressman Bill McCollum, of supporting “special rights” for homosexuals because of McCollum’s support for a hate-crimes bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“And with traditional marriage under attack, [McCollum] sponsored a bill granting homosexuals special rights,” a female voice said in the TV ad.

The Martinez campaign also sent out a mailer that quoted Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, who described McCollum as “the new darling of the homosexual extremists.”

In a televised debate this week with his Democratic opponent, Betty Castor, Martinez reiterated his support for the federal marriage amendment.

“I believe a marriage should be only between one man and one woman, and I will vote for the constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman,” Martinez said.

But Bonamigo continued to defend Martinez.

“Mel Martinez is not anti-gay,” Bonamigo insisted. “We feel he’s the best qualified for the job.”


Broward LCR views differ
But Andy Eddy, communications director for the Broward Log Cabin Republicans, said members of his club are still upset about Martinez’s treatment of McCollum during the primary.

Eddy, who volunteered on behalf of McCollum, expressed outrage over the Martinez ad.

He described the ad and mailer as a “disgrace” and the worst of negative “smoke-screen” campaigning.

Eddy said the Broward Log Cabin club would not issue any endorsement in the presidential race. He said it has never endorsed presidential candidates in the past.

Eddy said he and other club members have volunteered to help the campaigns of Republican Congressman Clay Shaw, as well as state Senate candidate Jeff Atwater and state House candidate Adam Hasner.

In a Human Rights Campaign scorecard released last week, Shaw receved a score of 11 out of 100, the lowest of any members of Congress from the South Florida region. For more details, please see Page 12.


Some LCR members feel betrayed
Eddy acknowledged that several members of the Broward club feel betrayed by Bush and have been outspoken in their criticism of him.

In a June 18 interview with the Express, Joe McCallion and Jim Rafferty, long-time Log Cabin members and big contributors to the Republican party, both said they would not be voting for Bush or contributing to the party this year.

“I’m certainly not going to vote for someone who will institute discrimination against a class of people in the Constitution,” McCallion said. “So I’m not going to vote for George Bush.”

While he says he is deeply disappointed about Bush’s support for federal marriage amendment, Eddy still hasn’t given up on the president.

“If George Bush called me tomorrow and said. ‘I want your help,’ I would be there,” Eddy said.

But he said that is not likely to happen, noting Bush adviser Karl Rove’s recent comment that the Bush campaign is willing to concede the estimated 1 million gay Republican votes nationwide to pick up more votes from religious conservatives.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 11:28am

The extraordinary thing about this situation is that for the first time since the founding of the organization, the Log Cabin Republicans are NOT supporting the Republican presidential candidate.

Which means that except for the freaks in Palm Beach--and Mary Cheney--NO gay Republicans can stomach Bush/Cheney.