The same-sex marriage debate is producing some interesting consequences – Ken Melhman, former chair of the Republican National Committee and leader of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, has come out as gay and as a supporter of same-sex marriage in an interview with the Atlantic.

In an interview with Politico, Melman said one reason for his disclosure is that leading Republican attorney Ted Olson urged him to do what he could to further the cause, including appearing at a fund-raiser next month for Olson’s American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is challenging California’s Prop. 8.

Mehlman, 43, is head of global public affairs for the private-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. He said his disclosure produced an “incredibly supportive” response from Bush. Mehlman had been outed in 2004 by gay activist blogger Mike Rogers and by Bill Maher on the Larry King show in 2006, but had denied it.

Some liberal bloggers have slammed the disclosure, saying it comes too late to rectify anti-gay policies of the Bush administration, such as his 2004 call for a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage (Correction of earlier version: The federal Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996, when Bill Clinton was president). Others are defending him, noting that coming out is never easy and that Republican support is crucial in the same-sex marriage drive.