Bush-era Republican Ken Mehlman is gay
One of the key architects of the Bush-era Republican election machine that exploited anti-gay prejudices to motivate its conservative base has disclosed that he is gay and is lobbying to legalise same-sex marriage.
“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” said Ken Mehlman, a former chairman of the Republican national committee and the manager of George Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign, in an interview published on the Atlantic’s website.
Mehlman’s revelation makes him the most senior figure in the Republican party to publicly identify himself as gay. As a member of Bush’s inner circle, Mehlman would have been party to the agenda of hostility towards gay and lesbian rights that the Republicans adopted. It was designed to draw conservative and religious supporters out to vote.
Mehlman said he was aware that Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political adviser, worked to place anti-gay initiatives and referendums on election ballots in 2004 and 2006 to help the party, a claim Rove has hotly denied.
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