Schlafly is still making her point, unabashedly

Over the years, she has warned that the Equal Rights Amendment would lead to a recognition of gay rights. She has said people may demand "restrictions on homosexuals for public health reasons" because of AIDS. She has complained that children's sex-education programs are misused to spread the belief that homosexual sex is acceptable if a condom is used, when educators should "just tell them to keep their hands out of what's inside your swimsuit."

If anyone has helped conservatives nail down the plank in the Republican Party platform opposing same-sex unions, it is this octogenarian stalwart, who emerged as a pivotal force this week behind language supporting a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

And she did it all with the help of the oldest of her six adult children, John Schlafly, 53, her aide de camp, who is gay.

"It's no problem," Schlafly says. "He supports me in everything I do."

John Schlafly literally supports her, holding her arm firmly and lugging a big bag of her books, as mother and son trudge down a Manhattan sidewalk under a pitiless sun. Schooling around them in the humid miasma is a surreal parade of tourists, protesters, delegates, sightseers, police -- and yes, publicly affectionate gay couples.

This is, after all, New York. The culture wars inside Madison Square Garden wilt quickly in the cauterizing glare of gay culture outside on the streets of Manhattan. Already, the gay Log Cabin Republicans have inspired an outbreak of Log Cabin fever among New York Republican politicians, who need Democratic votes to get elected and strayed from the official party line, making sure they were seen and heard at Log Cabin events.

Inside the convention, where traditionalists clash with those promoting tolerance of other lifestyles, Republicans talking about the divided America need look no further than the Schlaflys.

Shrewd operator

Phyllis Schlafly is a disarming woman, with a genteel but very direct manner. Earlier in the day, she greets a guest in a well-lighted suite of an old-fashioned hotel that is decorated with gilt mirrors and salmon toile. She smooths the skirt of her lavender knit suit, which is set off by a gold elephant pin and another spelling out "GOP." Her blond hair is upswept in a retro marcel wave-style do.