From: Sam Damon Subject: Gay Quotes by Republicans Date: Sun, 23 Jan 1994 01:25:09 -0500 (EST) > Date: Thu, 20 Jan 1994 20:30:34 -0600 (CST) > From: "Robert A. Hayden" > Subject: Republicans > > Anyone happen to have any queer-positive quotes that were made by > republican politicians? I'm looking for something to hang on my door to > piss off the pres and vice-pres of the College Republicans, who live just > down the hall from me. I don't have good quotes for you [yet], but here's some info that may interest you -- and irk your Rep. neighbors. All of it is from "Lavender Lists," by Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher and Adrien Saks (Allyson, 1990). Although the lists include both Democrats and Republicans, I will only include the latter since listing Democrats will hardly annoy the College Rep. Except for the first list, all inclusions are in alphabetical order. Please note that these were compiled before the recent controversy on gays in the military; it would be interesting to see how these individuals sided on that issue. ================ 18 Pro-Gay Republicans (pp 164-167) (Sam's note: perhaps you can post one Republican per day on your door ... and don't forget Gov. Weld of Mass!) --------- 1. Sen John Tower (TX) In 1976, Purple-Heart recipient Leonard Matlovich came out and was dischraged from the Air Force. Tower, not known for being progressive, angrily reacted with a pro-gay statement. He expressed support for gay rights legislation on other occassions as well. 2. Rep. Pete McCloskey (CA) Liberal on many issues, McCloskey was at one time the only co-sponsor of the federal gay rights bill. 3. Sen. Jim Jeffords (VT) Jeffords was a strong supporter of gay rights legislation while in the US House, and shows every sign of continuing that now that he's in the Senate. 4. Rep. Joel Pritchard (WA) As early as 1976, Pritchard supported gay rights legislation. 5. Sen Edward Brooke (MA) Brooke, the first black member of the US Senate in this century, was a strong and articulate supporter of civil rights for gay people. 6. Gov. Jay S. Hammond (Alaska) In 1976, Gov. Hammond instructed his states Equal Employment Opportunity COmmission to look in to ways to stop anti-gay discrimination. 7. Stae Sen. Robert A. Hall (Mass.) In 1972, Hall won office in a heavily Democratic and very Catholic district by a margin of only 126 votes. Oberservers called him a lunatic when he became a champion of a gay rights bill, and in 1974 opponent tried to use it against him. But Hall responded in newspaper ads that he didn't think the state should have to raise taxes to support gay people on welfare simply because some employers wouldn't hire them. He won re-election by a landslide. Perhaps Hall knew something: A decade later, the town clerk of Lunenberg, his small home town, became the country's first elected Republican official to come out. 8. State Rep. William G. Robinson (Mass.) The Republican party in Massachussetts has long been a minority, yet often a majority of Republicans have supported a gay rights issue in the statehouse, while Democrats have prevented passage. In 1975, when a Democratic legislator was haranguing against "dykes and queers," Assistant House Minority Leader William Robinson asked to have him removed from the chamber. 9. Sen. Lowell Weicker (CT) An outspoken advocate of gay rights and funding for AIDS treatment programs, including an AZT distribution program, Weicker was one of only two Republican senators to cosponsor a 1988 gay and lesbian civil rights bill. 10. Sen John Chafee (RI) He was the other cosponsor of the 1988 civil rights bill. 11. Rep. Stewart McKinney (CT) McKinney was long an outspoken supporter of gays with regard to AIDS programs and civil rights issues, as well as a staunch advocate for the homeless. Only after his AIDS-related death in 1987 did it become widely known that he himself, although married, also had a gay lover. 12. Mayor Roger Hedgecock (CA) Though both Hedgecock and his Democratic opponent in the 1983 run-off election for mayor of San Diego had support from gays, Hedgecock, a moderate Republican, was perceived as moore sensitive to gay concerns, and won the election. 13-16. Rep. Bill Green (NY), Rep. Connie Morella (MD), Rep. John Miller (WA), and Rep. Christopher Shays (CT) Cosponsors of a 1988 anti-discrimination bill in the House. 17. State Rep. James Dressel (Mich) In 1983 Dressel proposed a comprehensive bill to ban anti-gay discrimination in education, employment, housing, and public accomodations throughout Michigan. 18. D.A. Gary Flakne (Minn) Elected county prosecuting attorney for Minneapolis in the mid-70's, Flakne had a long record of supporting gay rights in his previous role as a state representative. ================= 16 US Senators Who Intervened on Behalf of Openly Gay Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich in 1975. (pp 163-164) -------- 1. Edward Brooke (R-MA) 2. James Buckley (R-NY) 3. Charles Mathias (R-MD) 4. Charles Percy (R-IL) 5. John Tower (R-TX) 6. Lowell Weicker (R-CT) ================= 15 Top Senators (evaluated by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force based on their voting records) (p 167) -------- 1. Chafee (R-RI) 2. Domenici (R-NM) 3. Jeffords (R-VT) ================== 93 Top Members of the House of Representatives (pp 168-170) -------- 1. Gradison (R-OH) 2. Green (R-NY ... one of the few politicians that I'd consistently vote for regardless of party affiliation. Too bad he lost; most probably due to 1993's anti-incumbency and pro-women sentiments) 3. Morella (R-MD) 4. Schneider (R-RI)