Foley case proves GOP boast about 'all walks of life' excludes gays

I guess the tent wasn't big enough after all. Meaning the "big tent" strategy Republicans have been touting since the '90s. Theirs was, they said, a party big enough to encompass people from all walks of life. They meant all walks except the gay walk.

If this wasn't clear before, it is now in the wake of revelations that Mark Foley, former congressman from Florida, was not-so-secretly gay and not-so-secretly sending explicit e-mails to teenage pages. For some in the GOP, the former seems the greater sin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich claimed that if the party had responded aggressively to Foley's e-mails, it would have been "accused of gay bashing."

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, circulated an e-mail asking whether gay GOP staffers sabotaged anti-gay legislation favored by groups like his. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stirred outrage among social conservatives after a swearing-in ceremony for a gay official; Rice referred to the mother of the man's partner as his "mother-in-law." And in the midst of this a representative for the party insists that it remains open to people of all kinds.

As far as I know, this was said with a straight face. And I haven't even mentioned The List yet.

Meaning a catalogue of gay Republican aides on Capitol Hill that has reportedly been circulated among evangelical Christian organizations and so-called family values groups — presumably to encourage a campaign to "de-homofy" the party.The GOP philosophy seems to be that it's OK to be gay, so long as you're not, you know, "gay."

I'm reminded of a conversation I had once with a conservative pundit. She was arguing the need for ideological diversity in the newsroom. I agreed, but wanted to know how she would resolve having more social conservatives in the newsroom with also having more gays there. She said she had no answer.

Apparently, the GOP doesn't, either. The Republicans cannot be the party of both gay tolerance and the Christian right.

Tents don't come that big.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald.