Gays divided over support for Kerry

Many gay activists have decided not to give US Senator John F. Kerry grief at this year's Democratic National Convention even though his support of a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage has angered them.

The presumptive presidential nominee might not be their perfect candidate, but gay-rights groups, including Human Rights Campaign and the Freedom To Marry Coalition, say Kerry is still their man, because he has stood up for gays and lesbians in the past, because he opposes a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and because he is not President Bush.

But not all gay and lesbian activists are willing to give Kerry a pass. They are incensed at his support for the Massachusetts amendment that would ban gay marriages in the only state in the nation that allows them. Kerry, who supports civil union, has said gay marriage should be a matter decided by each individual state.

While mainstream gay activists will be part of the convention, participating inside the FleetCenter, hosting parties, and working to smooth Kerry's path to the White House, others will be outside the convention hall, protesting to get Democrats to pay attention to their concerns.

"For sure, we're going to organize in Boston," said Robin Tyler, executive director of DontAmend.com, a national group established to fight the Federal Marriage Amendment. "This will be a coalition of activists, a lot of us coming from democratic politics, who are really upset with Kerry, and really upset that organizations in the gay community like Human Rights Campaign are not demanding anything of him."

Another local group, queersatthednc, also has begun planning demonstrations for the convention, which starts July 26. So have the Stonewall Warriors, which plan to be part of larger convention protests organized for July 25 by the International Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) Coalition.

"The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of the people; it's supposed to represent, and take care of, people's human rights," said Kaitlin Nichols, who will protest in Boston as part of queersatthednc. "It's important [that] delegates to the DNC see there are people who aren't spoken for and people whose issues aren't being addressed. So we're going to be in the streets because we're not welcome inside, and our issues are not represented inside."

Michael Meehan, senior adviser to Kerry's campaign, said Kerry has earned loyalty from gays and lesbians: Members of those communities were to hold a New York City fund-raiser for Kerry on Friday night that was expected to raise $1.5 million.

"John Kerry has a lifetime of strong support for people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community," Meehan said. "He has been a staunch fighter for civil rights across the board from inheritance to healthcare to supporting civil unions."

Some of those who intend to protest at the convention concede that Kerry has been supportive of gays and lesbians: He was one of 14 US Senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples. Kerry cosponsored a gay civil rights bill and has been a vocal supporter of gays in the military.

But Kerry's recent stances have worried gays and lesbians, and some say they must hold his feet to the fire.

"Kerry is a better option than Bush, and I clearly want someone more progressive in office," said Nichols. "But it's important to protest the DNC because Kerry does not address all the concerns of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Groups like HRC and other national groups are saying, `Hey, this is the most gay-friendly candidate.' It's important for us to get our message out there, that he may be the most friendly, but he's still not great on the issues."

Clinton took the support of gays and lesbians for granted, and because that constituency did not demand enough of him, Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, said Andy Thayer, an organizer with DontAmend.com. Thayer said he and other activists don't want Kerry to be complacent.

"Kerry is more slippery than Bush," Thayer said. "Bush at least comes out and says he hates us. Kerry just wants to not give us our rights. I don't care what rhetoric people use, I want to see the goods. Kerry is in favor of taking away equal marriage rights in the one state where we've secured them."

Thayer was in a group that protested outside a recent HRC fund-raiser in Chicago, calling the Washington-based advocacy group "gay Democrats against gay people" for endorsing Kerry. Among the signs he and other activists held up was one showing a picture of John Kerry that read: "With friends like this, who needs enemies?" Some of the people who attended the dinner were angry at him, Thayer said, accusing him of wanting to hand the election to Bush.

"I am a Democrat, and I think we have a right to dissent," Tyler said. "I do understand the alternative to Kerry is Bush, but I don't want to be made to feel responsible for his not having the courage to extend equal rights to [us]. We're not going to roll over."

Democratic conventions have been increasingly welcoming to gays and lesbians over the years. At the 2000 convention in Los Angeles, Elizabeth Birch, then-president of the Human Rights Commission, was a prime-time speaker, and her organization sponsored a convention party at the House of Blues in Hollywood. This year, HRC with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Stonewall Democrats, and other groups, will host a party at the nightclub, Avalon, on the first night of the convention, to which elected officials will be invited.

"It's an event to show the unity of the community behind Kerry," said HRC spokesman Mark Shields.

All of that amounts to a relationship with the party establishment that is far too cozy, say those who intend to protest at this year's convention.

There has been dissent at previous conventions, too. Gays and lesbians protested Clinton's policies at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1996. And in 2000, about 1,000 gays and lesbians were among the protesters at the convention in Los Angeles.

Members of the AIDS Coalition to unleash power, or ACT UP, also dogged Al Gore, the vice president at the time and eventual Democratic nominee, early in 2000, disrupting his campaign appearances because they believed the administration was making it more difficult to get AIDS drugs to Africa. Doug Hattaway, a consultant to HRC who was a national spokesman for Gore during that campaign, said those assertions were unfounded.

The determination of some activists to make Kerry pay for his opposition to gay marriage is misguided, say advocates from the organizations who back the senator.

"They're not looking at John Kerry's entire record, and the HRC are," said Cheryl Jacques, HRC's president and executive director. "He has the best record [on gay and lesbian issues] even for a nominee for president in this country. He hasn't just talked the talk, he's walked the walk."

Jacques said Kerry took his position in support of the Massachusetts amendment "much to my personal as well as professional disappointment, and we were very public in denouncing his actions." She said she hoped Kerry would come around to gay marriage if he wins the election, and that he would have "an open heart, and an open door" as president.

"There is no such thing as the perfect candidate," Jacques said. "But I will take that candidate over George W. Bush any day of the week."

"I disagree vehemently with John Kerry's stand on the constitutional amendment in Massachusetts," said Sue Hyde, New England Field Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "But John Kerry has been chopping wood and carrying water on lots of other issues of interest to our community."

It has gotten more difficult for protesters to make a difference at conventions anyway, Hyde said, and this year's security concerns will make it even harder for those who are angry at Kerry's position on gay marriage to communicate with delegates. She, like many other mainstream activists, said the best way to change the party is to work within it.

"If what we want is visibility for certain issues, we need to be working with the delegates who are going into the convention," she said. "We need to be working on the inside, not the outside."