LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Oklahoma Gays Gain Clout Oklahoma has a Republican governor, and conservative GOPers hold both U.S. Senate seats and all six congressional seats. Moreover, the entire congressional delegation rates a zero on the Human Rights Campaign's scorecard on gay issues. So when state Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a Democrat, filed a brief earlier this year supporting the State of New Jersey in its suit against the Boy Scouts of America for discriminating against homosexuals, it was no surprise that his efforts landed him in hot water. Both houses of the legislature passed a resolution urging Edmondson to withdraw the brief. In the House, some 37 Democrats and 39 Republicans three-quarters of the representativessigned the resolution. The Daily Oklahoman editorialized that Edmondson "veers sharply to the left when it comes to homosexual 'rights.'" But the attorney general stuck by his guns, though he justified it as a states' rights position. Nor is this the first time that Edmondson, the nephew of former Governor Howard Edmondson, has been there for Oklahoma gays. Last year, he helped gay leaders pry a hate crimes bill out of a legislative committee, though it failed once it made it to the floor. What makes all of this especially impressive is that Edmondson is a likely candidate for governor in 2002. Though he may have competition in the primary from state Treasurer Robert Butkin, who keeps his distance from gay issues, Edmondson is the clear frontrunner for his party's gubernatorial nomination. In the general election, Edmondson could face U.S. Rep. Steve Largent (R), an ex-professional football player, who each year introduces an amendment to ban same-sex adoptions in the District of Columbia. Which raises the question, why does Edmondson risk his political fortunes by actions that draw praise from the state's gay community? The answer is that there are substantial numbers of gay and lesbian voters in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, as well in smaller cities and towns, and they've gotten organized. Three major political groups are active on behalf of Oklahoma's gay folk, including the Cimarron Alliance, the Oklahoma Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus and the newly formed state Stonewall Democrats. The groups have been effective in raising money and contributing to candidates. Gays don't run the show in Sooner State politics, but they're part of the mix. For example, they were successful in persuading legislative leaders to tone down language in the anti-Edmondson resolution, taking out the references to "homosexuals." Moreover, an openly gay rancher, Paul Barby, ran for Congress twice in the 6th District. He lost, but got a third or more of the votes each time and helped the state's conservative voters get used to gays in politics. So despite a political climate that's not very welcoming to gays, the gay community has developed enough influence to make a difference. Indeed, Edmondson may be smarter than his critics. N.C. Gays Show Strength Before the Democratic primary earlier this year, the party's two leading candidates for governorAttorney General Mike Easley and Lt. Governor Dennis Wickersat down with representatives of Equality North Carolina PAC, a Raleigh-based gay and lesbian political organization. Both candidates endorsed the key points in the group's agenda: Adding sexual orientation to hate crimes laws, reforming the state's "crime against nature" statutes, appointing openly gay people to state positions and increasing funding for HIV and AIDS prevention. The group issued a joint endorsement of the two candidates. Easley won the primary and is poised to receive significant support from Tar Heel gay voters in the general election. The Equality PAC has not yet contacted Republican nominee Richard Vinroot, though Ian Palmquist, the group's interim executive director, expects they will make the effort. Vinroot, the former mayor of Charlotte, has roots in the GOP's mainstream, but moved noticeably to the right to win the Republican primary. Past campaigns in the state have had a gay component. Lesbian activist Mandy Carter, for example, played a visible role in Democrat Harvey Gantt's 1996 U.S. Senate campaign. But, "This is the first time we've had a candidate for governor ever agree to sit down with us," says Palmquist. Incumbent Governor Jim Hunt, a potential running-mate for Al Gore, "hasn't done anything against us, but nothing for us, either. He basically just avoided the issue." So what has changed in the home state of U.S. Senator Jesse Helms (R), the nation's most highly placed homophobe? Persistent gay and lesbian political activism has finally established the state's gay communitysizable in the major citiesas a force not to be ignored. Gay groups have lobbied the legislature, getting a hate crimes bill to the House floor for the first time last year (it lost by six votes). They've raised money and made contributions to candidates. And they've got registration drives and get-out-the-vote operations on the drawing board for this fall's elections. Moreover, it's not just pro-gay-but- straight politicians who are benefiting. This year, lesbian Julia Boseman, an attorney and advocate for those with low incomes or disabilities, won the Democratic nomination for a seat on the New Hanover County Commission in conservative Eastern North Carolina. Boseman, who's supported by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, is a "strong, viable candidate," says Palmquist. Can Lazio Get Gay Votes? The decision of Gotham's gruff but gay-friendly Mayor Rudy Giuliani to withdraw from the New York Senate contest leaves gay GOPers a bit nervous about the ability of Hillary Clinton's new foe, Republican Long Island Congressman Rick Lazio, to garner gay votes. Despite Giuliani's zero-tolerance pornography policies, which closed down some adult book-stores and rankled some activists, hizzoner's record on domestic partnerships, gay civil rights bills and other measures was progressive enough to attract many conservative-to- moderate gay New Yorkers. So although most gays and lesbians vote Democratic, in Giuliani's last race for mayor, he garnered 39 percent of the gay vote. It is doubtful that Lazio will run as well with lesbians and gay men. "I don't think Lazio will get anywhere near 25 percent of gay support," says Tom Hroncich, editor in chief of Outlook-Long Island, a gay paper in Lazio's district. Hroncich believes Lazio will concentrate on "conservative voters in Upstate New York" and will not "suddenly become interested in gay and lesbian issues." Indeed, Lazio has a much iffier record on gay issues than Giuliani or former Republican U.S. Senator Alphonse D'Amato. On the upside, Lazio has been a floor leader for Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS and opposed the Hefley Amendment, which would have scuttled President Clinton's gay-inclusive anti-discrimination policies for federal employees. Lazio even voted to send the Defense of Marriage Act back to committeewhich would have killed itbut voted for it on final passage. Moreover, Lazio represents a district that includes Fire Island, where he's held fundraisers, and he has often attended Log Cabin Republican events. And he's young and handsome. On the downside, however, Lazio voted for an amendment that would have outlawed same-sex couples from adopting children in the District of Columbia. In the last session of Congress, he also voted for an amendment to prohibit funding for public schools programs that address anti-gay violence and prejudice. Indeed, he rated a lousy 18 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's 1999 legislative scorecard on gay issues. Birch to Retire? Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest and most influential gay rights group, may retire after the November elections. Birch told the gay newspaper Houston Voice she's thinking about stepping down to devote more time to raising her adopted twins. The D.C. rumor mill has it that, if Al Gore is elected president, Birch might take a position at the White House. As for her successor, one insider says the job "needs a visionary public person like Elizabeth." Noting the predominance of women in gay-movement leadership roles, he adds, "It would be nice to have a guy, wouldn't it?" Pentagon Potpourri In a recent letter to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, two Democratic U. S. Senators wrote, "As Vietnam veterans and former Army and Navy officers, we know that gays and lesbians have served their country well and continue to do so. More must be done to ensure their safety." The senators? Liberal John F. Kerry of Massachusettsno surpriseand moderate Max Cleland, who won the Georgia seat of gays-in-the-military foe Sam Nunn when Nunn retired in 1996. Openly gay, retired Navy Captain Michael Rankin, after seeing the one-man show, Another American: Asking and Telling, told The Washington Post, "I did three tours in Vietnam. And somebody like [Senate Majority Leader] Trent Lott, who was a cheerleader at Ole Miss, is telling me I can't serve? Gimme a break." Shoulders to Stand On Ever see those 1960s news photos showing coat-and-tie-clad men and high-heeled women picketing the White House on behalf of gay and lesbian rights? Frank Kameny, an astronomer, physicist and District of Columbia activist who has worked tirelessly on behalf of our cause from the days when gay wasn't cool, was hoisting one of those signs. Kameny was one of the founders of the Washington, D.C., gay rights movement in 1961 to secure gay folk's "inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness." In 1971, in what was then a revolutionary act, he ran for CongressD.C.'s non-voting delegateas an open homosexual. He only got about 2 percent of the vote, but he made history. Kameny recently turned 75 and was honored at a Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA) dinner. In his speech, Kameny praised GLAA's use of the Internet to expand its activities. 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. 6, June 2, 2000. |