Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 12:23:00 -0500 X-Sender: kevyn@pop.ksu.ksu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 To: Kansas Queer News From: kevyn@KSUVM.KSU.EDU (Kevyn Jacobs) Subject: (DOLE) Gunderson scolds Dole for returning gay GOP gift Sender: owner-kqn%vector.casti.com@KSUVM.KSU.EDU Precedence: bulk THE NEW YORK TIMES Thursday, September 7, 1995 GAY CONGRESSMAN OF HIS OWN PARTY BRINGS FIRE ON DOLE By RICHARD L. BERKE WASHINGTON - Rep. Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin, the only openly gay Republican in Congress, denounced Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas on Wednesday for returning a presidential campaign contribution from a gay Republican group. The attack on Dole, the Senate Republican leader, came in a letter to him from Gunderson, an eight-term congressman who was an early and enthusiastic backer of Dole's presidential bid and has only recently become outspoken about issues concerning homosexuals. ``Are you rejecting support of anyone who happens to be gay?'' Gunderson asked in his letter, addressed to ``Bob.'' ``If this is so,'' he continued, ``do you intend to now reject my support and request those on your staff who happen to be gay to resign?'' Gunderson was reacting to Dole's decision two weeks ago to return a $1,000 donation from Log Cabin Republicans, a nationwide organization with more than 40 chapters. Although it is rare for politicians to return campaign contributions for ideological reasons, the Dole campaign said the Log Cabin agenda was fundamentally at odds with that of the candidate. Log Cabin officials countered by saying that Dole's chief fund-raiser had aggressively sought contributions from Log Cabin. And they accused Dole of returning the money solely as a gesture to the conservatives he needs in next year's primaries. Wednesday, in reaction to Gunderson's letter, Nelson Warfield, Dole's campaign spokesman, said in a statement that the senator ``intends to respond to Congressman Gunderson's concerns with him personally'' but that ``the bottom line is that returning the Log Cabin contribution was not about discrimination.'' When Dole gave the money back, Warfield cited Log Cabin's advocacy of permitting recruits who assert their homosexuality to serve in the military. But Wednesday he pointed out that the group also supported legal recognition of same-sex marriages. ``That,'' he said, ``is a special-rights platform that Senator Dole simply does not support.'' But Richard L. Tafel, president of Log Cabin, said the organization had not even voted on backing same-sex marriages until its annual convention two days after the Dole campaign returned the check. ``This is grasping at straws,'' he said. Giving his letter added impact, Gunderson, a close ally of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, had his aides deliver a copy of it to Gingrich on Wednesday morning. Dole campaign officials said they had hoped that the controversy over the returned donation would blow over by now. But Gunderson's remarks are bound to prolong it and encourage homosexuals who have backed Dole to reconsider their support. In his letter, Gunderson said that he would have responded to Dole's action sooner but that he been out of the country on vacation and had not known about it. ``I was at a casual dinner when the subject came up and said I would not comment,'' he wrote to Dole. ``I assumed my friends had mistaken yours for the campaigns of other, decidedly bigoted candidates. I was embarrassed to learn I was wrong.'' Even before winning re-election in 1994, Gunderson had announced plans to retire from Congress next year. He has voted with his party most of the time this year but has been increasingly critical of what he deems its move too far to the right. He stunned his colleagues in the last Congress when he stepped down as a chief deputy whip, a post to which he had been appointed by Gingrich, and cited intolerance that he said the Republicans had exhibited at their 1992 national convention in Houston. Although Gunderson, who represents a lush dairy farming district in the western part of Wisconsin, has long been a fixture at gay bars in Washington, only in the last two years or so has he been entirely open about his sexual orientation. His willingness to speak out for gay rights has cost him support among some Republican colleagues. Rep. Robert K. Dornan of California, for one, took to the House floor in 1994 and attacked Gunderson for ``a revolving door on his closet.'' Yet Gunderson's letter to Dole, the Senate majority leader, was all the more surprising because he has at times been reluctant to criticize his colleagues on gay-related matters. When Rep. Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader, earlier this year referred to a Democratic homosexual lawmaker, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, as ``Barney Fag,'' Gunderson defended Armey. He told a reporter, ``This was a slip of the tongue now being used by Democrats to enhance their strategy to paint the Republican Party as being mean and insensitive.'' In his letter to Dole, Gunderson was anything but understanding of the Senate leader. The letter described Gunderson's torment at trying to understand why a politician who counts homosexuals among his closest advisers, and who supports increased financing to fight AIDS, would issue a blanket repudiation of a homosexual group. ``The Bob Dole I know does not support discrimination against persons just because they are gay,'' Gunderson said. ``When I was attacked last year, you were kind enough to tell the press I should be judged on my conduct in office. You have a personal history of hiring individuals without regard to their sexual orientation. ``Likewise, the Bob Dole I know would never sacrifice his personal integrity for political purposes. Please do not allow your historical commitment and integrity to be compromised by the politics of the moment. In the end, such actions would be viewed as a weakness, not a strength.'