LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Senate Change Good for Gay Agenda? The decision of Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords to leave the GOP, become an independent, and give control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats could have its first impact on the gay community soon. Sen. Jesse Helms' (R-N.C.) amendment to an education bill preventing schools from barring the Boy Scouts from using school facilities could come before the newly organized Senate any time. While the party change isn't likely to change the outcome of the Senate's vote on the bill, it does mean that new Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) will appoint the Senate's members to the conference committee that will iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation. Daschle's picks for the conference committee on the education bill are more likely to favor stripping the language, which some see as a needless anti-gay insult, than those that would have been appointed by former Senate Majority Leader Trent "Gays are like kleptomaniacs" Lott (R-Miss.). In the long term, the party change could bring new opportunities for pro-gay initiatives in Congress, says Human Rights Campaign Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "The Senate and House Republican leadership have continued to thwart our efforts to move proactively," says Stachelberg, "especially on Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and hate crimes." Whether the new Democratic majority chooses to pass pro-gay measures, thus issuing a challenge to Republicans in the House and the White House, or whether Democrats will want to keep a low profile on gay issues remains to be seen. And in Vermont... The same day that Sen. Jeffords announced he was leaving the GOP, most of the Republican members of the Vermont House of Representatives were exhibiting exactly the kind of Neanderthal behavior that motivated Jeffords to jump ship. "The level of anti-gay amendments and rhetoric on the floor of the House should have embarrassed the Republican Party," says openly gay State Rep. Bill Lippert (D), who has had to battle the homophobes face to face. He says the anti-civil union GOPers "were shameless in attempting to push an anti-gay and right-wing agenda." Although the Vermont House passed a bill by 72-69 that would revise the state's civil unions law so as to obfuscate their applicability to gay couples, Lippert points out several bright spots. The hard-core anti-gay lawmakers were never able to muster more than 47 votesfar less than a majority to repeal civil unions outright. Moreover, the bill will be dead on arrival when it gets to the state Senate, so the current law will stand. Gay Dartmouth professor Steve Swayne says, "The battle since last November has always been the 2002 election and control of the Senate" by lawmakers opposed to civil unions, so that they can amend the state constitution to effectively abolish civil unions. Lippert, however, notes that while the GOP took control of the Vermont House last year "on an anti-civil union backlash, that's something they can't use to sustain power long-term." Jeffords, who favors civil unions and has a strong pro-gay record in Congress, may run for governor in 2004. Flanagan Looks Forward What does Ed Flanagan (D), the openly gay former state auditor who ran against Jim Jeffords last year, have to say about the senator leaving the GOP? "It's fabulous...I'm now a Jeffords supporter." He adds, "It's very peculiar that his move has now put into place policies that he opposed six months ago. But it's okayI believe in redemption." Flanagan says he will probably run for state treasurer next year, especially if incumbent Jim Douglas (R) runs for governor. That would mean two openly gay candidates with good prospects for winning statewide office in New England Flanagan in Vermont and Cheryl Jacques (D) for lieutenant governor in Massachusetts. Alternatively, Flanagan may choose to run for the state Senate, which could see lots of action on civil unions after the 2002 elections. NGLTF's Chief's Fundraising Skills a Plus "We know that it takes money to do good work," says David Elliot, communications director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), noting that was a major concern when the organization drafted Los Angeles activist Lorri Jean as its new executive director. Under Jean's tenure running the LA Gay Community Center, the budget rose from $8 million in 1993 to $32 million in 1999. Private donations to the center increased from $1 million to $9 million during the same period. While the emphasis on fundraising will be important, it isn't likely to shift NGLTF's policies and tactics. The emphasis, says Elliot, will remain on state and local organizing, and its policies will remain to the left of other national gay groups. Whether Jean can maintain a high profile for the national group while operating out of an NGLTF office in Los Angeles remains to be seen. She's going to find a pied-a-terre in Washington, D.C., so she can be here frequently. Bush Ducks Gay Pride Soon after the Culture and Family Institute, an anti-gay group that includes such dedicated homophobes as Robert Knight and Peter LaBarbera, blasted the White House for failing to reverse Clinton's executive orders banning bias against gay federal employees and promoting a "gay Republican agenda," President Bush shuffled back a bit toward the right. He announced thatunlike Clintonhe would not issue a presidential proclamation for Gay Pride Month. A White House official reiterated that Bush "believes every person should be treated with dignity and respect," but allowed as how the President "does not believe in politicizing people's sexual orientation." Of course, it is precisely politics that led the White House to nix the proclamation. Unlike Clinton, who had no large anti-gay constituency in his party, Bush is riding two horses one composed of social conservatives, of whom Knight and LaBarbera are a part, and the other of more enlightened GOPers, with whom Log Cabin Republicans identify. Thus, the President appoints openly gay Scott Evertz as his AIDS czar one month, then publicly refuses to declare Gay Pride Month the next. Expect this kind of schizophrenia on gay issues for the next several years. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, having no such split personality on gay issues, proclaimed, "On the occasion of the 2001 Gay and Lesbian Pride Month Celebration, the Democratic Party is proud to recognize the invaluable contributions of gay and lesbian Americans to our nation's history, particularly to the Democratic Party." Somewhere in between, gay Republicans forge ahead. Virginia Gay GOPers Dare Speak Their Name In a conservative party in a conservative state, the practice of gay Republicans has been to lie low. At the 1994 Virginia Republican convention in Richmond, there were no noticeably open gay delegates. The handful of closeted folk there held a sub rosa reception at a Howard Johnson's motel on the edge of town, with attendance by invitation only and no publicity. Fast-forward to 2001 and you find 50 openly gay delegates mostly Log Cabin Republicansand a very public reception at the posh Jefferson Hotel, the old Confederate capital's finest hostelry. None other than Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was an honorary host, along with several state legislators. Not everything came up roses. Most of the gay delegates favored Lt. Gov. John Hager, a business-oriented conservative, for the gubernatorial nomination over Attorney General Mark Earley, a favorite of most religious righters. Earley, however, carried the day. And anti-gay activist Eugene Delgaudio set up a "Defend the Boy Scouts" booth in the convention lobby, soliciting signatures in support of Senator Jesse Helms' (R-N.C.) bill to cut off federal funds to public schools that deny the Boy Scouts the use of school facilities. Nevertheless, this year Delgaudio and friends didn't have the convention to themselves. And next time the gay presence could be even largerthe Northern Virginia Log Cabin club is helping organize another club in Richmond, with plans to start others in Norfolk and Roanoke. Pro-Gay GOPers in California In California's Republican Party, gay GOPers have been on the outside looking in. That could change if Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan runs for governor in 2002 and Bush's national security advisor Condoleezza Rice runs for senator in 2004. The White House is trying to persuade Riordan to run for governor against the energy-challenged Gray Davis (D). In addition, top GOPers are hoping to pit Rice against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D). While Rice, whose specialty is foreign affairs, has no record on gay issues, in a January profile of Rice on NBC, a correspondent described her as pro-choice and a supporter of gay rights. Boxer's role as one of Washington's prime movers on gay issues will be hard to match, but the articulate Rice, whose strong California ties include six years as provost at Stanford, might appeal to many gay voters. A recent Field Poll shows Davis eking out a 43 percent to 42 percent lead over Riordan in a gubernatorial match-up. There have been no Boxer vs. Rice poll numbers, but for governor, Davis beat Rice by 45 percent to 36 percent, an impressive lead for an incumbent. In another survey, Rice ran ahead of Arnold Schwarzenegger, another GOP statewide prospect. 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. 7, June 15, 2001. |