Republicans Claim Their Leader is Not Gay

Gentlemen's Quarterly has an article on the newsstands about a guy who has a web site that outs gay politicians. They are very critical of him, and of course that is controversial, but the interesting part is down in the story:

The piece, which includes a first-ever denial that the chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman is gay -- a fact contested by many reporters and others close to the Mehlman himself -- is sure to spark a new firestorm of debate over whether outing those who oppose gay civil rights is appropriate.
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"Ken Mehlman is not gay," Steve Schmidt, a senior official of the Bush campaign and a friend of Mehlman’s told Jake Tapper, an ABC News correspondent who wrote the piece for the magazine.
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Mehlman has not responded to previous requests for comment on his sexuality from any publication. GQ Magazine inks major spread on gay Republicans; Bush official denies RNC Chief Mehlman is gay, contradicting earlier report

And why would it matter? you ask.

It would matter because the Republican Party has been preoccupied with making sure that gays can't marry, aren't protected by civil-rights regulations, can't adopt children, and on and on and on. So, just as a personal-interest story, you would kinda like to know what a guy is thinking, who leads an entire political party against his own interests. That's all.

It's just that this is the first time anybody has said he's straight. He still hasn't said so himself.