According to the Log Cabin Republicans, the Republican National Committee -- which is the central arm of the Republican Party -- has named the [gay] group's executive director to the RNC's Finance Committee. That committee is the fundraising arm of the RNC.
The Log Cabin group says R. Clarke Cooper will play a "critical" role in raising funds for the party's efforts to elect Republicans to the White House and across the country. Cooper says he will be working to elect what he calls "pro-equality Republicans."
"My friends are showing me on their BlackBerrys, 'Jim Alesi, gay icon,'" he said. "I just take it in stride."
It is a welcome change from January, when Mr. Alesi was associated less with legislative history than with what he has since described as a "bone-headed" personal-injury lawsuit against the owners of a home in which he fell off a ladder while trespassing on their property.
The home was under construction, and Mr. Alesi has said he was under the impression that it was open to prospective buyers.
Though he quickly withdrew the suit, the incident made him the subject of derision and appeared to inflict permanent damage on his reputation and re-election bid.
"I would have to say 99.9% if not 100%" of Mr. Alesi's constituents were outraged, said Bill Reilich, Monroe County Republican Committee Chairman. "It was pretty brutal."
"I can tell you that the almost constant feedback that I receive is dissatisfaction with Jim's actions," said James Smith, Perinton, N.Y., town supervisor.
For better or worse, Mr. Alesi's vote appears to have overshadowed that incident, though whether his gay-rights advocacy will help or hurt a 2012 re-election bid is hard to say.
In a move that caught same-sex marriage advocates by surprise, the U.S. Trustee for the Bankruptcy Court, a division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), has filed notice that it intends to appeal a June 13 federal bankruptcy court ruling striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional.
... Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for CitizenLink, said that the administration is sending mixed signals.
“What appears counterintuitive to many,” Hausknecht said, “is that the DOJ is now signaling that DOMA — a law it disagrees with, remember, should be applicable when deciding the meaning of other federal laws in administrative-type hearings such as bankruptcy and immigration.
“The duplicity is perplexing.”
Indeed, wouldn't it be simpler for the DOJ to simply defend the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President?
The New York Capital News reports on the frustration of many in the NY GOP at how the SSM bill was handled in their final closed-door meeting:
Some Republicans grumble that Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos should have used his power to block Cuomo more often—such as by refusing to bring same-sex marriage up for a vote—and that next year’s election could put their single-seat majority in danger.
"They’re not happy with their leader. They want to get in control of this,” said one longtime Senate Republican insider. “They’re not happy with the guys who came out and announced they would support [same-sex marriage]. This is the tail wagging the dog, and that is not the way this conference has functioned and succeeded for the last several decades.”
There may be political fallout for some New York State lawmakers who voted for the same sex marriage law.
In a fundraising email to supporters, the National Organization for Marriage announced its pledging $2 million to help reverse the gay marriage law and oust the lawmakers who supported it.
... "Mark Grisanti's vote was an absolute and total betrayal. Mark Grisanti asked us in his first bid for the Senate in 2008 to support him. He promised that he would protect marriage as the union between a man and a woman,” said Brown. “He not only betrayed us, he betrayed his voters. He is at the top of our target list."
"I'm comfortable with my decision and my vote because I think it was a balance, and whatever NOM wants to do, as I said, that's what makes this country great. Go ahead and do what you’ve got to do" said Sen. Grisanti, (R).
... "There's a big integrity issue that's going to be a problem for these lawmakers in the future,” said Reverend Kevin Backus. Backus is pastor of Bible Presbyterian Church on Grand Island and a member of the Conservative Party. He thinks Grisanti simply broke his word to his supporters.
"The integrity issue is paramount. If you stand in front of a committee and you say, ‘I'm unalterably opposed to this’ or you say ‘I won't vote for anything that has marriage in it’ and then you do. What are we supposed to make out of anything else you tell us?" said Backus.
Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence has issued a strong statement lamenting the passage of legislation allowing for civil unions in Rhode Island, and warned Catholics that they cannot be involved in such unions.
The legal acceptance of civil unions, the outspoken bishop said, involves “a social experiment that promotes an immoral lifestyle, is a mockery of the institution of marriage as designed by God, undermines the well-being of our families, and poses a threat to religious liberty.”
After reaffirming the Church’s teaching that homosexual activity is gravely sinful, Bishop Tobin instructed the faithful not to be a part of civil unions:
Because civil unions promote an unacceptable lifestyle, undermine the faith of the Church on holy matrimony, and cause scandal and confusion, Catholics may not participate in civil unions. To do so is a very grave violation of the moral law and, thus, seriously sinful. A civil union can never be accepted as a legitimate alternative to matrimony.
