
CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Ken Mehlman, President Bush's 2004 campaign manager and the former
Republican
National Committee chairman, has come out in an interview
with The Atlantic.
Blogger Mike Rogers, who has outed gay politicians who have taken antigay stands, announced Wednesday that Marc Ambinder would interview Mehlman, who was in the forefront of George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, which was accompanied by a spate of state ballot initiatives to constitutionally ban marriage equality.
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman told Ambinder. "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."
Several Republicans and other Bush aides have denied Mehlman is gay, as has Mehlman himself. He once told the New York Daily News, "I'm not gay, but those stories did a number on my dating life for six months."
Mehlman said he wanted to come out publicly because "he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage." He said he anticipated questions would be asked about his participation in a late-September fund-raiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group that supported the legal challenge to California's ballot initiative against marriage equality, Proposition 8. Mehlman is cochairing the event with Republican donors Peter Thiel and Paul Singer.
Mehlman served as White House political director in the Bush administration and, with the help of Bush aide Karl Rove, managed Bush's reelection campaign. The American Association of Political Consultants named him the Campaign Manager of the Year in 2005.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
August 16 2024 5:57 PM
These 13 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
Democratic congressmen: Federal personnel office can't discriminate against trans Americans
February 05 2025 8:19 PM
Trump moves to ban international transgender athletes from 2028 Olympic Games
February 05 2025 5:21 PM
Donald Trump bans transgender athletes from playing sports
February 05 2025 4:15 PM
West Point military academy eliminates cadet clubs amid Trump’s diversity crackdown
February 05 2025 2:42 PM
15 Democratic state AGs stand by gender-affirming care
February 05 2025 2:39 PM
American satisfaction with state of LGBTQ+ rights reaches lowest point in over a decade
February 05 2025 2:05 PM
LGBTQ+ non-U.S. citizens at risk under Trump’s immigration crackdown: study
February 05 2025 12:56 PM
Lesbian cop wins $750k in sexual harassment lawsuit against former chief
February 05 2025 11:53 AM
If Trump can rename the Gulf, why can't we rename ourselves?
February 05 2025 7:00 AM
What can trans people do about Trump’s executive orders? Be plaintiffs, says Lambda Legal
February 05 2025 6:00 AM