We Republicans have often found ourselves on the wrong side of civil rights struggles since the 1960s, but there was a reason that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s father is said to have supported Republicans.

Republicans were historically the party ever-expanding freedom to disenfranchised minorities, from newly liberated slaves to giving women the right to vote.  Susan B. Anthony was a Republican.  By supporting the AFER trial we have an opportunity to establish our historic credibility on civil rights issues once again.  But we should support marriage equality because it is the right thing to do.

I have no clue how true any of the above assertions are, but reading the piece by Margaret Hoover, got me wondering if the Republicans could steal the Gay vote away from the Democrats. Imagine, if the Republican Party came out in support of gay marriage, what might happen?

First, it could save the Republican party from complete collapse, or at the very least split off the ultra-religious zealots into some fringe 3rd party, allowing the Republican party to get back in the game as a real viable choice as a national party. Second it could attack the vast majority of gay and lesbian voters who are outraged at the way the Democrats promise everything and deliver close to nothing. For many, “marriage” seems to be the end all issue, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many people would jump at any chance for it, even at the risk of losing the chance for other needed rights. So for moderates and those within the GOP who look for small and cost effective government, this could be a win, as well as for those gays and lesbians who are partnered.

Republicans don’t have to become gay friendly to do this either. They can still oppose all other gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans rights, leaving the community still disempowered and victimized by our culture and political system.

But the more I thought about this, it seems like such a long shot. Will the far-right religious ever give up their stronghold over the party? They seem more intent on pushing moderates out, so I’m not sure this could come to pass.

But more likely, any push from within the Republican party to accept gay marriage could cause greater friction between the gay and lesbian communities and the Trans community and other smaller factions that see themselves as fitting under the GLBTQ umbrella. I have spoken to too many gays and lesbians who will say they care about rights for all, but if push came to shove, they would let go of pushing for Trans rights just to get legislation through. The Trans community is fairly used to being thrown under the bus, and while some of us believe this is never an acceptable option, others are willing to entertain it.

Same-sex marriage is here to stay and over time will become acceptable everywhere just as inter-religion marriage and inter-racial marriage have in the past. As a coalition of communities with like needs, the GLBTQ communities must continue to seek liberation and full equality for all, and not be hyper-focused on one isolated right. And most importantly, we must not allow the political parties to use us and our equality issues for their own gains.

Read there: FoxNews contributor argues for marriage equality.