Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Finally Confirms That He's Gay

Former Republican National Committee chairman and 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman has finally come out of the closet. The confirmation was made to Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic.

The interview was scheduled to run Friday but appeared tonight after being leaked by Mike Rogers, the über-blogger known for outing closeted anti-gay politicians such as Larry Craig. Rogers was featured in Kirby Dick's documentary Outrage, which recently aired on HBO.

The architect of the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign says:

"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life. Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."

Mehlman claims that he "tried" to prevent Bush and political strategist Karl Rove from demonizing gay rights:

"Privately, in off-the-record conversations with this reporter over the years, Mehlman voiced support for civil unions and told of how, in private discussion with senior Republican officials, he beat back efforts to attack same-sex marriage. He insisted, too, that President Bush "was no homophobe." He often wondered why gay voters never formed common cause with Republican opponents of Islamic jihad, which he called "the greatest anti-gay force in the world right now."

Mehlman also says he was "aware" that Rove worked with state GOP operatives to ensure anti-gay initiatives would appear on the ballots in 2004, when he was Bush-Cheney campaign manager ... and in 2006 when he served as the Republican National Chair.

Mehlman has previously and publicly denied being gay. In November 2006, you may remember a segment of CNN's Larry King Live when comedian Bill Maher outed Mehlman. CNN quickly edited the transcript and West Coast feed, removing any reference to Mehlman. The video was also removed from YouTube. The very next day, Mehlman resigned from the RNC.

Mike Rogers confronted Mehlman on video in 2006 about the "many confusing answers" about his sexuality. Rogers responded to today's coming out admission by Mehlman—who recently bought a $4 million loft in New York City's Chelsea gayborhood—by awarding him a "Roy Cohn Award" for "managing the most anti-gay presidential campaigns in history." Said Rogers: "Ken Mehlman is horridly homophobic and no matter how orchestrated his coming out is, our community should hold him accountable for his past."

Comments

[harlemboy]

Mehlman is such a scumbag. I can't believe people like Dustin Lance Black are embracing him for coming out now. Mehlman deserves only scorn, and I don't know if he could ever do enough to make amends for managing the Bush campaign.

[Former COGIC]

This is unbelievable. Another evil despicable man who focuses only on his own ambition and power and eventually says 'hey it was all a joke, i'm so sorry.'

And how did he NOT know he was gay? Everyone else knew.

There is a special place reserved in hell for homocon, self hating antigay queens like Ken Mehlman .

[Dallas Cowboy]

Ken 'Closet Queen' Mehlman is total scum. He has no morals and was only about power, influence and money. I cannot even begin to imagine how many millions of lives he gladly helped ruin, from anti-gay laws, from trying to deny a woman's right to choose to Iraq War.

Writing off chairing the RNC and managing Bush-Cheney 2004 as a "youthful indiscretion"? ROFL

But he is a powerful and wealthy white gay man. Trust me, they are already revising his record.

[Sean B]

mehlman gay? wow, who'd've ever guessed.

[Blake]

It's about goddamn time that hateful queen came out. Well, we already knew anyway wtf

now i hope he gets run over by a taxi

[Jim]

Former COGIC said: “There is a special place reserved in hell for homocon, self hating antigay queens like Ken Mehlman.”

Let’s hope that special place in Hell is a cell next to Bush’s, Cheney’s, Rumsfeld’s, Perle’s, Wolfowitz’s, Feith’s, Powell’s, and the cells of all the others who enabled the suffering and deaths of more people than can ever be counted, in nations all over this Earth.

(But until then, Mehlman gets a $4-million loft in Chelsea.)

[GBM and GOP]

Rod, why do you keep showing Mehlman with Bush? Tsk, tsk

So typical of liberals and especially you. Always trying to slant this blog and news against Republicans. Why can't we just applaud Mehlman for coming out? Why keep trying to link him to Bush?

[Alexander]

@ GBM and GOP: Rod nor the rest us are "trying" to link Mehlman to Bush, you idiot! Mehlman LINKED HIMSELF to Bush and Cheney by agreeing to be their campaign manager, and this is what most in America are remembering him for --that act alone is what plucked him from obscurity.

[MRCHOCOLATE615]

Gurl Bye Miss Melhman is only doing it because after spending 4 million on a NYC Loft in Chelsea. She knew the gurls were going to beat her out of her closet.

But I'll be honest it's going to take a lot of praying on this to forgive him. He's done MAJOR damage to our community!

And to Madame GBP and GOP sista troll, I'll leave with you with thought from JMG!(Joe My God)

During Ken Mehlman's reign as Dubya's campaign manager and afterwards during his tenure as chairman of the Republican National Committee, 21 states passed laws that banned same-sex marriage. Some of these laws made same-sex marriage unconstitutional, some made both civil unions and same-sex marriages unconstitutional. All of these anti-gay referenda took place from 2004-2006 and all of them were pushed by the GOP under Ken Mehlman (and with Karl Rove's strategic advice) as a ploy to ensure conservative turnout at the polls. If you live in any of the 21 states listed below, you can credit your second class citizenship, in part, to fellow homosexual Ken Mehlman.

Arkansas
Colorado
Georgia
Idaho
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Orgeon
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Wisconsin

Are you feeling very forgiving right now? ARE YOU? We're not!

[Tim]

We don't want him. Another self-hating closet case who comes out after it can no longer do him any harm - and long after he could have done some good.

[Polyboy]

It's ridiculous. The GOProud plants are trying to canonize this sociopath anywhere they can get in a paid posting online.

[Dalton]

And I would like to add that it's very puzzling and disappointing to see the lack of outcry against Mehlman on these pages.

Ken Mehlman is a rich, white, gay man who helped other rich, white, men (and many closeted gays) get richer due to their skin color and privilege. Mehlman helped his friends loot Wall Streetn and they were silent as New Orleans was submerged. Then later the racist GOP slammed black people and Democrats over Katrina.

I think its absolutely outstanding that Ted Olson and David Boies argued and won a Prop 8 lawsuit on the trial level. However, Mehlman coming in now to raise money for their legal fees is like an arsonist returning to the home he burned down to help rebuild it. Ken Mehlman owes many apologies. Call me after he's donated millions of dollars to help build shelters for LGBT youth, people made homeless after Katrina or homeless HIV poz people who lost their homes after the housing bubble burst.

[ger]

I always suspected he didn't really like bush

[Black Pegasus]

I don't know why anyone is surprised.
Most White Gay Men are indeed closet republicans. They're just riding the Democrats until they get all of their Constitutional Rights, then they will all be onboard with the republicans hate filled ideology and classism.

I've witnessed the truth about them after Prop 8, and now I'm seeing it with their rhetoric towards President Obama - who is BTW their biggest ally towards procuring Equal Rights across the spectrum, yet all I hear is catty vitriol from them...

Don't hate me for speaking truth!

[FREELEO]

Black Pegasus, I couldn't agree with you more. They are just making nice with the coloreds and the poor until they have advanced their causes and have all the rights and privileges of their white straight brethren and then they will go right back to their overt racist ways.

I'm sure all those Chelsea queens will welcome him with open arms regardless of how much damage he's done to our collective community through the policies he's helped pass and politicians he's helped get elected. Self hating bastard.