Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 09:19:13 -0500 (GMT-0500) From: "Thomas W. Holt Jr." Subject: GOP Gay-baiting in NY State (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 13:01:59 -0700 From: Mills Mike To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS Subject: GOP Gay-baiting in NY State GOP Raises Homosexuality Issue Date: Wed, 12 Oct 94 ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- A month away from Election Day, one candidate's homosexuality has become an issue in the race for New York attorney general. Former family court judge and consumer official Karen Burstein is seeking to become the first openly homosexual candidate elected to statewide office in New York. On Monday, a prominent Republican supporter of Burstein rival Dennis Vacco blasted her sexual orientation. ``The next attorney general shouldn't be an admitted lesbian,'' Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari said in a speech. Molinari said Burnstein's homosexuality should be widely publicized and that Vacco was being ``too much of a gentleman'' in not raising the issue. But Molinari's oldest brother, Robert, who's homosexual, apologized for his politician-brother. ``I don't see why you have to go into it, except for political points. And it does make points with some people,'' the 67-year-old retired New York City schoolteacher told The Daily News from his Santa Barbara, Calif., home. Gov. Mario Cuomo also ripped the Staten Island borough president. ``It must be that he made a political calculation that there are a lot of stupid or shallow or mean people in this society,'' Cuomo said. The borough president's remarks were criticized by homosexual groups and by Republican gubernatorial candidate George Pataki. On Tuesday, Vacco denied any role in Molinari's attack, saying he has instructed his staff not to make an issue of Burstein's sexuality. But he refused to condemn his supporter. ``How do you expect a first-time entrant in a race for public office to control Guy Molinari or the attitudes of all my supporters across the state?'' Vacco asked. Burstein apparently was mollified, calling Vacco ``a more rational human being'' than Molinari, but stressed that her sexual orientation should be irrelevant to the campaign. ``Of course, I think people should not allow this to happen,'' she said. Dick Dadey of the gay advocacy group Empire State Pride Agenda accused Vacco of ``having his surrogates now speak what he feels he cannot speak.'' After issuing his disclaimer, Vacco criticized Burstein for her 1977 vote as a state senator against a bill stiffening child pornography penalties, painting Burstein as ``ultra-liberal.'' Burstein has said she regrets the vote. ``He's stringing together a bunch of things which have no basis in fact and simply resonate prejudice,'' said Evan Wolfson of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund. ``Why does he think of child pornography when he thinks of a candidate who is gay or lesbian? It's just gay equals child pornography, which is crude and wrong.'' _______________________________________________________________________________ Homosexuality An Issue In N.Y. Date: Wed, 12 Oct 94 ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- When Karen Burstein won the Democratic nomination for attorney general, her homosexuality was not an issue. A month before the general election, it has suddenly become one, in a campaign that could test New York's reputation for liberal politics. Burstein and Tony Miller, who is running for California secretary of state, will be the first openly gay Americans elected to statewide office if they win in November, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Burstein never hid her sexuality on the campaign trail, but she hasn't exactly played it up, either. And after she defeated incumbent G. Oliver Koppell and two other liberal Democrats in September, her Republican opponent, Dennis Vacco, said he wouldn't make it an issue in nexth month's general election. But one of the state's most prominent Republicans, New York City's Staten Island borough president, Guy Molinari, said Monday that Vacco was being too much of a gentleman. ``The next attorney general shouldn't be an admitted lesbian,'' Molinari said. The remark was quickly condemned by gay rights groups, Republican gubernatorial candidate George Pataki and Molinari's own brother, Robert Molinari of Santa Barbara, Calif., who is gay. Vacco refused to denounce Molinari. He said he still didn't want to talk about Burstein's homosexuality, had nothing to do with Molinari's statements, and didn't think he could tell a supporter what to say. That left gay rights activists suspicious. ``These things don't happen by accident,'' said William Waybourn, executive director of the Washington-based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. ``They're pretty well thought-out, well-planned and definite attempts at gay-baiting. He's won. Basically he got what he wanted by making it an issue.'' In a state with one of the nation's largest homosexual populations, politicians are watching closely to see whether the uproar benefits Vacco or Burstein. Polls have shown Burstein with a healthy lead over Vacco, but there are enough undecided voters -- 33 percent in a Quinnipiac College poll released this week -- that the campaign is far from decided. New York voters don't respond well to suggestions of intolerance, said Lee Miringoff, head of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. He said Molinari's remarks could turn voters off to Vacco. But Republican political consultant Jay Severin said with Vacco running behind in a campaign overshadowed by a tight race for governor, the GOP has to contrast Vacco and Burstein, and voters want to feel comfortable with a candidate's values. ``I don't think that backlash exists to the degree that liberals think it does,'' Severin said. Burstein looked weary when confronted by a pack of reporters at a campaign stop Tuesday. She didn't criticize Vacco and continued to stress her credentials as a former Family Court judge, a state senator and former head of the state Consumer Protection Board. She called her homosexuality ``rather an irrelevance.'' ``In the end,'' she said, ``what matters is who can be a good lawyer for the people.'' There were 55 openly gay elected officials in the country in 1991; now, there are 205, Waybourn said. According to Waybourn, there are 18 openly homosexual candidates running for office this fall, including Florida's Dade County Court judge candidate Victoria Sigler, who is unopposed. In California, Miller said homosexuality has not been much of an issue in his race against Republican William Jones. Appointed secretary of state earlier this year, Miller is running for his first full term. In Wyoming, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathy Karpan is fighting a slightly different battle -- a whisper campaign alleging she's a lesbian. The two-term secretary of state denies she is homosexual and has accused unidentified Republicans of using the rumors to try to scare her out of the race. _______________________________________________________________________________ New York Republican defiant on lesbian candidate Date: Wed, 12 Oct 94 NEW YORK (Reuter) - Influential New York Republican Guy Molinari refused Wednesday, amid heavy criticism, to apologize for saying that the Democratic candidate for state attorney general is unfit to be elected because she is a lesbian. Molinari, Staten Island Borough President and New York City campaign chief for Republican gubernatorial candidate George Pataki, sparked the controversy two days ago by making the comment to police officers at a Columbus Day parade. He remained unrepentant Wednesday despite Pataki's call for an apology and reports that Molinari's brother, a homosexual, also disagrees with him. The target of Molinari's remark, Karen Burstein, said Molinari was ``threatened by my competence'' and that her being a lesbian had nothing to do with the campaign for the Nov. 8 election. The current state Attorney General, Oliver Koppel, was defeated by Burstein in the Democratic Party primary last month. ``It must be that he made a political calculation that there are a lot of stupid or shallow, or mean people in this society,'' Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo said. Cuomo, facing a tough reelection contest against Pataki in the November election, added that what Molinari said was ``unintelligent.'' The New York Daily News reported that Molinari's brother Robert, a retired schoolteacher who lives in Santa Barbara, Calif., believes qualifications are what matter. ``I don't see why you have to go into it, except for political points. And it does make points with some people,'' the newspaper quoted Robert Molinari as saying. Guy Molinari told the newspaper that if his brother was running for political office and had admitted to being homosexual, then it should be an issue. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said in a statement Wednesday that Pataki should dismiss Molinari as his city campaign chief. ``It is homophobia, not homosexuality, that makes a politician unfit for office,'' said GLAAD executive director Ellen Carton.