Openly gay congressman from Colorado says passing ENDA, repealing DADT, partner benefits for federal employees high on his to-do list

Congressman Jared Polis

Openly gay U.S. Rep. Jared Polis has set some ambitious goals for his first term in Congress, including passage of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, a repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the addition of domestic partner benefits for federal employees.

“I’m certainly hopeful that we can get that done, and we need to set that as a goal,” Polis told Dallas Voice on Thursday, Feb. 19. “We should absolutely be holding our elected officials, including President Obama, to their commitments to support those three pieces of legislation — and our elected members of the House and Senate to deliver on those — and I hope that residents of Texas contact their House members and senators to urge them to support those efforts.” 

Polis, a 33-year-old Democrat from Colorado who became the first openly gay man elected as a non-incumbent to Congress in November, will deliver the keynote address at the Texas Stonewall Democrats convention scheduled for Feb. 27 through March 1 in Austin.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Polis didn’t offer a specific timeframe for addressing other LGBT-related federal issues, including a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and the addition of hate crimes protections. But he said that as a member of the House Rules Committee and co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, he’s in a position to push the community’s agenda forward.

“Having that human face on the issue for other members of Congress, I think, is critical in helping to get some of these changes made,” he said.

Polis added that federal LGBT legislation is particularly important for people in places like Texas and his home state of Colorado, given a lack of local protections.

“That shows why we need to do it federally, because in these states and the counties where gays and lesbians face the most discrimination, they’re also least likely to have laws on the books to protect us,” he said. “That’s the critical reason that we need a federal law just as we have civil rights laws to prevent racial discrimination at the federal level. We need that for sexual orientation as well.”

Polis also said he thinks it’s important for him to visit states like Texas to rally the troops. The Texas Stonewall convention will include a fundraiser for Polis on Saturday night as well as his keynote speech on Sunday.

“There are only three of us [openly gay members of Congress], so I think that I’m very interested in promoting visibility for our agenda and the issues that affect gay and lesbian families, and traveling to help bring people out for an event like this is part of what I’m happy to do,” he said.

Polis was in Denver this week, when Obama traveled there to sign the $787 billion federal stimulus package into law on Tuesday, and he said he hopes the bill will provide as much relief for the LGBT community as it does for the country as a whole.

“When we have a recession and a downturn, gays and lesbian lose their jobs just as straight people do,” he said.

“A recession knows no sexual orientation. The goal of this bill is to get our economy going again, create 3.5 million jobs, invest in infrastructure, invest in education, put more money in people’s pockets with tax cuts, and that will help out families of all sexual orientations,” the congressman added.

Asked about his first several weeks on Capitol Hill, Polis compared being a freshman in Congress to being a freshman in college. For example, he said, trying to get on House committees is like rushing fraternities, and some “upperclassmen” won’t give you the time of day, while others are very helpful.

“It’s a very similar environment to a college campus,” he said. “There are a lot of gay and lesbian staff people on the Hill. A large percentage of the staff people on the Hill are gay or lesbian. And there’s a lot of energy, particularly at this point in our history, with President Obama’s election and the mandate for change.

“There’s a lot of excitement about moving our country forward and in a new direction,” he said.

Polis’ adventures as a freshman in Congress are being documented for CNN’s “Freshman Year,” in which he’s being featured alongside Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a conservative Mormon from Utah.

Polis said the contrast highlights “the great diversity of our country and what makes us great.”

“We have to be tolerant of all individuals and diversity, and I know it’s sometimes challenging in the gay and lesbian community, but we need to strive to be tolerant of Mormons and people of faith, just as they strive to be tolerant and accepting of people of different sexual orientations,” he said.

Polis also joked about a recent poll on The Huffington Post in which he was voted as the third-“hottest” freshman in Congress.

“I’m actually thrilled with finishing third because it’s a boost to my ego while not giving me a reputation as just being another pretty face, so I’m really glad I wasn’t No. 1, and I’m honored to be No. 3,” Polis said.

“We’ll let the folks in Austin judge for themselves whether I’m good-looking or not,” he added.

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Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus biennial statewide conference
The Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus will hold its first biennial statewide conference from Feb. 28 through March 1 in Austin. For more information or to register, go to www.texasstonewalldemocrats.org.

E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition February 20, 2009.