In this April 18, 2013, file photo Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton tell hundreds who turned out to rally at the State Capitol, in St. Paul, Minn. in support of a bill to legalize gay marriage that he hoped legislators will pass this year.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A national group of prominent GOP donors that supports gay marriage is pouring new money into lobbying efforts to get Republican lawmakers to vote to make it legal.

American Unity PAC was formed last year to lend financial support to Republicans who bucked the party’s longstanding opposition to gay marriage. Its founders are launching a new lobbying organization, American Unity Fund, and already have spent more than $250,000 in Minnesota, where the Legislature could vote on the issue as early as next week.

The group has spent $500,000 on lobbying since last month, including efforts in Rhode Island, Delaware, Indiana, West Virginia and Utah.

Billionaire hedge fund manager and Republican donor Paul Singer launched American Unity PAC. The lobbying effort is the next phase as the push for gay marriage spreads to more states, spokesman Jeff Cook-McCormac told The Associated Press.

“What you have is this network of influential Republicans who really want to see the party embrace the freedom to marry, and believe it’s not only the right thing for the country but also good politics,” Cook-McCormac said.

In Minnesota, the money has gone to state groups that are lobbying Republican lawmakers and for polling on gay marriage in a handful of suburban districts held by Republicans. So far, only one Minnesota Republican lawmaker has committed to voting to legalize gay marriage: Sen. Branden Petersen, of Andover.

“I think there will be some more. There are legislators out there that are struggling with this,” said Carl Kuhl, a former political aide to former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Kuhl’s public affairs firm is contracted by Minnesotans United, the lead lobby group for gay marriage in Minnesota and main recipient of American Unity’s Minnesota spending.

Gay marriage’s fate in Minnesota may rest with the House, where support is seen as shakier than in the Senate. A handful of votes from Republicans could put it over the top. Nearly two dozen House Republicans represent more socially moderate suburbs and might be candidates to vote yes.

House Speaker Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said he has encouraged advocates of the marriage bill to round up Republican votes, if nothing else than to send a message to Minnesota residents that it’s not a partisan proposition. But that will be politically risky; the main opposition group to same-sex marriage, Minnesota for Marriage, has said it will seek consequences for Republicans who stray on gay marriage.

Part of American Unity PAC’s original mission was to spend money on behalf of Republican gay marriage supporters. Many GOP lawmakers have faced primary challenges funded in part by anti-gay marriage groups such as the National Organization for Marriage, which argue that the lawmakers had betrayed the party’s core principles.

Since forming the lobby group last month, American Unity also spent money to win over Republican lawmakers in Rhode Island, where last week all five Republicans in the state Senate jumped on the gay marriage bandwagon. Rhode Island is on track to legalize gay marriage by next week, which would make it the 11th U.S. state where gay marriage is legal.

There are also plans to lobby federal lawmakers on gay rights issues.

“We intend to work on this effort until every American citizen is treated equally under the law,” Cook-McCormac said. Other wealthy, traditionally Republican donors giving money to the group include Seth Klarman, David Herro and Cliff Asness.

Though only one current GOP officeholder in Minnesota is on record supporting gay marriage, a handful of prominent Republicans have spoken out in favor of it. They include former state auditor Pat Anderson and Brian McClung, who was spokesman for former Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Prominent Republican donors including former politician Wheelock Whitney and businesswoman Marilyn Carlson Nelson have also lent support and donated money.

Since it first formed to campaign against last fall’s gay marriage ban and then shifted to pushing for its legalization at the Capitol, Minnesotans United has been building Republican alliances, hiring multiple lobbyists with Republican ties.

Read the article from Washington Post.

written by David Kochel.

Dawn BarbouRoske, center, and her partner, Jen BarbouRoske, right, celebrate with daughters McKinley, left, and Bre after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled to legalize gay marriage in 2009. / Christopher Gannon/Register File Photo

Four years ago, Iowa blazed a trail for equality in America’s heartland. Our state proudly reaffirmed the commitment to the fundamental individual rights enshrined in the Iowa Constitution by allowing loving and committed same-sex couples to marry.

In choosing freedom and equality over fear, our state honored the commitment to one another, not just as fellow citizens but as neighbors, and we demonstrated for the nation that we are stronger when we stand up for all our families.

Four years later, here’s what we’ve learned: The corn still grows tall, the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers still flow strongly in the spring, and no state can match the beauty or bounty of our rolling hills and farmland. In short, nothing changed when Iowa enacted the freedom to marry. Nothing changed, except that now more kids are living in stable, two-parent homes than before, and more families enjoy the freedoms and protections of the rest of us. Marriage equality is pro-family.

As a Republican, I believe that the freedom to marry is a fundamental right. I believe that our Constitution is intended to ensure liberty, justice and equality. While I respect the views of fellow conservatives who disagree, time has shown that traditional marriage advocates are on the wrong side of history. And as more Iowans welcome new families into our communities, the pace of acceptance will quicken.

Even though the majority of public opinion was not behind their unanimous decision at the time, the justices on our Supreme Court upheld their responsibility by ruling to protect the rights of gay couples rather than yield to threats from the opposition.

But in doing the right thing, some justices paid a heavy price. Anti-gay groups spent over $1 million to oust three justices from the bench in 2010. In 2012, as the tide continued to turn toward acceptance of same-sex marriage, another effort supported by anti-gay groups failed.

These are the whims of the ballot box. But basic human rights cannot be subject to those whims. The court must shield them from the tyranny of the every-shifting majority.

As an advocate of marriage equality, I am encouraging Iowans to remain vigilant. Because even as same-sex marriage has gained acceptance among a fast-growing majority of Americans and an increasing number of Iowans, a small, misguided band of state legislators is still trying to punish the remaining four justices who joined their colleagues in ruling for fairness and equality by cutting their pay. Unable to accept fundamental constitutional principles like the separation of powers, they seek retribution and punishment.

These are not Iowa values.

Thousands of Iowans are more secure today because of marriage equality. This is a simple proposition: Would any of us want the government to tell us who we could or could not marry? I think not. This is really what the law is about — giving Iowans the freedom and responsibility to marry and care for one another.

With the U.S. Supreme Court weighing two cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage, and several states poised to legalize gay marriage this spring, our nation is at a crucial crossroads for the freedom to marry.

I feel a particular homegrown pride that Iowa, four years after the state recognized the rights of same-sex couples, remains a beacon in this fundamental quest for equality.

DAVID KOCHEL of Des Moines is an Iowa-based political consultant and owner of Redwave Communications. He is a former executive director of the Iowa Republican Party and the Michigan Republican Party, and since 2007, he was Mitt Romney’s senior Iowa adviser.

Read the article from The Des Moines Register.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) has a full-page ad in Politico today calling on the Republican Party to grow the proverbial “big tent” by dropping its opposition to granting equal rights to the LGBT community. The ad is a part of LCR’s relaunch efforts, which will more aggressively challenge the GOP to not be beholden to the vocal minority within the party that oppose rights for gays and lesbians.

View the ad here:http://www.logcabin.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/lcr-big-tent.pdf

The ad features two men looking down on a comically small tent with one remarking, “Reagan’s Big Tent Isn’t What it Used to Be…”. The ad then goes on to say: “If the Republican Party wants to win future elections and set this country back on sound financial footing, it must put an end to its obsession with opposing equal rights for LGBT Americans. The GOP’s focus should be on bringing together existing members, reclaiming former Republicans, and attracting new voters. According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, the freedom to marry is supported by 81 percent of adults younger than 30. If you don’t make the tent bigger, you might as well fold it up and go home.”

Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo released the following statement with regard to the ad:

Some Republicans just don’t get it. Despite widespread and growing public support for marriage equality and the need to focus on increasing our numbers in the wake of the crushing electoral defeats of 2012, an element of the GOP remains hell-bent on emphasizing exclusion over inclusion.

Make no mistake: as Log Cabin Republicans, we want to win elections, and if the Republican Party wants to do the same it needs to take a stand against anti-gay rhetoric in its ranks and welcome the increasing numbers of Republicans who support the freedom to marry. Our ad today in Politico should be a wake-up call to Republicans and a reminder of the words of President Reagan, who, in describing his ‘big tent’ conservative philosophy, declared, ‘It is not your duty, responsibility or privilege to tear down, or attempt to destroy, others in the tent.’ Let’s make the tent bigger. Let’s get the Republican Party back on a path to victory.

To learn more, go to www.logcabin.org. To schedule an interview, please contact West Honeycutt at 202-420-7873.

Log Cabin Republicans is the only Republican organization dedicated to representing the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and their allies. The more than 30-year old organization has state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time office in Washington, D.C., a federal political action committee and state political action committees.

Read the article from Log Cabin Republicans.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former top aide to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Wednesday publicly urged Minnesota GOP legislators to back legalized gay marriage or risk alienating young voters.

Brian McClung, who was deputy chief of staff to Pawlenty, made his case in a Star Tribune commentary piece due for publication Thursday but also spoke with The Associated Press. He said he is willing to go directly to Republican lawmakers considered persuadable on the issue ahead of legislative votes on gay marriage. Those votes are expected before the Legislature adjourns in mid-May.

McClung said by resisting gay marriage the GOP is ignoring a generational gap on the issue and coming off as out of touch.

“We risk closing the door on an entire generation of voters,” McClung told AP.

He added that by resolving the issue this year, the GOP can keep the focus on economic matters when they face voters next.

“By the time of the 2014 elections, it would be beneficial for us to have this as a settled issue and have us get back to the broader issues that we all support — like less spending, lower taxes and more accountability,” McClung said.

One legislative Republican, state Sen. Branden Petersen of Andover, has said he would support the same-sex marriage bill. But backers said they hope to get others on board. Some Democrats from rural districts are opposed to the bill, making the outcome unpredictable in Minnesota’s Democratic-led Legislature.

McClung said he voted against a constitutional amendment on last fall’s ballot that would have fortified an existing statutory ban on gay marriage. The amendment, put on the ballot by a Republican-controlled Legislature, failed.

Seventeen House Democrats represent districts where a majority of voters backed the unsuccessful gay marriage ban. Conversely, 21 House Republicans represent suburban districts where the amendment failed.

McClung said he consulted with Pawlenty before making his announcement. But he said Pawlenty, a two-term Republican governor who left office in 2010, still believes marriage should remain between one man and one woman. Pawlenty didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

McClung isn’t the only ex-aide for Pawlenty to promote gay marriage. A former communications director, Dan Wolter, publicly advocated defeat of the amendment last fall.

Read the article from The Associated Press.

In Rhode Island, an entire delegation to the state Senate backs gay marriage — and it’s the Republicans.

Rhode Island Public Radio reports that all five Republican members of the state’s upper chamber will support a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state.

The state House voted in favor of gay marriage earlier this year; it’s now before the  Senate Judiciary Committee and could see a vote in the full Senate by the end of the week. The regional chapter of the National Organization for Marriage has threatened to unseat Senate Minority Leader Dennis L. Algiere (R) over the vote.

In less liberal states than Rhode Island, Republican supporters of gay marriage are more rare. The Nevada Senate voted Monday to legalize gay marriage in the Silver State; only one Republican backed that legislation. A Republican in Minnesota is co-sponsoring a gay marriage bill; he also faces threats from NOM and resistance from other Republicans. In Delaware, gay marriage has a Republican co-sponsor in the state House; there are also supporters in Illinois, where conservatives have failed to oust the state party chairman for supporting gay marriage.

Read the article from The Washington Post. 

Former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, who came out as gay in 2010, believes GOP politicians’ views on same-sex marriage are affected by their personal lives rather than the views of their colleagues.

Mehlman, who served as George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign manager, told The Advocate that he believes President Barack Obama — who came out with a pro-marriage equality stance in May 2012 — can’t take full credit for the evolving views of Republican Party members.

“I think that most of the signers of the [amicus curiae] brief, like other Americans who have increasingly embraced the freedom to marry, are most impacted by what they see in their own lives,” Mehlman said. “That’s how change so often occurs — people reflecting on their core values and also their experiences. And as people consider the importance of marriage to their own lives, they recognize how fundamental this right is. As they come to fully know their gay friends and relatives and neighbors and teammates, they don’t think it’s fair or consistent with conservative values to deny them this basic right.”

Mehlman’s comments come weeks after a number of senators changed their stance on same-sex marriage, starting with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who flipped his views on the issue in March, citing his gay son as a the reason for changing his mind.

As the former RNC Chairman, Mehlman has been a visible and vocal Republican advocate for same-sex marriage. In 2010, three years after leaving his post as chairman, Mehlman announced he is gay in an interview with The Atlantic. Mehlman said he regretted not coming out earlier, despite the Republican Party’s anti-gay rights platform, but that he believes the party has the potential to change.

“I think the Republican Party is a diverse party with lots of different views, and I think it’s a mistake to presume that people who disagree with what I think is the right answer — which is freedom to marry — are inherently motivated by divisive instincts,” Mehlman told The Huffington Post in 2010.

Following the 2012 presidential election, Mehlman launched Project Right Side, a nonprofit group aimed at gaining right-wing support for marriage equality and gay rights and attracting new voters to the GOP.

“Conservatives don’t need to change core convictions to embrace the growing support for equal rights for gay Americans,” Mehlman wrote in a 2012 Wall Street Journal op-ed. “It is sufficient to recognize the inherent conservatism in citizens’ desire to marry, to be judged on their work, and not to be singled out for higher taxes or bullying at school. These objectives can be achieved while also protecting religious liberty, as demonstrated by states enacting civil marriage with exemptions for religious institutions.”

Read the article from Huffington Post.

written by Jeff Angelo, Ames, founder of Iowa Republicans for Freedom

Tim McQuillan, left, and Sean Fritz, right, both Iowa State University students became the first same-sex couple to marry in Iowa when they were married Aug. 31, 2007 by the Rev. Mark Stringer of First Unitarian Church in Des Moines at 10:32 a.m. in the Stringer’s front yard. / Rodney White/Register file photo

We are winning on the issue of marriage equality. All across the country, conservatives and Republicans, legislators and constituents, are standing up and speaking out in support of marriage for gay and lesbian Americans. And Americans across the country, regardless of political affiliation, are voicing their opposition to the passage of hurtful legislation that harms American families. I truly believe we are in the midst of a conservative movement for marriage equality. The new reality is that the tide for same-sex marriage is turning and that yes, we are winning.

For example, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio has bravely and publicly joined many other conservatives in support of marriage. “I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married,” Senator Portman wrote in a Columbus Dispatch essay last month.

As an evangelical conservative, I agree wholeheartedly with Portman and think he should be commended for his leadership on this issue. Conservative values tell us that above all else, we need to defend individual liberty. As the party of freedom and limited government, supporting marriage for gay and lesbian families simply makes sense. What could be more in line with our values than supporting our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters who want to build strong, stable families together through marriage? Marriage is, after all, the bedrock of a healthy society.

Fifty-two percent of Republicans under age 50 support the freedom to marry. These voices in support include Sen. Mark Kirk and Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. of Illinois, President George W. Bush’s campaign strategist Ken Mehlman, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Vice President Dick Cheney and the many supporters of Iowa Republicans for Freedom.

Yes, we are winning. And I look forward to working with more conservatives as they step forward and declare their support for marriage equality.

Read the article from The Des Moines Register.

Delaware state Rep. Mike Ramone (R-Middle Run Valley) (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

DOVER, Del.—The only Republican co-sponsor of Delaware’s same-sex marriage bill told the Washington Blade during an exclusive interview on Wednesday he supports the measure because it’s “the right thing” to do.

“I always try to be respectful of what people think and how they think and we are supporters of treating everyone equally,” state Rep. Mike Ramone (R-Middle Run Valley) said while discussing he and his wife Lisa’s decision to support House Bill 75. He noted during the interview he has a gay son and several of those who have worked at the six flower shops and floral warehouse they own throughout Delaware are out. “Gay people have become very close to us. We just don’t believe that they shouldn’t be treated equally like everyone else and have the opportunity to get married.”

Ramone spoke with the Blade less than three hours before the House Administration Committee voted 4-1 to move HB 75 to the full House. He and his wife also attended the April 11 press conference in Wilmington at which state Rep. Melanie George Smith (D-Bear) announced she had introduced it.

The New Castle County Republican who has represented House District 21 since 2008 told the Blade he did not want Equality Delaware and other HB 75 supporters to officially announce his co-sponsorship of the bill during the press conference because he wanted to talk with his GOP colleagues about his position at first.

“They’ve been very kind and understanding,” Ramone said. “This is one of those things where we’re on different sides. We just are looking at it from different sets of glasses.”

He added he has received what he described as “an enormous amount of calls and letters because I am a Republican and a lot of people would have thought a Republican wouldn’t have done this.” Ramone said they have come from same-sex marriage and opponents alike.

“People in my district are very kind and understanding,” he said. “There are some fringe people that call me from… that are a little more harsh and troublesome.”

Ramone, who is one of two Republicans who voted for the state’s civil unions law that Gov.Jack Markell signed in 2011, said someone threw eggs at his home and car and vandalized his mailbox in the days after the vote. He conceded he has had “some very stressful environments” since his support of HB 75 became known that include people handing him a Bible and reading passages they claim prove he will go to hell over his position.

Ramone said neither he nor his family have received any threats or had “any issues” with their home or businesses over the marriage bill.

“I don’t really believe we’re redefining marriage with this bill,” he said. “Marriage can still be a holy sacrament between a man and a woman. We haven’t changed that. It’s just now that two men and two women get to be able to partake in the same sacramental event in their church.”

More than 200 GOP legislators voted for same-sex marriage

Ramone is the latest in a growing number of Republican lawmakers across the country who support nuptials for gays and lesbians.

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk earlier this month publicly backed same-sex marriage, while U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) endorsed the issue during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s oral arguments on two cases that challenge the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Illinois Republican Party Chair Pat Brady and former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Jr., are among those who also support nuptials for gays and lesbians.

More than 200 Republican state legislators across the country have so far voted in support of same-sex marriage.

“I’m a Republican because I believe in fiscal responsibility and trying to make the government a place that helps people build businesses and be successful, not because it tells us how we should socially live our lives,” Ramone said in response to the Blade’s question about continued opposition to nuptials for gays and lesbians within the broader Republican Party. “I wish we had a Republican Party that focused more on how we can make the world better through fiscal responsibility. And if there are social environments that aren’t hurting anyone else by their actual ability to participate in them on an equal basis, I don’t know that we should be involved in that.”

Same-sex marriage supporters were quick to welcome Ramone’s support.

“We are incredibly proud to have Mike Ramone as a vote for marriage equality,” Equality Delaware President Lisa Goodman told the Blade before the House committee voted to advance HB 75. “He has long supported our community, and is a man who understands that marriage equality is not a partisan issue.”

Smith agreed during a brief interview with the Blade after the committee vote.

“He’s great,” she said.

Read the article from The Washington Blade.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan supports same-sex marriage, her daughter Patti Davis claims.

“She does,” Davis said when asked if her mother supported marriage equality.

“I’m hesitant to speak for anyone else, and she’s not comfortable going out in the public eye and getting in the firing line of anything,” Davis told Michael Signorile on the SiriusXM show “OutQ.”

Davis, the daughter of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan, made headlines earlier this month when she said that her father would have supported the right of same-sex couples to get married.

Davis said she never discussed the topic with her father before he died in 2004, but told The New York Times that Reagan would have “been puzzled,” by the debate over gay marriage due to what the newspaper described as his “distaste for government intrusion into private lives.”

“(He) did not believe that gayness was a choice,” she added.

Her comments about her parents come as attitudes among lawmakers quickly shift on the controversial issue.

In recent weeks, a slew of Senators across both parties have come out in favor of same-sex marriage.

Among Senate Democrats, only Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.). remain opposed to marriage equality.

Republicans have also begun to evolve on the issue.

Earlier this month, Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) became the second GOP senator to shift after Rob Portman (R-Ohio) switched his position in March after his son came out to him as gay.

Read the article from NY Daily News.

Supporting gay marriage would be “suicidal” for the Republican Party… this according to Rick Santorum. On April 9, the Washington Post reported that the former presidential candidate is speaking out on gay marriage… and the new drive to make it legal across the country isn’t something that he supports — and he doesn’t think the GOP should support it either.

“The Republican Party’s not going to change on this issue. In my opinion it would be suicidal if it did,” said Santorum. This isn’t the first time that Santorum has spoken out about the controversial issue, but his wording this time around is being debated more than his feelings on the matter.

Gay marriage could be suicidal for the GOP in the sense that it’s the one thing the party is hanging on to — according to Rick Santorum. While many republicans seem to be embracing gay marriage and the fight for equality, others (like Santorum) hang on to these values that some may call “dated.”

Some republicans (like Chris Christie) seem to want to sail closer to the middle of the aisle and to accept things like gay marriage or abortion — things that essentially were the backbone of the GOP. However, would a shift in beliefs actually kill the party? Some believe that it will do just the opposite.

Perhaps gay marriage won’t be suicidal for the GOP… perhaps it will be reviving. Thoughts?

Read the article from examiner.com.