Columnist Jon Ralston: GOP adopts anti-gay agenda

Friday, March 15, 2002 | 4:56 a.m.

VISIT THE Clark County Republican Party website and you are greeted with this quote from GOP father Abraham Lincoln:

"I believe that each individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other man's rights; that each community, as a state, has a right to do exactly as it pleases with all the concerns within the State that interfere with no other State."

How ironic that these libertarian words serve as the emblem of a party that has revealed itself to be a hotbed of intolerance, a party that preaches "anything goes" only when the slogan refers to having no restraint when it comes to using religion to further political objectives.

Last weekend's Clark County Republican convention was but a rare public glimpse into what has been quietly happening to the GOP -- where the might of the religious right is asserting itself to reveal a homophobic agenda that operatives cynically hope to exploit with a referendum to turn out conservative voters.

The canard here is that these folks are out to protect the union of a man and a woman, which of course is not under assault simply because some gays want to marry. No, the only marriage the backers want to protect is the bond between religion and politics -- a divorce of church and state, in this party, is unthinkable and, yes, even blasphemous. And anyone who doesn't recognize this as a divine truth is consigned to eternal damnation.

Extremism in the defense of marriage is a vice. And this movement, which has its roots in Salt Lake City, aka LDS Central, is sending a message of hatred and bigotry that must make many Republicans uncomfortable.

This is not the party of Gov. Kenny Guinn and state Sen. Mark James, who dare to be pro-choice; it is the party of Nevada Concerned Citizens chief Lucille Lusk and anti-gay referendum-backer Richard Ziser, who co-signed a letter criticizing James for being a devilish Democrat-in-GOP-clothing who actually wouldn't ban gay marriage and who led the fight to repeal the state's sodomy laws. The big tent has collapsed into a small cult.

It's one thing to be pro-life and support the anti-gay marriage referendum; it's quite another to seethe with anti-gay feelings and imply that God disapproves of anyone who does not see that, as a questionnaire from Lusk's group puts it, that the "right to life of the preborn" must be protected.

This is not a party where James feels at home -- and that's part of the reason he's going home. Many at the convention supported James foe Tom Christensen, a scion of a prominent LDS family whose literature obnoxiously begins with his commitment to "the traditional family structure."

The powers that be, including Guinn, want someone less right-wing and more malleable, so they induced Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavkse into the contest to succeed James. But their eagerness and access to money far from assures Cegavske's victory, which brings me to the point of the referendum.

Clark County GOP Chairman Steve Wark was at least honest about its electoral potency, pointing out to delegates that recent polling shows that the anti-gay initiative has more crossover appeal than any issue -- it passed last cycle with more than two-thirds of the vote.

Well, yes, many Mormons are conservative Democrats -- and Democrats can be intolerant, too. I say this not to besmirch Mormons, who are as variegated as many groups and not so much as others, but who will have a difficult time ignoring what essentially is a church directive. Yes, some of my best friends are Mormons -- and if that's not a sign of their tolerance, what is?

Let's be clear: This is a device to turn out Mormons and others to vote in November from top (congressional contenders Lynette Boggs McDonald and Jon Porter) to bottom (state Senate hopefuls such as Christensen and Bill Brady and a passel of GOP Assembly contenders).

It's elemental. Get the referendum petition-signers and supporters, cross-reference them with voter registration lists in various areas and organize. Praise the Lord, down with gays and get out to vote.

They tried it in '00 and it didn't have a noticeable impact, except, perhaps, in Chip Maxfield's race for the County Commission. But this year may be different.

So where are the Republicans -- or Democrats, for that matter -- to arise and say this is wrong, the popularity of the referendum notwithstanding?

They remain mute, they cravenly back the referendum or like James, they leave the scene.

I am still looking for the one brave soul -- and I mean one in office, and I mean high office -- who will risk being branded a heretic and condemn what these people are doing. It doesn't have to be a complicated, drawn-out rebuke.

Someone simply needs to say a few words to these zealots, these false paladins of goodness who claim to be guided by God. As Abraham Lincoln looks down with horror from his heavenly perch, someone needs to tell his faux Republican descendants to go to hell.