A Log Cabin Republican sees the light [View All]

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The following was posted on the Yahoo Group Cleveland Stonewall Democrats (one word). I have no idea if they accept memberships outside the Cleveland area but you can try to join and see. In any case, this should warm the hearts of many of us.

John Farina is a past President of the Log Cabin Republicans Cleveland
chapter.

You can read his resignation from the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County
below -- and learn about his plans to become a registered Democrat on
Tuesday.
He submitted this letter earlier today to Jim Trakas, Chair of the
Republican Party of Cuyahoga County.

Feel free to contact John via e-mail, [e-mail]


-----Original Message-----
From: John Farina
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 11:12 AM
To: Jim Trakas; Michael Wise
Cc: Brad Lamb
Subject: Resignation


Hello Jim and Mike,

It is with both sadness and anger that I must present to you my
resignation, effective immediately, from any and all positions (Policy,
Finance, Executive and Central committees, Lakewood Ward 4 leader) I
hold in the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County. I will be submitting
a letter to the Board of Elections withdrawing my name from
consideration for Central Committee on March 2. In fact, on March 2, I
will be pulling a Democratic ballot - effectively ending my 20 year
association with the GOP.

This was an extremely difficult decision for me to reach. I've been a
Republican all my life. But this past Tuesday morning at 10:45, the
President changed things for me.

It was bad enough that my Republican friends in the Ohio Legislature,
people who know me (and know better) and who I've vigorously supported,
voted for a divisive, unnecessary and discriminatory so-called 'Defense
of Marriage' bill. I now have the President, the leader of the party
and the free world, telling me we must sanction this type of
discrimination in the Constitution of the United States of America.
Quite frankly I'm sick over it. It is an insult to me as a life long
Republican and it does nothing to strengthen marriage. It is an
obviously political move that will do nothing but divide the nation
even further. So much for Mr. Bush being a uniter. I can think of no
other time in our country's history where the President has sought to
so directly limit the rights of a group of Americans. This is not a
true conservative value, it is that of the radical right.

I realize that neither of you may be in support of same-sex marriages,
and that's fine with me, but amending the constitution for this purpose
is morally wrong. I hope that most americans will find this disturbing
as well and I believe it will ultimately cost Bush votes. I know I'll
do my part to work against the President and any elected official who
ultimately supports this attack on civil rights.

The party has been over taken, both nationally and statewide, by hard
right social conservatives that seem hell bent on moving the country in
reverse on civil rights - seemingly at the expense of more important
issues such as fiscal responsibility. At one time in history, the
Republican party was a leader in civil rights - that Republican party
no longer exists. I always felt it was important to remain active and
fight such blatant attempts at discrimination, but that effort is
obviously futile.

I count both of you as friends and I hope that you will understand this
very difficult, personal decision. It is hard to walk away from so
many who have supported me in the past. I will miss the many great
people that I have had the opportunity to work with in the Republican
Party of Cuyahoga County over my more than 12 years of involvement,
though I am sure there will be times we may have the opportunity to
work together again. You both have always been very welcoming and
supportive of diverse viewpoints in the party and I know that you will
continue to be. At this point though, I can no longer, in good
conscience, call myself a Republican anymore.

Sincerely,
John Farina