‘I Feel Like We Failed’ Log Cabin Republicans Supporters Sever Ties Over Romney Endorsement
Two prominent supporters of the Log Cabin Republicans have chosen to sever ties with the LGBTQA Republican organization after the LCR publicly endorsed presidential candidate Mitt Romney on October 23.
Kevin and Don Norte, high school sweethearts who have been together for 34 years, are ending their relationship with LCR after over a decade of affiliation. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post the Norte’s spoke about their decision to leave after years of dedicated service.
“Leaving them is kind of like a divorce,” Kevin told HuffPo.
His partner Don echoed his sentiments: “I’m at a point where I just can’t put myself with [the LCR] anymore because of what their positions are on marriage. They act like it’s not important anymore.”
Leaving the Log Cabin Republicans over their support for Mitt Romney was not an easy decision for the Norte’s to reach. The two run the popular site, “Blog Cabin: Our Life as Gay Republicans,” Kevin was at one point a California trustee and Don sat on the board of the Los Angeles chapter. In addition, Kevin was the 2009 recipient of the “Grassroots Leadership Award” for his work with the organization.
However after the LCR publicly announced their backing of Mitt Romney on October 25 the Norte’s saw no other choice but to leave the organization, penning a short “break up tweet” the same day:
@logcabingop Please accept our resignation from #LogCabin effective immediately
— Kevin And Don Norte (@KevinAndDon) October 25, 2012
On the couple’s disagreement with LCR’s public endorsement, Kevin stated:
“There’s a difference between acceptance and endorsing. There’s a difference between tolerating and acceptance. They’re all degrees … Romney’s on the point of tolerating us; he doesn’t advance us in the world. And then everyone’s so happy when people see a sign that he doesn’t say anything negative. But he signed the National Organization for Marriage pledge last year, and he didn’t retract it … If we have Romney in office, he’ll get the Department of Justice to keep DOMA upheld … Obama’s position is to the contrary. I can’t support somebody who wants to destroy my family.”
In addition to publicly and monetarily supporting the LCR, the Norte’s have also acted politically on the group’s behalf. In 2008 they worked with LCR to get Arnold Schwarzenegger elected as Governor of California and campaigned against Proposition 8. They publicly appealed to Schwarzenegger and urged him to oppose the ballot measure that sought to ban gay marriage and the he eventually complied. Don is also one of the first openly gay Republican appointees to a governing body after Governor Schwarzenegger appointed him to his Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.
“There’s a rift between California Republicans and the rest of the country. We’re the party of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California. We’re different,” Kevin said. “But in California, we think that because we’re so big, we can change the rest of the country. That’s what people always say, but that’s not always true…. I feel like we failed.”
Now that the Norte’s have publicly severed ties with the Log Cabin Republicans over their endorsement of Mitt Romney the couple has yet to decide who they will vote for on November 6 and have chosen not to become affiliated with another political party.
