If Log Cabin Republicans are the moral equivalent of Jewish Nazis, what does that make the Stonewall Democrats?
For years, gay Republicans have taken it on the chin from their homo brethren for allegedly contributing to their own oppression, for too easily accepting crumbs from the GOP table, and for failing to get the hint that they're not even welcome in the kitchen.
And ever since President Bush threw his weight behind amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage, the knives have been out and sharpened for any and all gays who ever dared to affiliate with the GOP.
The sad irony is that all this vicious criticism is undeserved. When it comes to political courage, the Log Cabin track record this election season easily outstrips that of its Democratic counterparts, and actually outperforms the allegedly non-partisan gay rights groups.
From the day the president announced his support for an amendment, Log Cabin's leaders have thrown almost all their energy into thwarting the leader of their own party and even working against his re-election.
Under the direction of Patrick Guerriero, a former Massachusetts legislator, Log Cabin launched a national ad campaign against the amendment effort, protested outside the Republican convention, and accepted dozens of invitations to appear on national television criticizing the president and the GOP leadership in Congress.
Guerriero penned a column that argued against Bush's re-election, and then Log Cabin broadened the battlefield, announcing it would file suit challenging the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" restrictions on gays in the military.
If you shrug all that off as exactly what a gay rights group ought to be doing, then your inclination is right even if your conclusion isn't.
In fact, Log Cabin is the only national gay rights group in this critical election year that has consistently taken issue with its own friends and allies in defense of our civil rights.
It's almost unfair to compare Log Cabin with the Stonewall Democrats, its supposed partisan counterpart. Judging by their respective behavior, they're not even in the same category.
Log Cabin has proven its mettle this year as a gay rights group that lobbies the Republican Party. The Stonewall Democrats, on the other hand, have acted more like a Democratic group that lobbies (and recruits) gays.
When John Kerry came out in support of an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution that would overturn marriage equality in the one state where it exists, the Stonewall Dems were stone cold silent.
When 20 percent of the Democrats in the U.S. House voted in favor of the federal marriage amendment, the Stonewall Dems were stone cold silent.
Instead, the Stonewall Democrats criticized House Republicans - a justified slam but hardly courageous. What about the 36 Democrats who voted against our most basic freedoms?
Where was the arm-twisting from the Democratic leadership? Dick Gephardt, the top House Democrat, has a gay daughter, but it was his counterpart, Tom DeLay of Texas, who was out front on marriage equality, albeit on the other side.
There's no excuse for Stonewall's silence. The party's platform is committed to gay rights and opposes the marriage amendment. Gays are a critically important fund-raising and voting bloc.
Stonewall ought to call non-supportive Democrats to task for failing to support their platform and betraying an important constituency.
The supposedly non-partisan national gay groups are no better. Like Log Cabin, the Human Rights Campaign has a former Massachusetts legislator as its new leader. But Cheryl Jacques still acts like she takes her orders from the Democratic whip.
For example, when Dick Cheney ducked a question during the vice presidential debate about rising HIV infection rates among African-American women, Jacques issued a statement calling his ignorance on the topic "inexcusable." And it was.
But what Jacques failed to see, through her partisan-colored glasses, was that John Edwards was every bit as neglectful in his response, spending his entire answer talking about unrelated issues and health care in general.
It used to be that the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force could at least be counted on to take both parties to task on our behalf. Matt Foreman, its leader, vowed to the New York Times that gay groups would never back a candidate who supports writing anti-gay discrimination into a constitution state or federal.
When John Kerry did exactly that, the Task Force to its credit did release a statement taking him to task. But less than four months later, the Task Force was lauding the Democratic nominees as "the most gay-supportive presidential ticket in American history."
The gay rights movement is easily the most compliant political lobby in this country. Our opponents readily criticize their own allies when they cross their interests or don't push their agenda.
Gay groups smile and say, "We understand. Of course supporting our rights is too unpopular to justify politically."
Perhaps if John Kerry is elected, and like Bill Clinton betrays his pro-gay rhetoric, these groups will understand the lesson that Log Cabin has learned in the last four years.
There will always be an excuse why now is not the time to fulfill our promise of equality. It will never be politically expedient.
And politicians will never do what they have not been lobbied to do.