Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John
McCain, says the Republican Party needs to broaden its appeal to
include gay men and lesbians.
The 24-four-year-old Republican is
scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the Log Cabin Republican's
annual convention that begins Thursday in Washington D.C. Log Cabin
is the gay Republican group being challenged as “too left” by
nascent group GOProud.
“Of all the causes I believe in and
speak publicly about, this is one of the ones closest to my heart,”
McCain writes in an editorial titled Memo
to the GOP: Go Gay at Tina Brown's online publication The
Daily Beast.
McCain says opposition to gay marriage
and anti-gay rhetoric are two issues that leave gays feeling
unwelcome in the Republican tent. A tent, she says, she aims to make
more gay friendly.
“I am determined to build a
more-inclusive GOP not by making us 'sound' more inclusive, but by
doing it. And I know people are out there waiting for it to happen.
... If the Republican Party has any hope of gaining substantial
support from a wider, younger base, we need to get past our anti-gay
rhetoric.”
But Washington Blade Editor
Kevin Naff finds McCain's newly-found gay advocacy “problematic”
and questions its timing.
“It's easy to adopt these
'progressive' stances when the campaign is over and you're looking
for a provocative gimmick to get yourself booked on Larry King
and The View,” writes Naff in an editorial titled Responding
to Meghan McCain.
Naff adds that McCain declined several
invitations to speak on gay issues during the presidential campaign.
“[W]hen Meghan's pro-gay views might
have mattered, she was silent, much like Steve Schmidt, the McCain
campaign's chief strategist who recently told the Blade that
he too favors same-sex marriage rights.”
Both Schmidt and McCain are scheduled
to appear at the Log Cabin convention.