Log Cabin Republicans of Texas is the unifying Board of all local chapters in Texas of Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s original and largest organization representing gay, trans, and allied conservatives who support freedom and equality under the law for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Log Cabin Republicans has state and local chapters nationwide, full-time staff in Washington, DC, a federal political action committee, and state political action committees. In Texas, those chapters are in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Currently, each chapter is represented by two Board members, with the exception of Houston, which is represented by three Board members.
What We Believe
We are loyal Republicans. We believe in limited government, strong national defense, free markets, low taxes, personal responsibility, and individual liberty. Log Cabin represents an important part of the American family—taxpaying, hard working people who proudly believe in this nation’s greatness. We believe all Americans have the right to liberty and equality. We believe equality for all people, UNDER THE TERMS OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE CONSTITUTION OF TEXAS, is the founding tradition of the Republican Party, and that liberty can only be effectively defended and advanced by defending it for all, regardless or sexual orientation, gender identity, or other sexual minority status, or a personally held convictions of faith or views on sexuality. This INCLUDES defending the freedom of speech, property rights, and all Constitutional rights of persons who have different views on marriage and sexuality, even those who disagree with Log Cabin Republicans.
Why We Exist
Log Cabin Republicans of Texas works to join with fellow Republicans of all stripes to define new solutions and under the principles of the Constitution and limited government, to address the many issues confronting the party today, particularly in regards to unfair discrimination of sexual minorities, and preventing the abuse of non-discrimination laws to expand government infringement of First Amendment and private property rights, and help more Republicans get elected to effectively defend our shared Republican principles.
The History of Log Cabin
Log Cabin Republicans got its start in California during the late 1970s when gay Republicans, under the lead of then-California Governor and future President Ronald Reagan, banded together to help defeat an anti-gay ballot initiative. The so-called Briggs Initiative, which would’ve prohibited gay people from teaching in public schools, was heading for passage until Ronald Reagan spoke out against the proposal. California voters soundly rejected the Briggs Initiative. From that pivotal campaign, the first Log Cabin chapters formed in the Golden State.
In 2004, the Republican Party marked the 150th anniversary of its first national convention. The GOP rose to power because it embraced the ideals of equality imagined by our nation’s founding fathers and ensured by our Constitution. When Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a “new birth of freedom”, was indeed given to our country.
We look to follow the example of our party’s founder, who stepped out in front of history to forge it under the Republican principles of liberty and equality that we all share as Republicans, and help the party to proactively step out in front of these new issues so it can define new, principled Constitutional answers to address them, rather than simply wait to have them defined for us by those who favor more government intrusive solutions.
We believe that we must win the war of ideas, with Republican ideas, and that we must all as Americans join to achieve an evermore perfect advance towards the party’s wise and wonderful stated commitment to the ideals of limited government, freedom of belief and conscience, of the autonomous, self-reliant individual – of what it means to possess true personal independence; and that under our Creator and under our law, “all men are created equal.”