Are they our friends?

I noted recently that the GOP (or at least the vocal parts of it) seems to be softening its stance on gays and gay marriage. A commentary by Timothy Kincaid lists the changes.

* Cindy McCain, wife of the failed prez. candidate, came out for marriage equality several months ago and nobody got on her case.

* A while later Laura Bush, wife of that most damaging prez., did the same thing. Again, not a peep out of the GOP.

* The Calif. gay marriage case came out and no reaction from GOP leaders.

* Most recently, Ken Melman came out as gay. For those who don't remember the players 6 years ago, Melman was in the thick of orchestrating gay marriage amendments on a dozen state ballots. He says now that it was only recently that he felt comfortable about being gay -- meaning back in 2004 he didn't like himself enough to stand up to Rove and Bush. But now that he's out, and starting to make amends for past damage, most in the GOP are praising him for his courage and the rest shrugging.

* The GOP is mostly silent about gays even though two federal court cases gave them as much ammunition as they had in 2004 in response to the Massachusetts Supremes.

* The Tea Party isn't saying much about gays.

* The National Organization for Marriage held a long tour to drum up support and had amazingly low attendance.

* Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter no longer rant against gays.

* Ken Blackwell, an anti-gay politician from Ohio, warned: "Disaster looms if the GOP changes course on gay marriage." That he had to say it is a sign that things are turning in our favor.

So is the GOP our friends now?

No. Or at least not soon.

Given the chance they will still stand in the way of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the repeal of allowing gays to serve openly in the military, and the Defense of Marriage Act. And they might succeed too -- votes on the first two may not happen before the election and if the GOP takes the House they will work real hard to keep the bills from passing in the lame-duck sessions and they will be dead for at least two more years.

Put it another way: The GOP is a bunch of bullies. Just because they aren't bullying us as much doesn't change the description. They've just found a better target for this election cycle in immigrants and Muslims. Even so, it will be a delight to watch the political animosity against us fade away.