Hawaii Log Cabin chapter reportedly disbands over same-sex marriage

The head of the Hawaii chapter of the gay political group Log Cabin Republicans says he and his members are pulling out of the gay conservative group and disbanding because its national chapter is spending too much time grappling with the issue of same-sex marriage, according to the Hawaii Reporter newspaper. Jeffrey Bingham Mead, who cofounded the local group in 1998 on the island of Oahu, said the issue of marriage equality for gay men and lesbians is too "controversial" and "rocky." Mead told the paper he made his decision after the Massachusetts supreme judicial court's ruling in February that reiterated its November decision legalizing same-sex marriage in that state, which began on May 17. He was further annoyed when the national chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans asked its members to help overturn so-called defense of marriage laws across the country. "All of us, including me, believe that marriage is between one man and one woman," Mead told the newspaper. "I offer no apologies to anyone." The businessman and professor, who is a columnist for the newspaper, said that he is also returning home to Greenwich, Conn., to resume earlier work in historic preservation. A note on Log Cabin Hawaii's Web site says that it has folded and refers visitors to the national chapter. Advocate.com was unable to reach Mead at his home in Honolulu. But Chris Barron, political director for the national office of the Log Cabin Republicans, said Mead's group is not an official part of the organization and that there hasn't been an official Hawaii chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans for a long time. "There's nothing to disband," he told Advocate.com. "We have members working in Hawaii, but there's no official chapter."