For as long as I can remember, Log Cabin Republicans and its members have come under fire from many in the LGBT community for their steadfast support of Republican officeholders and candidates — and the GOP itself — when those officeholders and candidates and the party are, shall we say, behind the equality curve when it comes to LGBT rights.

The Texas GOP, in fact, still has planks in its platforms calling for the Texas sodomy law to be re-instated and declaring that homosexuality“tears at the fabric of our society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases” — among others. And the Texas GOP has, more than once, refused to let LCR participate as a group in the state Republican convention.

But the Log Cabiners have remained steadfast, insisting that there is more that shapes their political beliefs than just their sexual orientation, and insisting that oour community will never achieve full equality without the support of both major political parties.

R. Clarke Cooper

The thing is, when it comes to needing support from both side of the partisan line to secure our civil rights, the Log Cabin Republicans are right. Even if LGBT-friendly Democrats were to win the 2012 elections by landslide margins and get control of the White House and both houses of Congress, and then pass every piece of pro-LGBT legislation you can think of, plus repeal all the existing anti-LGBT laws, like DOMA — well, unless we have allies in the GOP, those advances would only last until the next time the Republicans were the ones on the winning side of an election.

Luckily for us, there’s some news out of Washington, D.C., today that suggests we might be starting to see the GOP starting to be on the right side of the LGBT rights question  (at least, the national Republican Party might be; here in Texas, I am pretty sure the anti-gay forces are still in charge).

According to a press release from Log Cabin Republicans’ national headquarters, the Republican National Committee has named R. Clarke Cooper, LCR’s executive director, to its finance committeee where he will, according to the press release, “be playing a critical role in raising funds for the party’s efforts to elect Republicans to the White House and across the country.”

Cooper said: “I am honored to be a part of the Republican National Committee’s effort to advance a pro-growth, pro-free enterprise agenda, especially while working to elect and re-elect pro-equality Republicans to office all across the country. [GOP national Party Chair Reince] Priebus has demonstrated that he believes inclusion wins and that our party is strongest when we reach every community. I look forward to working within the party to help ensure we are victorious next November.”

So here’s wishing Cooper all the luck in the world when it comes to electing “pro-equality Republicans.” We need all of those we can get.