Welcome to the Family, Mr. Mehlman

By Joshua A. Boschee
Staff Writer

2010 has been filled with a number of big-name and interesting public outings and coming out stories. Christian right leader and anti-gay activist George Rekers was caught with a male escort from rentboy.com who was “hired to carry his bags” on a trip to Europe.

A California state senator, who had a terrible voting record on pro-LGBT legislation, came out after being arrested for a DUI after leaving a gay bar.

Laura Bush came out in support of gay marriage on Larry King Live.

Cindy McCain joined her daughter in endorsing the NOH8 campaign by having her photo taken, while her husband has shifted farther right.

And of course, there’s Ricky Martin.

Last week, Ken Mehlman came out as a part of his 43 year journey of being true to himself. If that name is unfamiliar, he’s just the guy that ran George Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign and then became Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

While running the Bush campaign, he worked with conservative strategists to have eleven state constitutional amendments/ballot initiatives define marriage as being between one man and one woman, which was a tool to drive conservative voters to the polls to support Bush. While serving as Chairman of the RNC, ten more initiatives went to the ballot and nine of ten passed.

Mehlman’s actions illustrate the power that internalized and institutional homophobia has over an individual’s ability to come to terms with his or her sexuality. Furthermore, it illustrates the danger of projecting onto the world one’s internalized homophobia.

It should be noted that recently Mehlman has used the riches he amassed as a homophobic political strategist to make donations to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the non-profit leading the legal challenges that have currently overturned Proposition 8.

He also says that he now wants to utilize his rolodex, political savvy and campaign experience to pass pro-equality legislation and elect pro-equality policy makers.

Great. But before our new Uncle Ken can do so, he has one more public action to perform: an apology.

I have a great deal of compassion and empathy for the personal conflict and struggle that Mr. Mehlman has gone through and I am happy that he is able to be honest with himself and the rest of the world. However, his public outing comes with a lot of privilege that he will capitalize on.

During his tenure as campaign manager and RNC Chairman, he did a lot of damage that can’t be fixed by writing checks and opening up a personal rolodex. Kids continue to be bullied in schools, hate crimes occur, LGBT youth commit suicide, families are not legally recognized and many still live in fear of losing their jobs and homes.

Before he writes another check or does another interview about his personal struggle and hopes for the future, Mehlman needs to own up to his public history of harassment, emotional abuse and physical violence that LGBT people face as a part of his action and inaction.

The big question the mainstream media continues to ask: “Is the Republican tent big enough for such a high-profile, openly gay Republican?”

Time will tell, especially as Congress returns to the Capitol to hopefully repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act before the November elections.

At this point, the only reason these two important pieces of legislation aren’t moving forward is that very few Republicans support them and a growing number of Democrats are waffling in their support, because of the fear-mongering being of conservative groups about the meaning of pro-equality legislation.

I welcome Mr. Mehlman to the family, but there is a need for some accountability before I allow him to be a spokesperson for myself and the community that I love.

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