Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman Comes Out

Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman is gay. As MJ said, this was probably the worst-kept secret in Washington. Mehlman joins a long line of former Republican officials who disavow their previous actions or make bold statements in favor of civil rights when they’re no longer in power. As Mehlman admitted in his interview with The Atlantic:

Mehlman’s leadership positions in the GOP came at a time when the party was stepping up its anti-gay activities — such as the distribution in West Virginia in 2006 of literature linking homosexuality to atheism, or the less-than-subtle, coded language in the party’s platform (“Attempts to redefine marriage in a single state or city could have serious consequences throughout the country…”). Mehlman said at the time that he could not, as an individual Republican, go against the party consensus. He was aware that Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief strategic adviser, had been working with Republicans to make sure that anti-gay initiatives and referenda would appear on November ballots in 2004 and 2006 to help Republicans.

Mehlman acknowledges that if he had publicly declared his sexuality sooner, he might have played a role in keeping the party from pushing an anti-gay agenda.

Well, it’s better late than never and Mehlman is now doing the right thing in supporting marriage equality. Mehlman has become a top fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and has convinced some top Republican donors to contribute to the group.

Just in case you get too many warm fuzzies from Mehlman’s transformation, just read this part of the interview:

He often wondered why gay voters never formed common cause with Republican opponents of Islamic jihad, which he called “the greatest anti-gay force in the world right now.”

They’re probably more concerned with the anti-gay forces right here in America, Ken.