On this day, Wednesday, September 8, 2004, the national board of the Log Cabin Republicans voted to withhold endorsement from President George Bush for 2004. This very principled stand came after months of agonizing debate but more importantly from hearing and listening to its members. Log Cabin Republicans held regional meetings around the country to get a pulse of what their members thought about whether or not to endorse this president; one that ran as a compassionate conservative and stated that he felt like a different man after meeting with gay Republicans in 2000. This is indeed a sad turn of events but as Republicans everywhere, gay Republicans will continue to live as principled Americans.

Fours years ago I changed my party affiliation not because I thought it best to join the winning party but thought it best to belong to a party that exemplifies principles that I stand for. Unfortunately, writing discrimination into the US Constitution, regardless of your opinion on gay marriage, is not a principled stand nor is it a Conservative stand. What I believed then is what I believe today and that is that the US Constitution is a sacred document and one that should not be amended to discriminate against any one group. As a Republican and conservative I find it troubling that this president or any president can endorse such an amendment regardless of one's thinking or extreme feelings on homosexuality. I am disappointed in this president and in elected officials who see fit to use me as political fodder and segregate me from a society that I contribute to on a daily basis. What is most saddening is that regardless of my sexual orientation, I'm an American first and foremost.

As a Log Cabin Republican I stand firmly with the national board and my fellow members in speaking out against discrimination and behavior unacceptable to the American way of life. I especially appreciate the struggle that this board has gone through and at the end of the day stand on principles that is everything American. I want to thank our executive director Patrick Guerrioro for his outstanding leadership in these hard times.