Grover Norquist betrayed conservatives, critics charge

Cybercast News Service

A number of conservatives are seething over the fact that Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), was the featured speaker at a fund-raising event for a group of homosexual Republicans last weekend. One pro-family leader called Norquist's appearance "an act of utter betrayal."

Norquist was the main attraction at the "Grand Ol' Party," the largest fund-raising event of the year for the Dallas, Tex., chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual advocacy group within the GOP.

Carla Halbrook, a member of the national Log Cabin board and the organization's chapter in Dallas, told Cybercast News Service that Norquist gave a "fantastic" speech at the dinner on Saturday night.

Halbrook said that during his speech, Norquist discussed "Social Security reform and reducing taxes and government in general. It was his normal message.

"The fact that the group is gay was irrelevant," she said. "It was one conservative talking to other conservatives."

However, the event generated controversy even before it began due to an article in the Dallas Voice, a weekly newspaper for homosexuals that described the dinner and how the chapter would spend the funds raised that night.

"The money is used to fund [the chapter's] participation in events such as the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade, LifeWalk and other community endeavors," the Dallas Voice article stated. "The local group is paying part of the salary for a field director representing Log Cabin Republicans to work helping defeat Proposition 2."

Proposition 2, which will go before Texas voters on Nov. 8, is a constitutional amendment "providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

As a result of the Log Cabin Republican fund-raiser, word began to spread that Norquist's speech would be used to help defeat a pro-family initiative on this year's ballot. Halbrook said that is not the case.