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From DallasVoice.com National GOP vice presidential pick fought partner benefits, supported ban on same-sex marriage in Alaska, but Log Cabin endorses ticket anyway
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin supported a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Alaska and opposed domestic partner benefits for state employees there. Meanwhile, Time magazine reported that the church where the Alaska governor’s family worships, Wasilla Bible Church, recently was promoting an “ex-gay” reparative therapy program sponsored by the right-wing group Focus on the Family. “America may not know much about Sarah Palin, but based on what our community has seen of her, we know enough,” Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement this week. “Sarah Palin not only supported the 1998 Alaska constitutional amendment banning marriage equality but, in her less than two years as governor, even expressed the extreme position of supporting stripping away domestic partner benefits for state workers. “When you can’t even support giving our community the rights to health insurance and pension benefits, it’s a frightening window into where she stands on equality,” Solmonese said. On Sept. 2, Time reported that an insert in a program at Wasilla Bible Church advertised an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on homosexuality called Love Won Out. “The group [Focus on the Family] promises to teach attendees how to ‘respond to misinformation in our culture’ and help them ‘overcome’ homosexuality,” Time reported. In response to the report, the leader of an organization that counters “ex-gay” programs announced he planned to visit Alaska in advance of the conference to speak out about the harms caused by the programs. “We are deeply concerned that Sarah Palin may share the extreme and medically unsound view that gay and lesbian people can and should be cured,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out. “We call on Palin to express her views on this issue so we have a clear idea of where she stands. We hope this is an area where she disagrees with her church.” The revelations about Palin’s record on LGBT issues coincided with a decision by Log Cabin Republicans to endorse the GOP ticket of Palin and presidential nominee John McCain. According to a statement from Log Cabin, its board voted 12-2 to endorse both McCain and Palin. Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon said the group would not disclose who cast the dissenting votes. “On the most important issue that LGBT Americans faced in the last decade — the federal marriage amendment — Sen. John McCain stood with us. Now we stand with him,” Sammon said in a statement Sept. 2. “Sen. McCain is an inclusive Republican who is focusing the GOP on unifying core principles that appeal to independent voters. “Sen. McCain showed courage by bucking his own party’s leadership and the president — twice voting against the amendment. He gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, calling the amendment ‘antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans.’ He paid a political price for his vote.” The endorsement drew harsh rebukes from other LGBT leaders, including Solmonese. Although McCain opposed the federal marriage amendment because he believes it’s a states rights issue, he later backed a similar measure in his home state of Arizona. "John McCain claims to be a maverick who breaks with his party, but on matters of LGBT equality, he’s shown that he’s anything but,” Solmonese said. “He actively campaigned for a constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in his home state of Arizona. He went so far as to appear in television commercials for that campaign, is now supporting an amendment to strip marriage equality from California couples and has said that he would vote for a federal marriage amendment if laws already banning marriage equality were to be struck down by federal courts. … The Human Rights Campaign endorses mavericks on both sides of the aisle — neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin is among them.” HRC dug up a questionnaire that Palin submitted to the conservative Eagle Forum in 2006, when she was a candidate for governor in which Palin said she did not support expanding hate crimes laws because “I believe all heinous crime is based on hate.” She also stated that she did not support the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling that the domestic partners of gay state employees should get the same benefits as the spouses of straight ones. And she said, as governor, “preserving the definition of marriage” would be her No. 2 priority among “family values” issues, a campaign issue for her. The Log Cabin group issued a press release Aug. 29, after McCain revealed Palin as his vice presidential choice, calling the Alaska governor a “mainstream Republican” and an “inclusive Republican who will help Sen. McCain appeal to gay and lesbian voters.” Jimmy LaSalvia, director of programs and policy for Log Cabin, told Reuters news service, in a video posting, that Palin vetoed a bill that sought to ban benefits to the partners of gay state employees. She “did the right thing, and now, state employees, are able to have health benefits,” he said.
Palin did veto the bill, which was an effort to undermine an Alaska Supreme Court decision that said the state constitution required equal benefits to all state employees. But she did so saying she was convinced that the only legal way to undo the court decision was through an amendment to the Alaska Constitution. She then supported a ballot measure that would have made that amendment. But Log Cabin also acknowledged having “honest disagreements” with the Republican ticket on a “number” of gay issues and said the group would “continue our conversation with [McCain] and other Republican leaders about issues affecting gay and lesbian Americans.” The organization has for months indicated that it has had a “long and friendly association” with McCain. Sammon said McCain has “always shown a willingness to reach out and dialogue with Log Cabin….” “We know that will continue when he is president,” said Sammon. Although gay Republicans are often portrayed as being more concerned with personal economic concerns rather than gay civil rights issues, Log Cabin argues that it’s important for the community to have representatives in both major political parties. And the organization has been able to boast that about one in four LGBT voters supported President Bush in 2000 and 2004. “I expect Sen. McCain will receive strong support from gay and lesbian Americans,” said Sammon, in his statement Tuesday. “LGBT people are not single-issue voters. Gay rights issues are a critical part of the equation but so are many other issues impacting our daily lives — foreign policy, the economy, jobs, energy policy, health care reform, and taxes. Gay and lesbian Republicans believe Sen. John McCain is the most qualified person to lead our country.” This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 5, 2008. © Copyright by DallasVoice.com |
