The conservative national “Club for Growth” opened an office in Phoenix early in September with the express intention of defeating moderate and liberal Republican candidates for the Legislature, but its first victim turned out to be its brand-new Arizona executive director, former state Rep. Steve May.

Mr. May, who is gay, said he was fired for his homosexuality. He said he is disappointed that the club apparently has decided it cannot restrict itself to its original economics-only goal and feels constrained to make a social and cultural statement.

The club was founded in Washington D.C. in 1999 for the express purpose of electing fiscal conservatives to Congress, and the foray into Arizona was a first effort to reach down to the state legislative level.

The story of the firing was broken Sept. 18 by Associated Press reporter Paul Davenport, who quoted a club spokesman, Kevin McVicker, as saying the Republican Mr. May, who was chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee at the time he was defeated in last year’s election, was fired because the club decided his legislative background showed insufficient attention to conservative economic causes.

But elsewhere the view seemed to be widespread that it was indeed Mr. May’s sexual preference that cost him his job.

Several individuals who professed inside knowledge of the situation – but did not want to be identified by name – said the firing was engineered by prominent local conservative activist Tracy Thomas of Paradise Valley. They said Mr. Thomas is a significant contributor to the Club for Growth, is averse to the gay-rights agenda, and gave the club’s director and founder, Steve Moore, an ultimatum to fire Mr. May or he would quit the club.

Mr. Thomas said such talk is nonsense. He said it’s true he personally thinks Mr. May made some bad political decisions but that has nothing to do with the Club for Growth. “When Syd Hay ran for Congress I gave them some money for her, and I’ve been a member for a number of years; but I’m not the major fundraiser,” he said. “To say he was fired because he is gay is crazy.”

Nevertheless the talk persists. The AP reported that after Mr. May’s hiring was announced, Len Munsil, director of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, e-mailed his organization’s members asking them to notify the Club for Growth that they would not support a club “led by a liberal gay activist.”

And one of the club’s most prominent Arizona members, Goldwater Institute chairman and former state Sen. Tom Patterson, said he feels Mr. May’s homosexuality is the reason he was fired and he is angry about it. “I’m very upset,” he said, “disappointed to the point of almost being bitter. This has to do with right and wrong. I am a big booster of the Club for Growth and give them what few shekels I can, and I was thrilled that they were coming to Arizona. I suggested Steve, and it was not a decision that they made lightly. I’m not a big advocate of the gay rights agenda, but this has nothing to do with that. This is an area Steve has just been outstanding on. Then a few days ago Len Munsil distributed this list, and somehow they got to the Club for Growth…

“I thought Steve Moore was a really savvy guy and he would know it’s not good to change direction like this. Things were going well, contributions were being lined up, and then all of a sudden Steve Moore let these guys throw some sand in the gears. I think there’s no question the core problem is the homosexuality issue. Everything May’s ever done he’s been great at. I know he gets a lot of pressure to get more active in gay politics and he took a big risk with them to volunteer to work for the Club for Growth, and now he gets that crammed in his face.” —