Here we are, deja vu all over again. The Republican Party of Texas’ State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) has once again denied the Log Cabin Republicans of Texas the opportunity to rent a booth at the RPT’s convention this summer. It is by now a biennial event, with the outcome assured beforehand, despite the farcical pretense of debate.
It is frustrating to watch the demise of the Republican Party but I find that I no longer care. If the “grassroots” wishes to speed up the loss of Republican power in Texas, who am I to complain? At this point in time, no one can reasonably claim that Texas Republicans represent liberty and freedom better than Texas Democrats do. Or fiscal policy for that matter.
As I watched the debate (several times now), a couple of things stand out. One is not that important to me, one is extremely important.
Fear of ‘they’ and ‘them’
Clearly, the people voting against this measure are scared of a group of people that they do not know or understand. Repeatedly during the discussion, the speakers against the booth referred to their fellow Republicans as ‘they’ and ‘them’ while referring to ‘our party’ and ‘our beliefs’.
I have been a member of the Houston chapter of the LCR and we have broken bread together, discussed policy together and laughed at our corny jokes together. I have never once been scared that the men and women around me would tie me up and force their ‘lifestyle’ on me. And yet repeatedly during the discussion, SREC members expressed their fear that they and their children would be exposed to the ‘lifestyle’ of LCR members if they were able to rent booth space and pass out literature advocating various policy positions, most of them very conservative.
Every time I hear someone protest that about being exposed to a gay person’s ‘lifestyle’, I’m reminded of the first time I sat down with Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. It was in 2014 and she was challenging a corrupt Republican for the office. She expressed frustration over the attacks on her ‘lifestyle’, saying something along the lines of “Lifestyle? That’s my family.”. Indeed, she had been in a monogamous relationship and provided a stable home for her children far longer than many Republicans that I know.
If you want two specific examples of SREC members that clearly don’t know any LCR members (other than me I suppose), I’ll use the two members from my senate district, SD11. For some reason, J.T. Edwards is really, really scared of LCR members. Go to the 1:26:20 mark in the video above and you hear J.T. ask if additional money has been allocated for the necessary increased security that such a booth will need. My goodness J.T., you really, seriously need to get out more.
J.T.’s counterpart, Tanya Robertson, goes for the kill with her desire for making the convention a ‘safe space’ for her children. Go to the 1:22:35 mark in the video for her remarks. Note that she says that her children worked in previous conventions and they have ‘stories’. She doesn’t go into detail about those ‘stories’ but there is one thing that we know for a fact: the Log Cabin Republicans did not have a booth at those previous conventions. So, that begs the question…#metoo? Doesn’t it?
I have an offer for J.T. and Tanya. The Houston chapter of the LCR has its monthly meeting this Wednesday, 4/11, at Theo’s Restaurant in Montrose. Let’s go together! I’ll buy your meal (the chicken soup is out of this world good) and I’ll protect you from anyone that tries to trap you into their ‘lifestyle’. Deal?
The Republican Party of Texas is not a church
Like I said, one of these two observations is important to me. This one. Those of us in Harris County have fought this for years, this combining of religion and politics. Speaker after speaker on Saturday referenced God and their belief that homosexuality is wrong and that they must stand up and fight for God, as if He cannot fight for Himself.
One female in particular expressed her love for ‘them’ and then proceeded to say pretty much what Tanya said above, that her children must be protected from ‘them’. Go to the 1:12:35 mark if you wish to view her remarks – her name was hard to discern but she stated that she was a proxy for SD23. I’ll condense her remarks to ‘we are gonna love ‘them’ but we don’t want to see ‘them’.
As I listened to that woman’s version of love, I was reminded of a song we sang in our youth group at church. It included this line “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love”. Frankly, I don’t see a lot of love on display by Republicans quoting their bibles these days. Do you think that Harris County’s own Terry Lowry was displaying love in this clip?
That seems more like fear than love to me. And my observation through the years is that this combining of religion and politics has certainly helped the Republican Party but it has been devastating for the Church. Church leaders now accept every sort of immoral behavior known to mankind so that they can have access to the halls of power. Well, every type except the big one that really, really bothers them, which is same sex relationships.
It’s telling that RPT Chair James Dickey stated during the discussion that because the party is a private entity, they can refuse to do business with anyone, anytime, for any reason. And that is true, as per Gov. Greg Abbott’s opinion on the subject when he was on the Texas Supreme Court. You know, the guy now asking for unity so that he can be reelected to do more of the same nothing he’s done the past four years?
It makes you wonder, what group is Mr. Dickey and team going to exclude next?
Statement from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas:
Today the executive committee of the Republican Party of Texas had an opportunity to reach out to minorities and show they were serious about growing party membership. When offered this opportunity, the members of the executive committee responded with a resounding “no.“
The Republican liberty caucus of Texas is saddened by today’s vote of the executive committee not to offer a booth at the state Republican convention to the Log Cabin Republicans, singling them out as the one group of Republicans who will not be allowed to be represented at the convention. For a party that had a gay national chairman just a few years ago this is a step in the wrong direction.
Every two years when the convention meets the platform is substantially revised and updated. Traditionally, party members have participated in this process and lobbied for positions that they think should be changed to reflect the changing interests a party. One of the best ways to get your group’s message out to the membership is through a booth on the convention floor. Businesses, union groups, political action committees and issue oriented activist groups – many of which hold positions counter to the party platform – will all be represented, but this one group made up entirely of grassroots Republicans will not have a voice at the convention, solely because they have one position which is not in keeping with a plank of a platform which was added less than a decade ago.
The Republican Party of Texas seems to have forgotten Ronald Reagan’s maxim that “the person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.”
“It saddens me the RPT continues down the road of exclusionary policies while fully supporting elected Republican officials who vote against our platform planks on a regular basis,” said Jeff LeBlanc Chairman of the Texas RLC. “The free exchange of ideas is a good thing. A convention is the place for that. As one speaker put it today, at this rate we will eventually run out of people to exclude. This notion of safe spaces, once reserved for liberals, creeping into the RPT is frightening and flies in the face of individual liberty.”
The Republican Liberty Caucus will continue to work with the Log Cabin Republicans just as we work with any group within the Republican Party that advocates for our candidates and our core principles. We will do what we can, as we have in the past, to see that their concerns are raised at the convention and that their members are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve but are often denied within the party.
James Dickey didn’t work to exclude anyone and remained officially neutral as he should. In committee he did point out that the moment convention starts we no longer have a platform and the purpose is to create one. He’s done a great job as chair as seen that both Log Cabin Republicans are supporting him as individuals and so is the religious right. You can’t ask more than that.
Hi Jason,
I enjoyed your column in the Texas Tribune: As a gay Texan, I’ve found a place in the Republican tent
I’ll agree to disagree with you about Mr. Dickey. Leaders lead, they don’t let their organizations get hurt without speaking up. I watched that discussion several times, Mr. Dickey never spoke up. Doing nothing is an action.
DJ
Seconding Jason’s comments on Mr. Dickey. If anything, Mr. Dickey is arguing for less involvement in party business, as “the party is a private entity” needs to be invoked every time anyone wished to push back against “we always did it that way because we HAD to”. Apparently, any law that goes against the Republican creed is unconstitutional unless it is a law that governs party business…apparently, the state and Washington can do no wrong there.
I also think it unfair to slam “the grass roots” as being responsible for this. You don’t get much more grass roots than Jeremy Blosser and Terry Holcomb, and look which side of the debate they cam down on.
No, this comes down to who wants to exclude people from the party for non-political reasons, and who doesn’t. I am confident that the party will eventually come around. I just fear that won’t be until it has lost a few elections.
Hey Jeff,
I’ll refer to my reply to Jason about Mr. Dickey except to say that Mr. Dickey said exactly what I said he said. Also, I note that on another forum, you invoked Edmund Burke’s Address to the Electors of Bristol. Mr. Dickey also has a mind he could use to lead. Of course, that wouldn’t sit well with his financial backers.
As for your beef with my grassroots comments, I get that you like to disagree with me whenever I write anything but in this case, your disagreement is with Mr. Dickey and the SREC members. A large part of the meeting was about how they are allowing the grassroots to run the party. A minor but substantial part of the discussion on the LCR was about doing the will of the grassroots. So while Mr. Blosser and Mr. Holcomb are your idea of grassroots, they do not encompass the whole. I’ll direct you to SREC member Mark Ramsey’s comments starting at 1:15:20.
DJ
Selection bias. You hear from me more often when we disagree than when we agree.
I’m on Jason’s side, and Dickey did exactly what I wanted him to do. Had he chosen any other course of action, I’d have been disappointed.
It would have been very easy for him to rule that the staff brought the matter to his attention, that he saw no conflict with the party principles, and approved the booth without notifying the officials committee. That would be almost as cowardly as what you’re accusing him of doing.
I don’t ask that a Chair take my side. I just ask him to be fair. He was. And there’s only so much he can do to save the SREC from themselves, as was evidenced by the vote.
Regarding the grassroots, I don’t object so much to the notion that SOME of the grassroots took the wrong side, as I did the implication in your words that ALL the grassroots is to blame, as if it’s some sort of monolithic entity. And that implication is there, whether you meant it or not. The grassroots doesn’t control the party – yet – but enough of them picked the wrong side to form a fairly decisive majority. I’m certainly not the sort of populist that believes the grassroots is totally without sin…I recall a HCRP meeting not too long ago where someone from the grassroots openly questioned whether or not Islam was a legitimate religion. He’s a good friend of mine, which is why I cringed when he did that.
Other than a disagreement over Dickey, and a nit we’re picking over the grassroots, it was a pretty good article. How much can I complain when you quote a press release from my organization?
LCR is not a conservative group. You make crazy claims about various people being conservative sometimes, but this one takes the cake. While the Texas LCR are certainly more conservative than the national counterparts, they are still to the left of the party. Some LCR have declared that John McCain was too conservative to vote for. The LCR were founded to be to the left of the party on a key issue and have mostly invited the federal government to nullify our state constitution on this issue.
Jim Baxa,
Really? Interesting. Let’s see, the LCR Texas supported SB4 – that was pretty conservative, no? They support balanced budgets – conservative? “Some” LCR declared – sort of a broad brush, no?
Finally, we get to the point – the LCR supports same sex marriage and equality for same sex relationships. Yep, they sure do.
DJ
By my view, the LCR is more conservative than the GOP on a good many issues.
Then again, I see the GOP as no longer conservatives but rather just a lesser version of the Democrats.
This is sad that while the fiscal situation at every government level deteriorates that the party is focused on wedge issues and being petty and small minded towards other people.
Two years ago, I filled out the application and paid the fee for a float in the “Homosexual Day Parade” (some refer to it as the “gay Pride Parade” – not me). They took my check and cashed it. I had planned on having a float with a bride and groom riding in a convertible and I was going to promote traditional marriage (one man, one woman).
A month later they emailed me and said I could not be in their parade. About two months after the parade, they finally refunded my money. I was discriminated against.
David, if I agreed with you, we would both be wrong. Homosexual behavior is unnatural and immoral.
Dave, the Log Cabin Republicans are not in charge of the annual Pride Parade. Nor are the organizers a political party. So I’m not certain that your example is relevant in this case.
DJ
“Homosexual behavior is unnatural and immoral.” So is drunkenness. And pornography (which would include a lot of what shows on HBO and Showtime). And drug abuse (whether it’s prescribed or not).
If the Republican party is going to be the party that polices personal behavior, then you need to find a Sunday School classroom to have your convention – you won’t need anything much larger.
Not that I’m approving homosexuality. I agree with you assessment. But right now we have larger more crucial targets. How about lets worry about a $20 Trillion deficit. Failing infrastructure. Continuing attacks on basic Constitutional rights, etc. When we clear up major problems we can see better to focus on the smaller issues.
I doubt the NAACP would let the KKK have a float in their parade, either. But other Republican politicians have been accepted and participated at Pride in past years, and Log Cabin Republicans will again be present in 2018 at the festival.
Stuff like this is why I am not a Republican, although I am a proud Trump voter. These people want to rent a booth. They have cash. Rent them the damn booth already. Why would the Republican Party ostracize people who are already ostracized by liberals for leaning conservative?
Instead of a big tent it appears we are shooting for a rather exclusive outhouse.
The biggest closet homosexuals are the ones pushing the anti-gay and anti-Log Cabin movement because if fills their pockets. Follow the money and look at who’s pushing the agenda and selling the ad space in every election.
David, great article and I do appreciate you adding our statement (RLCTX). I am with you on this, but I feel the Dickey hit was not needed. A fair chairman takes no position and allows the body to debate freely. He did that. I can assure far more than any other would have, that we have had in the past.
Other than that. It’s a booth. At a convention, where the platform is to be drafted for the next two years. If not this place, I can think of no other where free exchange of thoughts and debate should occur. I consider myself fairly strong on platform and I only agree with 95%. I’d say they are batting better than me if the traditional plank is the only one they can find for exclusion…God help us all.