I’m happy to announce that at 9:14 AM Eastern time today, the GayPatriot site hit its 300,000th visitor mark! The lucky person was….

IP Address 68.187.156.199
Visit Entry Page http://gaypatriot.net/
Visit Exit Page http://gaypatriot.net/
Time Zone UTC-6:00
CST – Central Standard Time
CDT – Central Daylight Saving Time
Visitor’s Time Jul 21 2005 8:14:11 am (Central Time)
Visit Number 300,000

Congratulations to you all. We have only been “live” since last September, so that is a pretty good mark to hit in such a short amount of time for a “part-time” and independent blog.
I want to especially thank long-time GayPatriot supporters… those of you who have been here since the start!
Keep up the good work…. and keep the faith.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com

Whew….. I want to apologize. I have been very neglect in my blogging duties the past few days. And I think I have a couple of good reasons.
First, vacation is always better in the present tense, rather than the past tense… I’m still digging out of work left for me during the cruise. And I’m mad at myself because PatriotPartner (John) and I took some darn good photos during the trip and I wanted to post them. I still will…..
Second, John and I were in Charlotte, NC this past weekend in preparation for our move to the “Queen City” sometime early in 2006.
Yep, we are fleeing the DC metropolitan region. Two words: gridlock and taxes. Okay….and I can move from an outrageous housing market (20% increase in home prices) to a more reasonable one.
So we are moving deeper into Red State America and frankly I cannot wait to truly escape the “Beltway.” Of course we will become the “instant” NASCAR fans required of any new Charlotte residents.
I’m hoping to get back on track with the blog this week…..
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com

Whoa baby… check out this smoking piece by none other than Pat Sajak! I’ve known he was a conservative for quite sometime. His name adorns the wall of big time donors at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. But it looks like he is becoming more vocal.
The Unhinged Minority – PatSajak.com

And so they go on and on about a majority party which has the temerity to govern according to the precepts which made it a majority party in the first place. They rant about the lack of bipartisanship as if they had cornered the market on olive branches, while spouting some of the most partisan bile heard in Washington in decades. And, as they become more wild-eyed and maniacal, they turn off more and more voters who can only figure out what they?re against (anything President Bush is for) while wondering what they?re in favor of (other than returning them to power). The Democrats are simply not a viable alternative for most ?centrists?.

If only more Hollywood conservatives would have the courage of Pat, maybe we wouldn’t have Oliver Stone making ‘the definitive’ movie about 9/11, or having Hollywood casting Islamists as ‘heros’ in the terrorism flicks.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com

As someone who has spent a small fortune on legal expenses related to blogging, I’ll be following this story closely.
FCC Hears Bloggers’ Bid to Share Media Exemption – WashPost (subscription required)

A growing number of the online pundits of various political persuasions are urging the Federal Election Commission to explicitly grant them the same wholesale exemptions from regulations governing contributions to political candidates that mainstream reporters, editorial writers and pundits get.
Mike Krempasky, who runs a Republican blog called RedState.org, said at the hearing, “What goal would be served by protecting Rush Limbaugh’s multimillion-dollar talk radio program — but not a self-published blogger with a fraction of the audience?”

-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com

As my blog-league travels west, I’m heading east. After a busy past few days with classes, I’ve been a little light on the posting. Later today, I set off for the Green Mountain State to celebrate the birthday of the PatriotMotherWest together with the PatriotSiblingsWest as well as eight of the ten PatriotNephews&NiecesWest (the remaining two are at summer camp). I will attempt to blog from my trip to provide some thoughts, observations and essays for our faithful readers over the holiday weekend.

A reader just Instant Messaged me to note that my blog-league’s post Methinks the Dems Protesteth Too Much made the “Inside the Blogs” feature on CNN’s Inside Politics.
You rock, Bruce!
I’m glad you’re back!
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

Dirty Harry, a longtime friend of this blog, has moved, joining the ever ebullient Bridget Johnson at GOP Vixen. Check him (and her) out here!

I share Dan’s sadness and frustration that Andrew Sullivan has taken on his blog and in his published writings. And I agree with one of our readers that Andrew seems to pick the contrarian position on nearly everything when the convention wisdom view has changed, or is muddied.
That isn’t the Reagan way.
Now, I must add in fairness that Andrew has been good to this blog and has stood with us on the issues of forced outings. For that I thank him.
But I note the utter irony of his Tuesday posting regarding HIV’s decline….

African-Americans are still most at risk. But this is good news in general, which is why you won’t read about it in the New York Times. They prefer to hyper-ventilate over one case, rather than a study based on 1,732,419 servicemembers.

Yet that is precisely what Sullivan and Durbin are doing with their exaggerated comparisons of one incident at Gitmo (holding foreign criminal terrorists with no right under the US Constitution) versus Nazi Germany (systematically murdering millions of civilians in their own nation).
-Bruce (GayPatriot) — gaypatriot2004@aol.com

It seems that the only times I now read Andrew Sullivan’s blog are when conservative blogs link him to wonder at his excesses (as Hugh Hewitt did yesterday). Andrew’s was once the first blog I read (indeed, oftentimes the only blog I read everyday). I knew him when I lived in D.C. and even gave money to his site.
His fall is a sad one. He was the first gay writer/speaker (with a national platform) to challenge the left-wing orthodoxy that pervades the gay community. And now he seems to have become a spokesman for that orthodoxy.
I acknowledge that it is easier for me to speak out as a gay conservative because of the hits Andrew took when he first came out as a gay conservative in the late 1980s.
But, now his overblown rhetoric is appalling. Hugh cites a recent post which Andrew concludes “it’s people like Dick Durbin who prove that some can actually stand up against this stain on American honor and call it what it is. Good for him. Thank God for him.”
Andrew would be right if he merely called torture a “stain on American honor,” would be right to condemn torture when it occurs, but, he’s wrong to praise Senate’s Number Two Democrat for his latest comments. When Andrew (and others like him) so praise Mr. Durbin, Hugh writes, they are “buying into the Nazi/Stalinist/Pol Pot comparison, which simply takes them off the field of serious argument.”
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Sometime yesterday, as numerous blogs picked up the good news of the GayPatriot’s return, we crossed the quarter-million mark, over 250,000 visitors. It’s so nice to have Bruce back where he belongs. This blog is still glowing, it’s still crowing and it’s going even stronger than ever. We’re staying where we’re at, gals and fellas. Thanks, readers!

I wanted to thank everyone who sent me such nice emails yesterday and who made very kind comments on my postings. It is great to be back and I’m very excited to have such kind readers and friends.
A special thanks to Dan (GayPatriotWest) for keeping this blog going in my absence. He’s a great guy, a smart guy and I’m proud to call him a friend.
Some of you have commented or emailed about setting up a “legal defense fund.” And some of you have already found the “PayPal” button on the GP blog. Thank you for your donations, and the sentiment behind such a fund. I was blown away by the outpouring of sentiment yesterday through these donations.
I appreciate the spirit of generosity, but I hope you understand that the legal battle is one that I have to do on my own. However, if you like this blog and want to see improvements and allow for advertising…. I would encourage you to donate for that purpose. I promise any money donated will only go back into the further development of the GayPatriot blog.
Donations accepted here.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com

Those were the words said by Jack Paar, the original host of NBC?s ?Tonight Show,? on March 7, 1960, the first night he came back on the air after nearly a month?s absence from the show. Paar had walked off the ?Tonight Show? set during its broadcast the month before due to a disagreement with the network?s censors.
Paar?s return and those infamous words are frequently mentioned by pop culture historians as one of the most memorable moments of live television. So I dedicate my return as ?GayPatriot? to the master of comebacks and timing?..Jack Paar.
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From nearly the first day in September 2004 that I launched the GayPatriot blog, many fellow bloggers, readers of GayPatriot, Log Cabin Republican board members, and even the Gay Leftists have openly wondered about my identity. In fact, you may recall I was incorrectly ?outed? as Christian Grantham a few months ago.
Well, as part of my return to the blog I decided to come out of the blog-closet and reveal my identity as well as my background. I have never desired fame or fortune, just a creative outlet to share my views but I think it is time to be more candid as it may allow you to gain more perspective on my personal experiences and current view of our world.
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It is just about midnight on the West Coast as I begin a post I have long looked forward to writing. This will be my last post as a solitary blogger. THE GayPatriot, the man who founded this blog will be returning later this morning. It’ll be nice to have him back where he belongs.
GP founded this blog on September 4, 2004, vowing to “prove that gay conservatives exist, are relevant, and outspoken.” Four days later, I e-mailed him offering kudos for telling “LCR to stick it.” He wrote back. We exchanged e-mails and Instant Messages. Less than a month later, he invited me to join him here on the blog, a task I gladly undertook.
I appreciate what he had done in founding this blog, providing a voice in the blogosphere for gay conservatives, especially for those of us, who, despite our occasional differences with President Bush, supported his re-election. For the nearly six months that he and I blogged together, our styles complemented each other. I’m glad he’s back to take up the work he began last fall and to balance once again my more philosophical posts with the wit and punch of his prose.
But, more than anything, I appreciated his inviting me to join this blog. Since he left, an average of just under 500 people visited this blog per day. While that represents fewer readers than we had when he and I were posting together, to me, someone who has longed to share his views since he first learned to speak, that’s a lot of people eager to read my writing–even if some of them expect to disagree with me. Just a few hours ago, I received an e-mail from a reader who thought I was doing a great job even though he is frequently at odds with me.
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For whatever reason, when I first printed the version of the LA TIMES short history of the gay right, my print-out did not include the reference to Ronald Reagan which I discovered when I read the article in my “hard copy” of the LA Times magazine later this afternoon. I went back and checked the article on the web and found that it did indeed reference Ronald Reagan’s opposition to the Brigg’s Initiative. Reporter Johanna Neuman accurately reported that “Former Gov. Ronald Reagan spoke out against the measure.” Because Ms. Neuman mentioned the Gipper in her article, my post was inaccurate. I have since deleted the post and apologize for the error.
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

It has been more than two months since I have found myself alone on the blog and while I have adjusted to being a solitary blogger, I miss my once (and hopefully) future blog-league the GayPatriot.
I have done little to change the way this blog look since taking over. (Indeed, the only changes I have made have been to add some new blogs to our blogroll.) I’ve always hoped he’ll come back and feel I shouldn’t change the blog’s design without his input. I have even kept the blog on Eastern Time while I live in the Pacific Time Zone, to honor the blog’s founder. Similarly, even though I am currently the sole blogger here, I have resisted the suggestion to change my “handle” to GayPatriot. I’ll remain GayPatriotWest
GP and I have similar views, but different blogging styles. His witticisms balanced my tendency to philosophize.
And I have found that it’s nice to have a blog-league on those days when I don’t have the energy to write. It allows for the blog to be constantly updated.
I have spoken to him today to let him that this blog misses its founder and to tell him that should his professional circumstances allow, his return would be most welcome.
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

I had an emotionally very trying weekend (hence the light blogging). If I could find a way to write about it without appearing as a victim, but instead as a single person, like so many singles, who occasionally experience emotionally trying times, I just might have something to say about it here.
On the bright side, I did discover a gay bar in the heart of West Hollywood where guys actually had conversations and even smiled.

As I am busy writing two papers this week for my program in Mythological Studies, I expect blogging to be light. I may offer some comments from the paper from my Ritual class–where I am studying homosexual initiation rituals in Melanesia (New Guinea and surrounding islands).
But, I do have some thoughts on the battle brewing in Oregon over civil unions. While the Oregon Senate considers a bill, sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats, creating civil unions, conservative Republicans in the House are preparing an alternative which would offer certain “reciprocal benefits” to two unmarried adults. Such benefits include

preferential hospital visitation privileges, protection from eviction from a shared home upon the death of a partner, the right to inherit a deceased partner’s assets if a will was not drawn up, and the right to make medical and end-of-life decisions on a partner’s behalf.

To be sure, offering only such benefits falls far short of recognizing same-sex unions. But, they mean that gay couples in the Beaver State would gain privileges that they currently lack in all but three states. It seems that even the worst case scenario is a big step in the right direction.
Those Oregon conservatives who won’t recognize our unions are at least willing to offer them some benefits. This could become a model for other states where there is strong opposition to civil unions. Let’s keep our eyes on Oregon.

I have finally figured out how to update the blogroll and want to alert y’all to some great blogs that I’ve now listed. First (and long overdue), I add Somewhere in the Middle. My pal Dirty Harry has recently relocated to Jackson’s Junction where he joins videoblogger extraordinaire (and fellow Gipper fan) Trey Jackson. If it weren’t for “THE ADVOCATE,” I might never have discovered Cathy’s World, a most excellent blog by a bright straight woman. And since we’re on the subject of bright straight women, check out Bridget Johnson’s GOP Vixen. Check ’em all out and while you’re at it, take a gander at the other blogs we’ve listed.