Gay Men in the Republican Party Have to Work Against Their Own Party Platforms

The following exerpt is from Mother Jones Magazine

3 Gay Republicans Are Running for Congress

—By Patrick Caldwell
Tue Sep. 9, 2014 6:15 AM EDT

In late March, Richard Tisei, a Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts, took an unusual step for a politician in a close race: He boycotted his own party's convention.
The state GOP had added language to its platform opposing same-sex marriage, which has been legal in Massachusetts for a decade. The party's decision put Tisei in a tricky spot: He's a married, openly gay man. "I thought it was important for somebody to stand up and say the party is heading in the wrong direction," Tisei told Mother Jones. "At a time when progress is being made, it wasn't a good idea for Massachusetts to take a step backwards."
Tisei, a former state senator, is one of three openly gay Republicans challenging incumbent US House members this year. He's running unopposed in Tuesday's GOP primary in Massachusetts' 6th District. Dan Innis, a former dean of the business school at the University of New Hampshire, is running in New Hampshire's 1st District; his primary is also Tuesday. And Carl DeMaio, a former member of the San Diego city council, won the Republican primary in California's 52nd District in June.
Each of the three challengers has a decent chance of becoming the first openly gay Republican to be elected to Congress. The nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report ranks DeMaio's race against freshman Democrat Scott Peters as a "pure toss-up." Innis' race, against Dem Carol Shea Porter, is listed as "toss-up/tilt Democrat." So is Tisei's race—although Tisei's chances could fall Tuesday if his presumptive opponent, scandal-plagued incumbent John Tierney, loses in the Democratic primary.
There are currently just six LGBT members of the House—all Democrats. Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat who was elected in 2012, is the first and, so far, only openly gay senator. Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe—who came out after he'd initially been elected—was the last out GOP member of Congress, but decided not to seek reelection in 2006.

For more on this go to: www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/meet-gay-rep … g-congress