First, one must assume that if such a mafia exists, there is some evidence that it has achieved some result, in an affect on policies and legislative agendas that it might be seeking.
Second, there is no evidence that such a "mafia" has impacted GOP legislative agendas, at the state or national level, in a way one would assume such a "mafia" would try to do.
As far as the term "lavender mafia" goes, I have only known it to be used and expressed among liberals when speaking of gay activists among the staffs of elected Democrats; and surely there are plenty of examples of Democrat legislative agendas that one could presume might have been pushed by said "mafia".
So, I would have to conclude that this entire tale orginates, as the orgininal "outing" of Foley does, somewhere with those who find some perverse political benefit from suppressing the "social conservative" vote for GOP members in November.
Nice try, but it won't work here.
"As far as the term "lavender mafia" goes, I have only known it to be used and expressed among liberals when speaking of gay activists among the staffs of elected Democrats"
I used "Lavender Mafia" in the sense that it is commonly used to refer to the homosexual network active within the Roman Catholic clergy and episcopate.
Feel free to learn more here:
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/dossier.jsp?did=dossier-lavender-mafia