I'm glad he'll be working for the forces of good, because he's quite excellent at political organization. However, I do worry about a person who actively denied who he was well into middle age. It's got to warp you somehow.
In fact, there is a lot of mixed opinion about this in the gay community, from what I've heard. Many think, great, let's use him. And he has said that he wants to work for pro-gay causes.
However, many are not able to move on so quickly, pointing out (and not getting a lot of argument) that this guy may have done more to harm the gay rights movement than anyone in recent memory. It's nice that he is wants to change, but they are wanting him to more strongly renounce his former ways. Not just, "I'm sorry I denied my true self for so long," but more of, "We were wrong to exploit and enflame the anti-gay bigotry for our political gains."
The problem with that statement, I think, is that he ISN'T sorry, because it was so successful at getting candidates elected, and that was his focus. It's one thing to say, "I'm sorry," but if pushed, you end up saying, "but given the circumstances, I would do it again" then it isn't so palatable. I think a lot of the gay community suspects that he really does NOT regret doing what he did, because it got Bush elected. And given that, they aren't willing to forgive.
