The exchanges were hot and heavy during a session on strategy and tactics for advancing gay issues at a Nov. 17 session of the International Network of Lesbian and Gay Officials ( INLGO ) in Washington, D.C. While partisanship was a central concern, a speaker's party affiliation did not always determine their position.
Andrew Norton, a former Connecticut state legislator and now minority counsel, also serves on the state Human Rights Commission where protection has been extended to transgender persons. "I have a harder time telling my gay friends that I'm a Republican than I do telling Republican friends that I'm gay," he said. "At least they [ Republicans ] try to cover their expressions of surprise and disgust."
Republican Bill Schmidt, a city councilman from Peekskill, NY, argued, "Without bipartisanship we are not going to be able to succeed." He pointed to the fact that three-fifths of the Governors are Republican and the party controls many state legislatures.
Rep. Barney Frank ( D-Mass. ) hammered away at themes that are a standard part of his political mantra. He said the Democratic Party is much better on gay issues than is the Republican Party. The latter has been taken over by the religious right and moderates are irrelevant within it, he said.
"As long as Republicans control the House, no pro-gay legislation will be allowed to come up" on the floor for a vote, said Frank, though he conceded that the Senate was a different matter because of the rules and traditions of that body.
Frank's phrasing conveniently sidestepped defeat of antigay amendments, such as the September defeat of one that would have banned domestic-partner benefits in Washington. It also ignored the myriad legislative tactics that allow legislation to become law without such a vote.
Frank believes the community is too quick to reward Republicans. "If you give the reward before the behavior changes, they don't have an incentive" to change their voting patterns. He called that "a double standard." He used the example of the Human Rights Campaign's recent honoring of Senator Gordon Smith ( R-Ore. ) at their national dinner for his support of hate-crimes legislation, even while Smith "was the deciding vote" on an antigay Boy Scouts amendment by Jesse Helms ( R-NC ) .
"If a Republican doesn't get a pat on the back for taking a pro-gay stance, even if it wasn't a giant leap forward, then there is no psychology of reward," countered Norton. He argued that positive change has to be rewarded, perhaps even disproportionately so among Republicans. Setting a standard of perfection on gay issues is too high.
Norton believes it is more difficult for Republicans to take pro-gay stands because of the threat they face in a primary, "Democrats have constituencies they have to worry about if they don't" vote for gay issues. Frank agreed with that assessment.
Allan Spear, the retired Democratic leader of the Minnesota Senate, had no problem endorsing Republicans for local council and school board races "that tend to operate on nonpartisan levels." But when it comes to legislatures, he stressed that gay people should never support Republicans, because the leadership will not allow gay issues to come up for a vote.
Mike Pisaturo, the Democratic Rhode Island state representative who is going to run for Secretary of State, said his problems are not partisan in nature. Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee has been very supportive, while Republican Gov. Lincoln Almond signed a measure expanding the state gay-rights law to include transgender persons.
His problems have come from conservative Democrats in leadership positions in the House who exerted great pressure to kill his gay marriage bill. Many Republicans in the chamber were supportive.
Schmidt pointed to Republican Gov. George Pataki's executive order insuring that gays and lesbians get survivor benefits associated with the 9-11 terrorist attack. Pataki also is supporting the state's gay.rights bill.
"At least we are now being pandered to, people are saying the right things," said Democrat Deborah Glick, who represents a Manhattan district in the State Assembly. She went on to criticize Pataki for not putting his political muscle behind the words. "He has been nowhere on [ the gay rights bill ] for seven years," she said.
Similar criticisms could be ( but were not ) made of Maryland's Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening, where that party has overwhelming control of both houses of the state legislature. He too waited until his seventh year to push for gay-rights legislation.
Frank said he has supported individual Republicans when they were clearly better than their Democratic opponent on gay issues. He used examples of the mayoral race in Philadelphia and a campaign in Connecticut. But he did not use the example where he would have had the greatest impact, his home state of Massachusetts, where Frank supported the Democratic candidate for governor John Silber in his race against pro-gay Republican William Weld, despite Silber's homophobic record.