A FORMER head of the Republican Party says he wants to become an advocate for same-sex marriage, after coming out as gay.
Ken Mehlman, a former campaign manager for George W. Bush, acknowledged yesterday that he could have resisted more strongly anti-gay policies pursued by the Bush administration if he had come out earlier.
But the former director of White House political affairs and chairman of the Republican National Committee said it had taken him 43 years to “get comfortable with this part of my life”.
The Republican Party has typically not supported gay rights. Former Bush adviser Karl Rove argued for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in 2004 while Mr Mehlman was a senior figure in the White House and in charge of Mr Bush’s re-election campaign.
In an interview with Atlantic magazine, Mr Mehlman asked for understanding from the gay community about why he did not stand up for the rights of same-sex couples at the time.
“It’s a legitimate question and one I understand,” he said.
“I can’t change the fact that I wasn’t in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally.”
Mr Mehlman said his decision to come out now was partly motivated by wanting to become an advocate for gay marriage.
He had anticipated some questions after he participated in a fundraiser last September for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, a lobby group battling in court to overturn Proposition 8, a voter-approved ban on gay marriage in the state of California.
President Barack Obama has said that while he considers marriage to be between a man and a woman, he supports civil unions with similar rights and opposes “divisive and discriminatory efforts” such as Proposition 8 to amend the constitutions of the US and individual states.
Mr Mehlman is the most prominent Republican to come out as gay and advocate same-sex marriage.
In 2004, then vice-president Dick Cheney distanced himself from the Bush administration’s push to ban same-sex marriage, saying he supported freedom of relationships and was familiar with the issue because his daughter Mary was a lesbian.
Mr Mehlman said yesterday: “It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life. Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”
Mr Mehlman was White House director of political affairs from 2001 to 2005 and RNC chairman from 2005 to 2007.
In November 2006, US comedian Bill Maher claimed Mr Mehlman was gay. Earlier that year, Mr Mehlman had denied rumours, telling the New York Daily News, “I’m not gay”.
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