LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Will Navy Spying Become Campaign Issue? The revelation that the U.S. Navy has been conducting surveillance operations into gay bars in the nation's capital may push the Pentagon's policy on gays back into the political spotlight. The highly reliable Service members Legal Defense Network's revelation that the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service sent undercover agents into such Washington gay establishments as JR's, Badlands, and Velvet Nation demands a response from the White House and both major presidential candidates. Will President Clinton, who has declared June "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," call Defense Secretary William Cohen on the carpet and get the military out of the "spying on gays" game? Vice President Al Gore has stated he believes current Pentagon policy should be revised to allow gay men and lesbians to serve more openly in the military. Will he exert influence to get the Navy surveillance discontinued? At the least, will he denounce the Navy's operations? George W. Bush, who has taken almost no positions that one can identify as pro-gay, is on record endorsing the current regulations on gays in the military, as opposed to the outright ban that such right-wingers as Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes favor. So will Bush now say whether as president he would tolerate the Navy behaving in contradiction of the "don't pursue" part of Pentagon policy? Would he condone undercover agents attempting to entrap military personnel in gay-friendly establishments into behavior that violates the regulations? SLDN has written the Navy requesting it cease the surveillance and entrapment practices and "any adverse actions being taken against those ensnared in these operations." Now is the time for Clinton to take action and for Gore and Bush to take a stand. Stay tuned. Birch: No Plans to Leave Contrary to rumors and published reports, including in this column, Human Rights Campaign Executive Director Elizabeth Birch tells me that she has no plans to leave HRC or to join a Gore Administration. "If I'm in Washington, I want to be at the Human Rights Campaign," says Birch. She emphasizes her commitment to elect Gore and a Democratic House of Representatives. She noted HRC evaluates its staff requirements periodically, especially after a big event like an election and will do so again this fallbut that's nothing new. Democrats on the Move The Gore for President campaign is relying on gay and lesbian support to a greater extent than any presidential campaign in history. Indeed, Al Gore, Tipper Gore and President Clinton will each be headlining major gay fundraisers in the coming weeks. To coordinate the fundraising effort, Paul Yandura, who directed gay outreach in the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, has taken a full-time position at the Democratic National Committee. Yandura, 31, served in various capacities in the Clinton Administration and has recently been volunteering his services to "You-Go-Gore," a group of gay and lesbian Democrats who support Gore. Yandura has already firmed up five gay-targeted fundraisers: New York City on June 19; Chicago on June 23; Rehoboth Beach, Del., on June 24; Washington, D.C., on June 29 and Provincetown, Mass., on July 29. Other gay dollar events are in the planning stage for Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Miami. Tipper Gore will be the draw at the Big Apple and Windy City events. The veep himself will show up in Los Angeles. The president will be the honored guest in Dallas. Also in the works: A major national fundraiser targeting lesbians. In other Democratic news: The Democratic National Committee, under the direction of gay liaison Mark Spengler, is implementing a major Gore for President effort at gay Pride events throughout the country, including widespread distribution of Gore pink triangles in the form of stickers and window signs. The National Stonewall Democratic Federation has invited Gore, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and Congresswoman Maxine Waters to address their August 14-17 convention in Palm Springs, Calif., the week before the party's national convention in Los Angeles. Gays Gain in Capital GOP The Republican Party in the District of Columbia is not the biggest elephant in the herd, but given its location, it does have more national influence than its small size would suggest. Therefore, it is a significant step forward that openly gay GOPers have established a major presence on the D. C. Republican Committee. Thanks to a well-organized effort by the influential Capital Area Log Cabin Club, 11 openly gay candidates have won posts on the D.C. Republican Committee, giving gays nearly 15 percent of the 80-member committee. Moreover, both the committee's secretary and its treasurer are gay. In addition, four gay peopleincluding D. C. Councilman David Catania and pro-Bush gay activist Carl Schmidwere elected as national convention delegates or alternates, joining around a dozen others at the convention. This is a record high for the GOP. On the down side, gay GOP activist and fundraiser Bob Kabel lost his well-run, high-visibility race for Republican National Committeeman for the District of Columbia. Straight GOPer Jim Lowe got 45 percent of the vote to Kabel's 38 percent. Had Kabel won, he would have been the first openly gay member of the RNC. Hastings Wyman publishes Southern Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly political newsletter. He can be reached care of this publication or at HWymanSPR@aol.com. For more Capital Letters, visit www.planetout.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 7, June 16, 2000. |