Richard Grenell: CPAC Uninvited Me

Grenell, you may recall, was part of the Romney 2012 team for a few minutes until the religious right went nuts.

Homocons Join GOP Prop 8 Brief

Yesterday we learned that about 75 GOP figures had signed onto a joint Supreme Court brief supporting the overturn of Prop 8.  Today we get the full list of names and note that a number of  well-known homocons have signed on. Most notable, of course, is that the brief itself bears the name of former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, the homocon mastermind of 21 successful anti-gay state ballot initiatives during the Bush II administration. 

Other homocon brief signees include former Log Cabin head R. Clark Cooper, former UN ambassadors spokesman Richard Grenell (who spent two hot minutes with the Romney campaign before getting canned), former Log Cabin head Patrick Guerriero, former Rep. Michael Huffington,  former Rep. Jim Kolbe, and former MA state Rep. Richard Tisei, who ran unsuccessfully for the US House last year.

RELATED: Last month a separate trio of homocons, David Benkof, Doug Mainwaring, and Robert Oscar Lopez, filed a Supreme Court brief against the repeal of Proposition 8.

Homocon Tweet Of The Day

Homocon Richard Grenell: Obama Has "Given Up" On Stopping Iranian Nukes

Tweet Of the Day - Richard Grenell

(Via Good As You)

Fired Romney Homocon Richard Grenell Posts Promotional News Reel

Earlier this year Bryan Fischer denounced Mitt Romney for hiring homocon Richard Grenell as his foreign policy spokesperson. Then after Grenell was fired (resigned, he claims), Fischer denounced Romney for "caving" to his demands. Today Grenell posted the below montage of his cable news appearances, presumably to rustle up a new gig.

HomoQuotable - Richard Grenell

"The claim that gays should be barred from conservative activism is not only bigoted but is a bipartisan view. The intolerant assault comes from the far right, who object to Republicans who are gay, and the far left, who object to gays being Republicans. When the extremists on both sides are the only ones speaking up, the majority suffers. [snip]

"Like many voters, I rarely agree with a candidate's every position. I can support Mr. Romney for president but not agree with all of his stated policies. I can be proud of President Obama's personal support for gay marriage and still take exception to his dismal national-security and economic records. Millions of American voters will also evaluate both candidates' policies in total and come to the same conclusion: Mr. Obama doesn't deserve to be re-elected and Mr. Romney does." - Former Romney spokesman Richard Grenell, in an essay published by the Wall Street Journal.

Bryan Fischer: If Somebody Like ME Can Push Romney Around, What About China?

Romney Finally Addresses Grenell Flap

Romney says he didn't pick Grenell because he's gay and that he's sorry that Grenell is gone.

(Via Think Progress)

Log Cabin On Grenell's Resignation

"It is amazing how fast our community can forget that it was Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) who resurrected DADT repeal in the 2010 lame duck session, and it was New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) who fulfilled a promise to Log Cabin Republicans to allow a vote on marriage in the GOP-led chamber. If it is true - or even if Americans only perceive it to be true - that far right activists like American Family Association's Bryan Fischer are powerful enough to force a good man out of a job he is the most qualified to fill, that will make it harder to move forward on the issues that matter to LGBT Americans.

"We need Log Cabin Republicans to work for change within the party, and when one of us falls, we all suffer for it. Social conservative leaders know this, which is why they are crowing today - but their litmus test of what it takes to be a conservative is bad politics, and in the long term they are destined to lose. This is a story that the Romney campaign never wanted; the Romney team would much rather be talking about jobs and the economy. The campaign deserves more credit for hiring Ric even though they fumbled the execution, but now they will be under real pressure to prove that Mitt Romney is not antigay to an American voting public that is increasingly intolerant of discrimination." - R. Clarke Cooper, head of Log Cabin Republicans, via press release.

Sullivan On Grenell's Resignation

"It's sometimes hard to explain to outsiders what level of principle is required to withstand the personal cost of being an out gay Republican. I've only ever been a gay conservative (never a Republican), and back in the 1990s, it was brutal living in the gay world and challenging liberal assumptions. I cannot imagine the social isolation of Grenell in Los Angeles today, doing what he did. And his reward for such loyalty, sincerity and pugnacity? Vilification. I mean: what do Republicans call a gay man with neoconservative passion, a committed relationship and personal courage? A faggot." - Andrew Sullivan.

Signorile On Grenell's Resignation

Signorile nails it. From HuffPo Gay Voices:

Actually, I believe this is a big win for progressives and for gay journalists and commentators as well. We drew out the conservative leaders in addition to Fischer, like Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer and other commentators on National Review and Daily Caller, by bringing forth and continually highlighting the true facts about Grenell, which, to most Americans, are completely acceptable, but which, in the eyes of the evangelical right, make him a radical homosexual. As I wrote in a post last week, Grenell isn't just gay, like some other gay Republicans who stay quiet about their homosexuality. He's a gay man who very publicly expressed that he wants to get married to another man and who believes President Obama isn't adequate on LGBT rights.

Why is it this a win? Because Grenell was being used for cover by a candidate with abhorrently anti-gay positions, a man who has promised to "propose and promote" a federal marriage amendment if elected president. I don't buy the argument made by some that it was a measure of progress that Romney hired a gay man as his foreign policy spokesperson when he's using that gay man to make himself appear moderate to independents while he's promising the GOP base that he'll make gay people into second class citizens. Actual progress in the GOP will come when their presidential candidates stop bowing to bigots and refuse to sign their extremist pledges. Otherwise, it's all window dressing.

More Reactions To Grenell's Resignation

Stonewall Democrats

Mitt Romney sat silently and let the bigoted wing of his party control his personnel choices. Either Mitt Romney is a coward who is afraid to stand up to the anti-LGBT bullies in his party, or he is fine with an America where LGBT people can have a career only if they're willing to work quietly from the confines of the closet. Gay Republicans should be outraged and must demand that the organizations that represent them refuse to support Mitt Romney's presidential aspirations in any way."

Human Rights Campaign

From the moment Richard Grennell signed on as Mitt Romney's Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman, he faced a torrent of unfounded criticism from the far right. Not once did the Romney campaign condemn these attacks and support Grennell. Mitt Romney capitulating to the demands of extremist anti-gay groups is nothing new. He has donated to the rabidly anti-gay National Organization for Marriage and the Massachusetts Family Institute. He has even signed a NOM vow that binds him to appoint only anti-gay judges and establish a McCarthy-era commission to investigate the activities of those who support LGBT equality. The fact that Grennell is gone so quickly after a right-wing uproar is a troubling harbinger of the kind of power that anti-gay forces would have in a Romney White House.

Romney's Gay Spokesman Resigns

Saying that he was "hounded from the Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives," the Washington Post reports today that Richard Grenell has resigned. His resignation letter:

I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.

The Romney campaign responds: "We are disappointed that Ric decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons. We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill."

UPDATE: RWW has Bryan Fischer's gleeful reaction.


UPDATE II: Log Cabin Republicans react via press release:

"Ric made the choice that he feels is best for the Romney campaign, and I respect his decision," said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. "It is unfortunate that while the Romney campaign made it clear that Grenell being an openly gay man was a non-issue for the governor and his team, the hyper-partisan discussion of issues unrelated to Ric's national security qualifications threatened to compromise his effectiveness on the campaign trail. As a Bush Administration colleague of Ric, I can attest to his experience and qualifications in the national security portfolio. Ric was essentially hounded by the far right and far left. The Romney campaign has lost a well-known advocate of conservative ideas and a talented spokesman, and I am certain he will remain an active voice for a confident U.S. foreign policy."

Signorile On Gays Who Diss Lesbians

"Like the classic case of the bully who picks on people because he's afraid, deep down, that he is the one who actually is weak, it appears that these guys beat up others in the community to divert attention from themselves and to show that they're down with everyone else who's doing the bashing. In the case of [Richard] Grenell, it's particularly interesting because if you watch a video of him being interviewed you'll see he is not exactly the standard of masculinity. And that's totally fine -- few men are, gay or straight. But for him to then criticize a lesbian for not meeting a standard of femininity does reveal a certain 'lady doth protest too much' quality.

"We've seen similar kinds of tweets about Maddow from Chris Barron, one of the founders of the conservative gay group, GOProud, who once mocked her for looking like a 'dude.' He's also tweeted that Barney Frank is 'catty,' has a 'purse' and wants to 'sit in Scott Brown's lap.' Curiously, Barron also obsessively tweets about his gym workouts and tweets many photos of his worked-out abs, in what seems like a desperate exercise in overcompensation, as if to say, 'See, I really am a real man, really!'" - Michelangelo Signorile, writing for Huffington Post.

Rabbi Yehuda Levin: Cardinal Dolan Must Call Out Romney For Homosexualism

Levin is echoing yesterday's call by the Vatican for a united ecumenical front against the civil equality of gay Americans.

Good Question, Actually

Yesterday it was also noticed that Grenell has deleted his personal website. "Hmmm."

National Review Slams Romney's Homocon

From the right wing National Review:

Grenell’s being openly gay is, in itself, of no consequence for his service in the Romney campaign. Nor is the fact that he supports same-sex marriage — if, that is, we were assured that this view would have no influence on American foreign policy. But Grenell has made a particular crusade of the marriage issue, with a kind of unhinged devotion that suggests a man with questionable judgment. And when the Obama State Department is already moving to elevate the gay-rights agenda to a higher plane than religious freedom in the foreign policy of the United States, it is reasonable to wonder whether Grenell, after taking such a prominent place in the Romney campaign’s foreign-policy shop, would be in line for an influential State posting where he could pursue his passion for that same agenda.

FRC Slams Romney On Homocon Hire

Bryan Fischer Tangles With Log Cabin Head Over Romney's New Homocon

American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer took to CNN today to continue his campaign against Mitt Romney's new spokes-quisling, Richard Grenell. Defending Romney was Log Cabin Republicans head R. Clarke Cooper, who actually did rather well when it came to Fischer's attacks on homosexuality itself. Think Progress has the video.