Why Bush hates you: Part I: October 20, 1992.

Under a subheading much like one The Advocate might run today, a cover story that ran during the presidential election 12 years ago reveals how little has changed. At that time, Chris Bull wrote "about "the religious right's stranglehold on the presidency and the GOP" as it pertained to the reelection bid of then-president George Bush the Elder. After religious-right leaders met with Bush in the White House in April 1992, Bull explained, "the fundamentalists told reporters that President Bush had convinced them he shares their belief that gays and lesbians pose the greatest modern threat to traditional American values."

Kowtowing to the far right had created a bitter rift between social conservatives mid moderates in the GOP. But as the religious right's power grew, fewer moderate Republicans were willing to take a stand for lesbian and gay civil rights. "As a result," Bull wrote, "the battle lines will continue to be drawn for years to come."