On July 15, Anthony LeCounte and Alex Pisciarino were married in what they described as a “fabulous gay summer wedding.” Yet it wasn’t exactly your standard same-sex wedding.
The two met at a meeting of the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest grassroots organization of gay Republicans and conservatives. Unsurprisingly, many of their guests were politically right-of-center, and so too was the man who officiated their union. Rep. Denver Riggleman, a Republican from Virginia, did the honors, the first conservative congressman to officiate a gay wedding in recent memory.
This pleasant story passed through the national media briefly, receiving a warm reception and short celebration as a sign of the changing times, but quickly faded into the background in light of the never-ending news cycle. But in Virginia, it didn’t go over well with all.
The Roanoke Times reports that at a recent meeting, four Republican officials from the 5th Congressional District Republican Committee voted in support of their colleague who sought to formally censure Riggleman because he officiated the gay wedding. The vote failed, with the committee chairman declaring it out of order, but nonetheless, these four officials disgraced themselves and revealed their bigotry.
Committee member Wendell Johnson started the procedure, saying, “I move that the committee censure Denver Riggleman for failing to uphold the Republican Party platform in that it states ‘marriage is between one man and one woman.’”
This is embarrassing and petty.
Imagine holding such intolerance that you move to sanction a representative, whom you otherwise support, because he broke with the party platform in a small way, on his own time, on an issue where something like 40% of Republicans don’t agree with the party anyway, and the Supreme Court has ruled definitively against the party as well.
To be clear, the problem is not that Johnson and his colleagues don’t support same-sex marriage. They are entitled to their view, but not to punish Riggleman for breaking ranks. The Republican coalition must be a big tent, with room for people of varying views who unite around the principles of limited government, constitutional conservatism, and individual liberty.
Intolerant Virginia GOP officials have to accept that, or else they should be tossed out. I’d like to see more Republicans follow Riggleman’s lead. And luckily, the congressman doesn’t seem too discouraged. His spokesperson told NBC News: “Congressman Riggleman participated in a wedding for two of his friends and campaign volunteers who asked him to officiate. [He] has full confidence in the district committee and applauds their decision to continue to make the Republican Party an inclusive party of liberty and freedom for everyone.”
