What Real Republican Leaders Past and Present Said On Civil Rights & Campaigns Against Gays and Lesbians
President Ronald Reagan (September 1978): At the end of a meeting with gay and lesbian leaders in his Los Angeles office, Ronald Reagan smiled and said, “Don’t think we can allow something like that to happen here in California.” He was denouncing the Briggs Initiative, Proposition 6, which he opposed and would have permitted the firing of gay teachers in California. Reagan, who by then had served two terms as governor, was gearing up to run for President. His opposition is credited with the defeat of the measure by more than 1,000,000 votes.
Senator Barry Goldwater: The founder of the conservative wing of the Republican Party and nominee for President in 1964 was very outspoken on civil rights. He stated, “To see the party that fought communism and big government now fighting the gays, well, that’s just plain dumb.”
President Gerald Ford (October 21, 2001): President Ford said the federal government should provide the same benefits for same-sex couples and married couples. Ford told Detroit News columnist Deb Price in a telephone interview that the provisions should include Social Security, tax and other federal benefits. "I think they (same-sex couples) should be treated equally. Period," he said. “…I have a longstanding record in favor of legislation to do away with discrimination.”
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:
When being interviewed by Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon about the Protect Marriage Constitutional Amendment that had not yet qualified for the November ballot (April 11, 2008): "Well, first of all, I think that it would never happen in California (the passage of Proposition 8), because I think that California people are much further along with that issue. And, number two, I will always be there to fight against that."
NBC’s Meet the Press in an interview by Tom Brokaw when asked about same-sex marriage (June 29, 2008): “I think the Supreme Court made a decision there. It was apparently unconstitutional to stop anyone from getting married. It’s like 1948, the interracial marriage, when the Supreme Court of California decided it was unconstitutional and then later on the Supreme Court of the United States followed. So I think it is good that California is leading in this way. There are so many other more important issues that we have to address in California. So I think to spend any time on this initiative is a waste of time.”
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders Press Conference (September 20, 2007): “I decided to lead with my heart, which is probably obvious at the moment,” he said. “The concept of a separate-but-equal institution…I am unwilling to send the message to anyone that “they were less important, less worthy or less deserving of the rights and responsibilities of marriage. In the end, I couldn't look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships, their very lives, were any less meaningful than the marriage I share with my wife, Rana,” said the Republican Mayor of San Diego.
Congressman Clair Burgener (October 1980): Beloved former San Diego City Councilman, Assemblyman, State Senator and 5 term member of the House of Representatives who ran against Democrat Tom Metzger for Congress in 1980. During that campaign, he fretted at the implications of Metzger's candidacy. “I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and I think, My God, could this happen? But then, in the cool light of day, I think it won't, that I'm going to win. My God, I don't represent a bunch of bigots, do I?” Republican Burgener told the Los Angeles Times in 1980 when running for reelection to his 43rd Congressional District seat representing San Diego’s Rancho Santa Fe and surrounding cities. Clair Burgener received an unprecedented 86% of the vote against his democrat challenger Tom Metzger, the Grand Dragon of the California Klu Klux Klan.
Here's a great example of public education through peaceful protest. 
