Date:         Fri, 27 Jan 1995 15:59:22 -0500
Reply-To: RAKNGLTF@aol.com

NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Robin Kane, 202-332-6483, ext. 3311
rakngltf@aol.com

NGLTF DENOUNCES "FAG" COMMENT FROM REP. DICK ARMEY


Washington, D.C. --  January 27, 1995 -- U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Dick
Armey (R-TX) this morning used the term "fag" in referring to Rep. Barney
Frank (D-MA), who is openly gay.  In an interview with radio journalists
about the controversy surrounding House Speaker Newt Gingrich's book deal,
Rep. Armey said, "I like peace and quiet and I don't need to listen to Barney
Fag...er...Barney Frank haranguing in my ear."  Rep. Armey told Rep. Frank
and reporters that he did not intend to say that.

 "Rep. Armey's comment is deplorable and dangerous," said Robin Kane,
director of public information at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

 "For a member of the House of Representatives to use such a childish but
harmful slur is beneath that office and must be roundly condemned by his
colleagues," Kane said.

 The anti-gay slur occurs in the same week that two major media have focused
on anti-gay violence in Rep. Armey's home state of Texas.  The February issue
of Vanity Fair magazine and Prime Time Live this week featured stories
highlighting the fact that Texas is the site of eight brutal murders of gay
men in less than two years.

 "As an elected official from the state of Texas, Rep. Armey should be keenly
aware of the impact of such hateful and dehumanizing speech," Kane said. "He
represents a state where a murderer of a gay man acknowledged that some young
men routinely go 'fag-bashing' as a weekend pastime.  Rep. Armey should be
denouncing the language that validates such violence, rather than using it
himself."

--end--