About two weeks ago, the California Republican Party held its Spring convention in Sacramento.
That Friday evening of the convention, the Sacramento chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans decided to take fellow members out to the local gay bar, Badlands. One of them decided to wear his MAGA hat. The amount of chaos that ensued from the leftist patrons at the bar was as you’d expect. Many of them got aggressive to the point where at least one of them got ejected from the establishment by security. One person yelled: “Just go die already.” Nothing but love and acceptance from the community that preaches love and acceptance. Despite a hostile welcome, our MAGA hat-wearing member stayed and enjoyed the rest of the evening hanging with friends, and no other problems ensued. Only until the next day when Badlands announced on social media that they would ban any MAGA attire in their establishment to make sure patrons felt “safe.” Granted our member was the one who was getting attacked by the people who claimed to feel unsafe. Weird how that works.
The Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest LGBT conservative organization, is a permanently chartered organization with the state party (not an easy milestone) and helped elect the new state party chair, Corrin Rankin. She is the first black woman elected to the position and a Log Cabin ally. A Saturday night reception for LCR was the most well-attended of all the events at the convention. I can confirm that the ballroom was still packed by midnight when the hotel needed to kick us out.
So much progress has been made for LGBT people in the Republican Party ever since Donald Trump came onto the political scene. He appointed Richard Grenell in 2019 to be his Acting Director of Intelligence, making him the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet-level position. President Trump appointed Scott Bessent, now the current Secretary of the Treasury, making him the highest-ranking LGBT person in the history of the American government. Not to mention, he has hosted the Log Cabin Republicans twice for their annual gala’s, including hosting two members who decided to get married at Mar-a-Lago. Trump even snapped a picture with the newlyweds. And you know how PrEP is free? You can thank Donald Trump for striking a deal in his first term with Gilead to make it accessible to the LGBT community.
Despite these facts, the LGBT Left has made false narratives about Trump’s record their devout religion, declaring war on anything MAGA. A Log Cabin member in Los Angeles was assaulted two different times at gay bars for wearing his MAGA hat. Thankfully, the police arrested the perpetrators, and they are now being prosecuted by the LA District Attorney. Our Coachella Valley chapter had its event canceled by the establishment that planned to host them after they were bombarded with hate messages from angry leftists. Many threatened to pose as gay conservatives so they could attend and doxx our members with photographs and get their license plate numbers.
The great irony here is that despite the evidence showing the immense amount of progress that has been made, the LGBT Left will scoff, dismiss it, and go full scorched earth toward those who dare to challenge the status quo within the LGBT community. The kind of hatred and dangerous tactics they use to shame and silence those in their sphere who dare to think for themselves is no different than what Scientology does to parishioners who leave the church. Look up L. Ron Hubbard’s policies on “fair game” and “disconnection.” All tactics are used by the LGBT Left.
This brings me to my main point: The LGBT community doesn’t really care about progress. They only care about chasing the high that outrage gives to their emotions. They only care about perpetuating victimhood rather than creating a sense of empowerment. They only care that you think exactly like they do and have no sense of individuality except for blue hair. God forbid you get an 85 percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign instead of a perfect 100 percent. You will be excommunicated. Much like what the far-right fundamentalist Christians do when they find out a parishioner is gay.
The LGBT Left would much rather live in a homogeneous circle where they are constantly praised and ego-stroked by their elite friends in the mainstream media and the Democratic Party rather than go into the rural, working-class communities where the tough conversations around LGBT rights need to be had. Hate to break it to you, but these communities are where elections are now decided. Donald Trump carried every single swing state that propelled him to victory in large thanks to him making inroads in these traditionally Democratic blue-collar places.
Going to brunch in West Hollywood with your friends and moaning about those awful Republicans and Elon Musk while sipping $25 mimosas is not going to cut it. It takes an immense amount of courage, maturity, and vulnerability — knowing that you may not get a warm welcome and understanding that you need to play the long game — to get the results you want. It is hard work, very hard work — something the Log Cabin Republicans are willing to do, unlike the LGBT Left, which wants what is easy.
No progress has been made by taking the easy route. We live in a country with a two-party system and gay rights advocates need to have a two-party strategy. If not, there will be no progress. Having worked in Republican politics for the past five years I have received nothing but kindness from my fellow Republicans. The only ones who tell me I’m a “f****t that needs to set myself on fire” are those from the LGBT Left.
Jake Iorio is the Director of Chapter Development for the Log Cabin Republicans.