Log Cabin fever: the nation's largest gay Republican organization says Bush's call for a constitutional marriage ban has only strengthened its resolve.

Do gay conservatives still have a place in the Republican Party after President Bush's February 24 endorsement of a federal constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage? Absolutely, says Patrick Guerriero, head of the gay group Log Cabin Republicans. Guerrero said he is furious with Bush--he may not endorse the president in the 2004 election--but his group is finding new strength.

"This is the most amazing time/or our organization," he said. "We are likely to double in membership in the course of one year. Through the early part of Log Cabin's history, most gay and lesbian conservatives had to be a bit more private. Now [as a result of Bush's announcement] there's this growing wake-up call across the country. The vast majority of calls and e-mails coming in to us say things like 'I want to start a [Log Cabin] chapter in my state.'"

While Log Cabin might have made excuses in the past, Guerriero has declared war on the president's policies. His group has launched a protest campaign in states key to Bush's reelection bid, including Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Ohio. It plans to make announcements on TV and radio stations flint cater to conservatives, moderates, and independents, denouncing the president's endorsement. "We consider the president's support of the [Federal Marriage Amendment] a declaration of war on gay and lesbian families," Guerriero said. "It's again put into jeopardy not only our organization's support but the support of over a million gay and lesbian votes. And last I checked, the election was pretty close."

But not all gay Republicans are hanging in there. John Farina, past president of Log Cabin's Cleveland chapter, on February 26 announced he world become a Democrat. "It was bad enough that my Republican friends in the Ohio legislature, people who know me ... and whom I've vigorously supported, voted for a divisive, unnecessary, and discriminatory so-called defense of marriage bill," Farina said in a letter to the Republican Party leadership of Cuyahoga County. "I now have the president ... telling me we must sanction this type of discrimination in the Constitution of the United States of America.... So much for Mr. Bush being a uniter."