Schlein’s comments stand in contrast to statements from national LGBT Republican groups
JOHN WRIGHT | Senior Political Writer
wright@dallasvoice.com
Local gay Republican leader Rob Schlein ignited controversy in August by declaring that he’d vote for Texas Gov. Rick Perry over President Barack Obama if Perry wins the GOP nomination, despite the governor’s anti-gay record.
Schlein, president of Metroplex Republicans of Dallas, went a step further this week when he said he’d even support former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum over Obama if Santorum turns out to be the GOP nominee.
Santorum, who has famously compared same-sex marriage to man-dog marriage and is widely considered the most anti-gay candidate in the race, finished in a virtual tie atop this week’s Iowa caucuses with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Schlein said although Metroplex Republicans doesn’t plan to make an endorsement in the GOP race, he now personally supports Romney. But he added that he would vote for Santorum over Obama, even though he doesn’t believe Santorum has any chance of winning the nomination.
“We’re going to all vote for the Republican, no matter who it is, even Rick Santorum,” Schlein said of his group’s members during an interview with Dallas Voice about the Iowa results. “We have to focus right now like a laser beam on the one issue that matters today, and that’s getting the economic house in order. Any Republican, including Rick Santorum, will do a better job than Barack Obama on the economy. It doesn’t matter what anti-LGBT positions he’s taken in the past.”
Schlein’s statements last year about supporting Perry were one factor that led National Log Cabin Republicans to de-charter the group’s Dallas chapter, in which Schlein served as president. And Schlein’s comments about Santorum this week stood in stark contrast to statements from both National Log Cabin and GOProud responding to the Iowa results.
Log Cabin Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper said in a statement issued Wednesday, Jan. 4, that Santorum rose to the top of the caucuses by appealing to “a uniquely socially conservative electorate.”
“As the nomination process moves forward, Log Cabin Republicans suggest all of the candidates reject Santorum’s politics of division and win by focusing on the issues that matter most to Americans — jobs and the economy,” Cooper said. “If using gay and lesbian Americans as a wedge can’t score enough political points to win more than 25 percent in Iowa, it certainly won’t help the Republican nominee in November.”
Asked to respond to Schlein’s comments, the president of the newly rechartered Dallas chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, Thomas Purdy, called Santorum “a bad candidate for president for many reasons.”
“Pandering to social conservatives as Santorum has done does not represent a party that champions individual liberty, and nominating Santorum would hurt the GOP by turning off moderates, independents and younger voters,” Purdy said.
GOProud, meanwhile, conspicuously omitted any reference to Santorum from the group’s statement on the Iowa results, instead congratulating only Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, who finished third.
“While there are certainly big differences between Governor Romney and Congressman Paul, especially when it comes to foreign policy, both chose to emphasize issues like the economy and the size of government over demonizing gay people,” GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia said. “We are pleased to see that so many Republicans in Iowa are focused on the issues that unite us as conservatives, instead of the side show issues.”
Schlein’s decision to invite LaSalvia to speak at what was then the Log Cabin chapter’s annual dinner in November was another factor that prompted the national Log Cabin group to oust him. Asked directly this week whether he would support Santorum if he’s the nominee, LaSalvia said in an email, “Asking me if I would support Rick Santorum if he’s the Republican nominee is like asking me if I would support Kim Kardashian if she’s the nominee — they both have about the same chance of getting the nomination!”
Omar Narvaez, president of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, declined to directly address Schlein’s comments about Santorum.
“I don’t personally know Rob Schlein,” Narvaez said. “Stonewall Democrats of Dallas is committed [to] and focused on re-electing President Barack Obama regardless of who the Republican nominee is.”
Earlier, Narvaez said he was glad Perry had chosen not to drop out of the race, despite the governor’s disappointing fifth-place finish in Iowa. Narvaez said the more candidates stay in, the more difficult it will be for any one of them to pull away.
“They’re not cohesive in any way,” Narvaez said of the GOP, “and I think the longer they can’t decide who they are, what they’re trying to do, is better for Democrats everywhere.
“The more they tear each other apart and in-fight and can’t get along, it’s better for Democrats,” he added. “They’re just giving us all the ammunition we’re going to need to fight them later.”
Equality Texas, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, issued a statement Wednesday morning rejoicing in Perry’s poor showing in Iowa, denouncing his “homophobic pandering” and predicting that he “will not be the next president of the United States.”
“Governor Perry’s homophobic pandering did not resonate with Iowa voters just as it does not resonate in Texas,” Equality Texas said in its statement. “As Governor Perry returns to Texas to reflect on his campaign, it is our hope at Equality Texas that he will also reflect on what Texans really want for their state. … It is time our governor recognize that homophobia and transphobia have no place in our great state and he should join in the effort to eradicate them from all public policy.”
After Perry announced that he would remain in the race, Equality Texas Deputy Director Chuck Smith told Dallas Voice he believes the governor’s campaign for president could ultimately benefit the LGBT community in his home state.
“It’s easy to show that most people don’t believe that,” Smith said of Perry’s anti-gay views. “He’s at a level of vitriol toward gay people that simply isn’t shared by most people. It potentially broadens the spectrum of Republicans who might be able to come out and say, ‘I don’t go that far.’ … If he gets so extreme that members of his own party feel the need to disavow him, that can only help us.”
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 6, 2012.
Of course he will. How else will he get people to pay attention to him?
Rob Schlein, you are a stupid fag!
Why does DV continue to give this ridiculous sack of sh*t attention? Please — ignore him so he will crawl back under the rock and STFU.
Wasn’t this fat sloppy Grindr-trolling queen ousted from the local LCR leadership?
This guy clearly has ZERO respect for himself as a gay man if he could or would support Santorum. I feel sorry for him. He should see a psychologist.
I am seeing 2012 as a very important year for lgbt causes.Some states are voting on same-sex marriage…some states are repealing it.The lgbt community needs to stand behind the candidate who best serves their needs.I would look at santorum’s history (Going back to 2003,so nothing new).How can ANYONE who supports the lgbt community support Santorum?… Unless you DON’T support the lgbt community…in which case I feel sorry for you and your self-hate.
(Don’t forget to google Santorum)
Your a fucking idiot and need to be replaced.
Dear Schlein: Please. Go. Away. Dear Dallas Voice: Please stop giving this nobody attention.
I’m not surprised. Get this man in office and all he will focus on is his social agenda. If any LGBT person doesn’t think this will happen, they should have their head examined!
So for him Money trumps Equality. How shortsighted.
Let’s see do I have a choice? Getting married or economic freedom. I will take the liberty that a vibrant economy can deliver rather than the spousal benefits granted through marriage at the state level. HRC quit pushing for marriage.
I started to ask what kind of idiot this man is. But then, I saw that rwf has already answered my question.
You can be against the KKK and sell them sheets. Pretentious Republican gays like this man are reviled by many. They poo-paw basic civil rights – until it happens to them. Words that come to mind are Uncle Tom and Terry Dolan. I am a one issue voter when it comes to gay rights. I will not vote for a party that wants to discriminate against me, i.e. the Republicans. Even when I agree with them economically.
How about we stop pointing the finger at Schlein and instead register to vote? If we do that, then we can make absolutely certain that his one, single, solitary vote won’t matter.
@ Tom In Dallas: This is about a lot more than marriage. Santorum has a whole agenda and being against gay marriage is just a tiny part of it. The Nazis gave Germany a “vibrant economy” too – at a price. That’s not the kind of liberty we need and the vast majority of Americans are smart enough to recognize the danger of a priest/president.
I always wash the Schlein off my Schwang after.
Dear Dallas Voice, stop giving this “man” the time of day. He is small minded creature that can’t get over his own sexuality. He will continue to hurt young gay men and women who don’t know any better. STOP PRINTING ANYTHING FROM THIS “MAN”! If you print it, you are part of the problem.
He really needs to stop eating so many twinks…I mean twinky’s!
Rob is an attention whore and doesn’t think about what he says. He brags about these stories, so he probably gets off on it. Just a petty idiot we should be ignoring.
Rather than ignore Schlein, please keep publishing his rants. Each time that you do, a few more folks realize how important it is to register to vote, to become informed, and to support those candidates who actually want to move us forward towards equality rather than back into the closet of shame and self-loathing.
Schlein is the local poster boy for everything that is evil about Gay Republicans. Keep the spotlight on him, lest we forget.
A gay man supporting Rick Santorum (or any GOP candidate) for President, would be like Anne Frank casting a vote for Adolf Hitler. It’s wrong, absolutely wrong.
On a side note, I once met the former Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans. Psychologically, there’s something wrong with this group.
He could be a straight republican plant they put in there to sway gay voters to vote republican. Then again, naw, They would pick a handsome young man to plant in the log cabin party, lots of people will do and follow whatever handsome tells them to do. Schlein is old, homely and fat so forget about him being a plant, unless its a house plant.
Any ‘mo that joins the gop and supports their vitriol and hate needs therapy.
Claiming that they’re “fiscal conservatives” is a complete load of shit. Gopers under President Darth Cheney and his mountain biking sidekick Shrubya blew through billions of (borrowed) dollars to shovel money to campaign contributors and former employers while sending thousands of Americans to die in the deserts of the Middle East.
If they’re truly concerned about fiscal policy, then support Dems that want to change things, not selfish, hateful, greedy assholes that care only for themselves.
Mr. Schlein, back in 2008 you were trying to get the Texas GOP to scrub the anti-gay language from it’s platform. This language:
“Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable ‘alternative’ lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should ‘family’ be redefined to include homosexual ‘couples.'”
How’s that scrubbing thingy going for you, Rob?
With consideration of that platform, a reporter asked Schlein, “Would you consider switching parties?”
“No!” Schlein say, emphatically.
https://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/04/no-love-for-texas-gay-republic.html
So, really, Schlein’s position has nothing to do with any of these candidates since he staked out this position DURING George W. Bush’s administration. As long as Schlein gets paid, you can put him in a scat video sucking the santorum from Ricks boy hole and Schlein will slurp it up and smack his lips as he smiles into the camera.
Seriously, why are you still paying any attention to what a self-hater like Rob Schlein says or thinks?