Gay Republicans?

On the evening of May 8th, 2007, I attended an Alliance For Full Acceptance meeting. The guest speaker was Patrick Sammons, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans. Patrick told the captive room at the Renaissance Hotel in Charleston, that he feels as though "equality is impossible to achieve without Republican votes, particularly in red states like South Carolina." I agreed with Patrick when he stated that he hard working Log Cabin Republican's working from inside the Republican Party is the best way to gain those Republican votes. He also stated that "if every gay and lesbian person left the Republican Party tomorrow, we wouldn't be any closer to achieving equality." I completely agree with his ideals and philosophy; however, he continues by pointing out the "voices of intolerance that are in the [Republican] Party." Then Patrick used the Republican voting record on the new hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation. He pointed out that they lobbied and got 25 Republicans to vote for the bill. Earlier in the talk, a member of the audience stated that the Democratic Party had done no more for the LGBT community than the Republicans had. Patrick used the vote as a huge victory for the Log Cabin Republicans; however, after looking up the complete voting record for the new hate crimes bill, 212 Democrats voted for the bill with only 14 opposed, while the Log Cabin Republicans were bragging about their meager 25 Yeas and 166 Nays. Also after doing a little research, I found out that the Democratic National Platform includes sexual orientation as protected from discrimination in and out of the workplace. Does the Republican National platform mention us? NO. All in all, I believe that the basic principle of Gay Republicans is a great stepping stone for the LGBT movement, but I would like to see the Log Cabins to be more forceful with their inclusion into the Republican Party.
One more example of the Democratic support in a red state like South Carolina happened at the election of the new Democratic Chair of the SC Democratic Party. Carol Fowler, in her acceptance speech, mentions that the Democratic Party is a party that believes in equality for Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders. Then, at her victory party, she wore a "Gay Vote Button" proudly.