Texas Republicans won't support DeLay, but gay Republicans will

The three Republicans who ran against Congressman Tom DeLay in the Texas primary last week are still, out of principle, refusing to support him, even though he defeated them with 62%. It's too bad that some gay Republicans don't have the same appreciation for consistency.

It was revealed several months ago that gay Republicans Steve May and Tom Simplot were caught contributing to the political committee of the soon-to-be-indicted -- and vociferously homophobic -- DeLay. When this embarrassing fact came to light, former Arizona State Representative May and Phoenix City Councilman Simplot hemmed and hawed and tried to spin with variations of the Nothing To See Here, Folks, Move Along schtick. The issue even became a source of discomfort in Arizona Democratic circles when it was further revealed that several Arizona Stonewall Democrats officers and other insiders had been aiding and abetting May's and Simplot's own campaigns directly or indirectly over the years -- even though each has always had well-qualified, pro-gay Democratic election opponents.

Perhaps our two gay Republicans could take a lesson in principle from Mr. DeLay's three former Republican challengers. Each of the three ran against DeLay largely because of his considerable ethics problems. After Mr. DeLay won renomination, speculation arose as to whether any of the three would place party above principle and endorse DeLay after his win.

They will not.

As noted in today's The Hill ("Defeated GOP primary opponents refuse to endorse Rep. DeLay"), DeLay's former opponents are refusing to fall in with party ranks. One of them had called DeLay a "felon" during the campaign (technically untrue in a land where Innocent Until Proven Guilty still holds, but...), and another had made numerous campaign references to "corruption" and "integrity". After such scathing denunciations during the primary campaign, they could hardly do an about-face and embrace him after.

We will make no claim about the character of any of the three beyond this episode, but we certainly give them high marks for consistency. We do wonder, however, how consistent is it to speak out against institutional homophobia and bigotry and yet to give contributions to one of the country's most ardent architects of anti-gay policy? Perhaps gay Republicans Steve May and Tom Simplot should study the example of their three Republican colleagues in Texas' 22nd Congressional District, and learn that integrity starts when there is a concordance between what you say and what you do.