Product Description

After years of relative obscurity, Log Cabin—the gay Republican club formed in California in 1977—has found itself in the National spotlight. George Bush’s unequivocal opposition to gay marriage put them at the forefront of one of the most hotly contested elections in years. With the issue of whether or not to support the President distilling into a stark choice between their civil rights and their loyalty to the party, 2004 forced the Gay Republicans to a crude decision: what was more important, being gay or being Republican?

This documentary follows a handful of Log Cabin members on their different paths to "Decision 2004." A stereotype-shattering, gut wrenching portrait of an organization in turmoil that is incisive, moving, disturbing and humorous.

Watch as POLITICS GETS PERSONAL.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118270 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 63 minutes

Variety, November 17, 2004
Alongside this political turmoil are some colorful personalities that remain amusingly memorable.

Hollywood Reporter, November 15, 2004
Examines the schism created this year in Log Cabin Republicans when Bush called for an amendment to ban gay marriage.

About the Actor
Hailing from Leeds, England, Wash Westmoreland earned his college degree in Politics and soon found his way to America, and to filmmaking. His first experimental short, Squishy, was made in New Orleans and was a hit on the international film festival circuit. Moving to Los Angeles, he landed a job in the porn industry and in 1998 he produced an adult classic, Naked Highway, that swept the AVN awards and is now taught in a graduate film course at UC Berkeley. Westmoreland was also featured on NPR's Fresh Air, Terri Gross having taken an interest in his work. His first feature, The Fluffer premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was released in 2001 to critical acclaim. Westmoreland then wrote and directed a one-hour t.v. special for World of Wonder, Totally Gay, which became one of VH1's top hits of the season. This year, he wrote and directed a documentary about the conflicted Log Cabin Republicans, that will be showing on Trio at election time.

Customer Reviews

Insightful, depressing, revealing.
I was eager to see this DVD once I heard about it's existance, and it does not disapoint. As a gay male, I have, like many other gay males, been perplexed at the existance of Gay Republicans. This DVD does not dig as deep as it could, but its primary focus was not the why of Gay Republicans, but their reaction to the events of the 2004 election.

Denial is not a term I use lightly at all, and I have to say that some of the people interviewed in this documentary are in a deeper state of denial than anyone I have ever seen, and I state that without any hyperbole at all. Some of them are genuinely conflicted people, who believe in smaller government, less taxes, pro american foreign policy, etc. and oppose the moralizing monstrosity of the religious reich, sometimes on the grounds of these principles. They were torn up by their own party inciting anti gay hate to win votes. But others, such as the spiky haired california pseudo hipster, or the sanctimonius straight laced money grubber in Florida, are nothing but arrogant Bush zombies, and in many cases they come off as holding certain opinions more out of shock value and the desire to upset "liberals" than out of genuine conviction.

This documentary deserves a follow up that digs deeper in to why a gay person would be a member of the GOP.

Well, that was interesting.
This documentary is really about how President Bush alienated gay Republicans by backing a proposed defense of marriage amendment to the US Constitution, resulting in the Log Cabin Republicans not endorsing Bush in the election of 2004. Still, this is an interesting look at a group of people that many might not suspect could even exist. I learned something.

Great to Have You Aboard Fellows.
And well met. The right in America is in no position to be turning down allies for any reason--especially due to an individual's sex, race or sexual orientation. We need logical, clear-thinking types on our side just like a couple of the men and women profiled here. Let's fight the slow creep of socialism and political correctness together. Who cares what someone's personal habits are? That's nobody else's business anyway. I was very impressed with the LA Log Cabin member in particular. He hit the nail on the head, "The gay community is supposed to be about diversity" but they hate his guts because he's a Republican. Well, they do respect diversity provided it is rooted in skin color or having a colorful accent, but ideological diversity is not the type of thing that can be allowed.

I felt the director and interlocutor of this production were extremely biased and interjected their left-wing viewpoint into the narrative whenever possible, but I do credit them for at least giving the Log Cabinites the chance to speak. They could have pulled a Chris Matthews and interrupted them continuously but they did not. Therefore, as I really enjoyed the documentary, I'll give it four stars.

Surprisingly, as it came out in 2004, the film is already dated because the anti-Bush perspective is now absurd. The Democratic frontrunners--Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards--refused to have anything to do with supporting gay marriage the other night during the forum on the Logo Channel. The present day makes the "Republicans Evil/Democrats Good" slant of the narration look as foolish and shortsighted as we now know it to be.

The bottom line is that most gay activists are dishonest. Civil unions are about "rights" but marriage has nothing to do with it. The disadvantages they cite are accurate and unfair, but they can be easily ameliorated with the passage of civil union legislation. The longing for gay marriage has nothing to do with justice. It would be nice though if we could have an honest discussion about this subject but PC has made that impossible. With activists describing voting for Bush as being like Jews voting for Hitler, no meaningful exchange of ideas is possible with them. Also, it would be nice if people could be a little more deep; one's sexuality should not be the entire basis for their political views.