 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assists newly sworn-in Ambassador Mark Dybul as he signs appointment documents Oct. 10 at the State Department (White House photo) |
The Bush administration’s swearing-in of an openly homosexual global AIDS ambassador and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s approving remarks during the ceremony about his lifestyle are reflective of a Republican party “identity crisis,” say some family advocates in the nation’s capital.
While the party wants the support of “values voters,” it also is courting homosexuals and seems willing to appease the movement’s radical agenda, USA Today said in a feature story.
Rice and first lady Laura Bush spoke for the administration at the Oct. 10 swearing-in at the State Department where Dybul was accompanied by his male partner, Jason Claire. Rice, during her comments, referred to the presence of Claire’s mother and called her Dybul’s “mother-in-law.”
According to the State Department transcript, Rice said:
Thank you. Thank you very much. I am truly honored and delighted to have the opportunity to swear in Mark Dybul as our next Global AIDS Coordinator. I am pleased to do that in the presence of Mark’s parents, Claire and Richard; his partner, Jason; and his mother-in-law, Marilyn. You have wonderful family to support you, Mark, and I know that’s always important to us. Welcome.
The use of a term normally reserved for legally married heterosexual families rankled Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, who called Rice’s comments “profoundly offensive,” according to Agape Press.
 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice swears in Ambassador Mark Dybul (White House photo) |
The secretary’s remarks, he said, fly in the face of the Bush administration’s endorsement of a federal marriage protection amendment.
“We have to face the fact that putting a homosexual in charge of AIDS policy is a bit like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse,” said Sprigg. “But even beyond that, the deferential treatment that was given not only to him but his partner and his partner’s family by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is very distressing.”
Sprigg said, according to Agape Press, in light of the Mark Foley scandal, “it’s inexplicable that a conservative administration would do such things.”
Rice’s comments, he added, conflict with a law protecting traditional marriage.
“So, for her to treat his partner like a spouse and treat the partner’s mother as a mother-in-law, which implies a marriage between the two partners, is a violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act,” Sprigg said.
The Foley scandal has highlighted the number of homosexual staffers working for Republican lawmakers, USA Today noted, causing some family advocates to wonder if this influence has anything to do with the party’s lack of action on conservative social issues.
The Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins framed the question this way: “Has the social agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members or staffers?”
Dybul is the nation’s third openly homosexual ambassador, Agape Press noted, pointing out that in all three cases the homosexual partners held the Bible on which the oath of office was taken.
As WND reported, a new book also has raised the eyebrows of some evangelicals. White House political advisers embraced evangelical supporters publicly to get their votes while mocking them privately as “nuts” and “goofy,” according to David Kuo, the former No. 2 man in President Bush’s so-called “faith-based” initiatives program.
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