Community | August 25, 2010 | 12 comments

Former Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman finally comes out - Republican Party - Salon.com

source: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/25/ken_mehlman_is_gay/index.html

Image
toyotabedzrock
Former head of the Republican National Committee and Bush '04 campaign manager Ken Mehlman has finally come out as a gay man. Mehlman broke the "news" to The Atlantic's Mark Ambinder.

Everyone in politics basically suspected/"knew" this for years, but Mehlman says he only came to grips with it personally this year.

"Mehlman's leadership positions in the GOP came at a time when the party was stepping up its anti-gay activities," Ambinder writes, and boy howdy. But Mehlman has decided to become an open advocate for gay marriage, and the moderation of the GOP on gay issues. He participated in a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights -- a group supporting the legal challenge to Proposition 8 in California -- last September, and he "has become a de facto strategist for the group," attracting major Republican donors.

"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman tells Ambinder. Plus he recently moved:


Mehlman said that his formal coming-out process began earlier this year. Over the past several weeks, he has notified former colleagues, including former President Bush. Once he realized that the news would probably leak, he assembled a team of former advisers to help him figure out the best way to harness the publicity generated by the disclosure for the cause of marriage rights. He is worried that some will see his decision to go public as opportunistic. Mehlman recently moved to Chelsea, a gay mecca in New York City.


Hm.

Well, welcome to being on the right side of one issue, Ken. (And this marks another one that Mike Rogers was right about.)
  1. groups:
    Community,   Politics,   US Politics,   Progressive America,   6 more
  2. tags:
    Gay,  Bush,  Coming Out,  Ken Mehlman
  3.     
    |

12 comments // Former Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman finally comes out - Republican Party - Salon.com

  • bike10
  • EdJoyProductions
  • AreOh
    • 0
      AreOh  

    • What a snake. The divisiveness this guy conjured up for votes during the Bush years should not be forgotten. I'm glad he's 'comfortable' with yourself, or whatever he wants to call it, but Mr. Mehlman had a direct hand in the continued acceptance of social discrimination against homosexuals. I have no sympathy for him.

    • 1 year ago
  • flyingkick
    • 0
      flyingkick  

    • Just more evidence that people who campaign against gay rights tend to be self-hating closet homosexuals. At least he's doing to the right thing now.

    • 1 year ago
  • bike10
  • observer2121
    • 0
      observer2121  

    • I don't know how people like this live with themselves. How do you vilify a part of the nation that you are a part of? I hope gay men choose not to screw this guy.

    • 1 year ago
  • ahappymintleaf
  • Varex_Sythe
    • +1
      Varex_Sythe  

    • For some reason I can't help but think of the scientology episode of South Park where Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet...

    • 1 year ago
  • timetide
    • 0
      timetide  

    • Why is it republicans only come out or take a stance thats the complete oppisite of their previous stated viewpoints when their carrers are in the decline or they're no longer in power? Ken Mehlman is one of the people who came up with the idea to put same-sex marriage on key voting states knowing that they would draw out the anti-gay crowd and vote for the Republicans. He has done more damage to the Homosexual rights movement than I can describe.

    • 1 year ago
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +1
      EdJoyProductions  

    • "Mehlman's leadership positions in the GOP came at a time when the party was stepping up its anti-gay activities,"

      These are the evil hypocrites that I find unforgivable.

    • 1 year ago
  • toyotabedzrock
  • imogazzi
more from Community:
from the community

top videos