This is another local story, but I think it represents something
much larger. In a recent election for the Arlington, Virginia
County Board, the Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic
Club condemned GOP board candidate Mike Clancy, who was endorsed by
the local Log Cabin Republicans, for inviting Virginia's Attorney
General, Jerry Kilgore, to a fundraising event. As they wrote in
their press release, "Partisans Call on Mike
Clancy to Cancel Fundraising Event Featuring Anti-Gay Attorney
General Jerry Kilgore":
Partisans President Josh Israel explained "This is tremendously disappointing and disturbing. While Mike Clancy talks about inclusion, it is clear that he is standing with opponents of equal rights. Attorney General Kilgore toes the line of the Family Foundation, the leading anti-gay group in the Virginia. They oppose non-discrimination, they do not believe in the Separation of Church and State, and they, like Mr. Clancy, vehemently oppose reproductive rights for Virginia's women.
We sincerely hope that inviting this extremist to headline his fundraiser was an oversight on Mr. Clancy's part. If he doesn't share the views of Attorney General Kilgore, Pat Robertson, and the Family Foundation, we call on him to cancel it immediately."
The release was prominently featured in the issue of the Washington Blade newspaper distributed just before the election, which Clancy lost.
But get this: at the Clancy fundraiser, Kilgore met with Log
Cabin representatives and stated, for the first time, that his
office does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexual
orientation. You might think that such a statement doesn't amount
to much, but it led the state's rightwing Family Policy Network to
issue their own critical press release titled "VA Attorney General
Kilgore Woos Homosexuals" (it's not online yet, but see the
similarly themed "Republican Party of VA Assists
Radical Homosexual Activists"). According to the Family Policy
Network:
Despite tremendous success in courting pro-family voters over the years, the Virginia Republican Party continues to flirt with activist homosexuals in an attempt to expand its political base. The most recent event wherein an otherwise conservative Republican leader sought to appease homosexual activists involves state Attorney General Jerry Kiglore. --
Six leaders of the so-called "Log Cabin" homosexuals met with Kilgore recently in what they called their first "official" meeting with the state's top Republican. The homosexual activists boast that Kilgore promised them "he does not believe in discrimination against anyone and said that his office does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation."
(For Log Cabin's take on the Kilgore meeting, see "Log Cabin Meets with Kilgore: First official contact with AG")
Of course, if the Democratic critics had their way, board
candidate Clancy wouldn't have invited Attorney General Kilgore to
his fundraiser, and Kilgore wouldn't have met with the Log Cabin
representatives, and the religious right wouldn't have been so
unhappy about the outcome. But, once again, meaningful dialog
between gays and conservatives is the last thing in the world that
many "progressives" want to see happen.
--Stephen H. Miller