LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
McGreevey Courts Jersey Gays The hotly contested election for governor in New Jersey has provided gay voters with only one candidate who is sympathetic to the gay agenda. Democrat Jim McGreevey, mayor of Woodbridge, has campaigned for gay support and endorsed a domestic partnership policy for state employees. He is also pro-choice on abortion and has strong backing from such gay-friendly groups as the National Organization of Women. Republican Bret Schundler, the popular mayor of Jersey City, is not only opposed to domestic partnership legislation, but is also against same-sex adoptions, andaccording to a New York Times story"teaching that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle." Although these and other gay concerns have played little role in the campaign, the stark contrast between McGreevey and Schundler has placed most Garden State gays in the McGreevey camp. New Jersey Stonewall Democrats in particular are working hard for McGreevey, raising money and registering voters. LaQuetta Nelson, the group's president, is making speeches to gay groups on McGreevey's behalf. New Jersey's Log Cabin Republicans, on the other hand, have stayed out of the race. Before Sept. 11, McGreevey was about 20 points ahead in most polls. Since then, however, the race has tightened, with Schundler now trailing by 14 points. The smaller gap may reflect the fact that Schundler has played down his ties to conservative groups, including the Christian Coalition, and is stressing his support for tax cuts to stimulate the economy. It may also reflect the currently high popularity of President George W. Bush, who is close to Schundler. McGreevey is still the favorite, but the race could be close. Barr's Change of Heart Remember Congressman Bob Barr, the Georgia Republican who authored the infamous "Defense of Marriage Act," which allows states to deny recognition to same-sex marriages performed in other states where they might be legal? It was Barr whom the Human Rights Campaign's Elizabeth Birch asked on network television, "Which of your three marriages are you trying to defend?" and who tried to impeach President Clinton even before the Monica Lewinsky business. That very same Bob Barr, when asked about the Jerry Falwell-Pat Robertson assertion that gays and lesbians helped bring on the terrorist attacks, replied"snapped," is the way The Hill newspaper put it"Oh, I thought it was stupid. I just thought it was a really dumb thing to say." Barr also emphasized his distance from the two religious righters: "I don't have anything to do with them." Has this carrier of water for Christian conservatives had a change of heart? We don't know what goes on inside his heador any other politician's, for that matter. We do know, however, that because congressional district lines have been redrawn, Barr will be running in a different district next year. In 2002, the long-time right-winger will be in a GOP primary with less stridently conservative John Linder. His new district, the 7th in Georgia's new congressional map, is dominated by moderate Republicans in suburban Atlanta's Gwinnett Countyold-style "country-club Republicans," not the rural and small-town voters in Barr's old district. Hmmm. Another Anti-gay Referendum in Trouble A court official in Maryland has determined that perhaps as many as 7,500 signatures may be invalid on the petitions to overturn the state's new gay-rights law. A court will now have to rule whether the signatures are acceptable. If the disputed signatures are removed, the petition sponsors will not have enough to meet the 46,000 or so required by state law to put the repeal measure on the ballot in 2002. That would allow the law that extends Maryland's civil-rights protections to gay people to take effect immediately. The Maryland anti-gay-rights petition is the second in recent months found to have questionable signatures. In Florida, state courts have postponed an anti-gay referendum in Miami-Dade County that was to appear on the county ballot this November. State law enforcement officials seized the petitions and are examining whether enough are valid to allow the vote to go forward in 2002. The Miami-Dade law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation passed last year. Bush's Gay Appointments President Bush has so far appointed three openly gay men to federal officesScott Evertz, the AIDS czar; Don Capoccia, a Fine Arts Commission member; and Michael Guest, the ambassador to Romania. Evertz and Capoccia are long-time Republicans and Bush-backers; both were present when the "Austin 12" gay GOPers met with the future president during the 2000 primary campaign, and, as the saying goes, to the victor belong the spoils. Guest is a career foreign-service officer with no political record. Being gay seemed relevant in the appointment of only one of the three, Evertz. When the appointments of Capoccia, an ally of New York Gov. George Pataki (R), and Guest were announced, there was no mention of their sexual orientation, although Secretary of State Colin Powell recognized Guest's partner at the new ambassador's swearing-in. The administration's style is the 'non-issue' approach," says Charles Francis, a Bush friend who is gay and heads the Republican Unity Coalition. "The folks are qualified and therefore they're going to get the job. Sexual orientation is not a factor." Rich Tafel, executive director of the Log Cabin Repub-licans, agrees that gay appointments are more low-key under Bush, while "under Clinton-Gore, there were press releases" each time a gay person received a federal appointment. Tafel also notes that "tons of gay Republicans are getting jobs in the administration, they just don't want to be out. Some [are] at a pretty high level. It's one of the cultural differences we're going to see." Tafel has approached a number of the closeted gays in the administration about coming out given the required background checks, "the administration surely knows," says Tafel. He believes it would help both the administration and gay people, but Tafel says these officials "don't want to be poster boys for gay rights; they just want to do a good job." In an ideal world, this no-big-deal approachboth by the president and by gay people who receive White House appointmentswould make sense. No one pays attention to how many Presbyterians Bush has appointed. But there is no large political/religious movement trying to stigmatize Presbyterians as unacceptable members of society, no "ex-Presbyterian ministries." So for now, it is difficult to distinguish between the view that, for this enlightened White House, sexual orientation doesn't matter, and the cynical view that gay invisibility allows the administration to keep both moderates and social conservatives in its coalition of supporters. While this administration is still relatively young, it seems unlikely that it will match the record of President Clinton, who made more than 100 openly gay appointments. Given the much greater gay presence in the Democratic Party, that is no surprise. Nevertheless, since some 25 percent of gay voters chose Bush in 2000, three is still a small number. "There will be more," says Francis. "Other [gay] people are coming into the administration," echoes Tafel. Despite the paucity of openly gay appointees, the fact that gay people are receiving much-sought-after federal jobs is still a boost to the gay movement. The anti-gay Family Research Council (FRC) said that the Evertz, Capoccia and Guest appointments were "tantamount to an endorsement imparting legitimacy to the homosexual political cause." The FRC added that "the cumulative effect of these presidential actions... [will] have enormous influence." That such appointments are being made by a Republican president is especially significant. We expect liberal Democrats to treat us well. When conservative Republicans make niceeven if they're less nice than the Democratswe're pleasantly surprised. It's the prodigal-son syndrome. In addition, such appointments are a blow to organized homophobia. If the religious right can't keep avowed homosexuals out of a Republican administration, then homophobes are shown to lack influencein a town where influence is the currency of choice. But to be truly helpful in creating a more just society in which gay and straight people can interact openly and unself-consciously, the Bush administration is going to have to make more gay appointments, including the appointment of lesbians. Moreover, the gay appointees are going to have to be more open about their sexual orientation.Hastings Wyman publishes Southern Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly political newsletter. He may be reached in care of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth or at HWymanSPR@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 14, October 19, 2001. |