Bay Windows - Local News, January 14, 1999
Scott A. Giordano, Bay Windows staff

Both bills have strong public support. But some gay activists say that won't make any difference in a Congress with leadership that has changed little from the 105th Congress and that appears to be bent on plotting its own agenda rather than listening to the American public. They cite the House's impeachment of President Bill Clinton as an example -- despite polls that have shown nearly 70 percent of the American public is against the impeachment.

Yet others say the Republican-controlled Congress is likely to lean more toward the political center after Republicans lost several key congressional seats in the Nov. 3 general election, resulting in the resignation of Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. And some activists say newly-elected Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will be better than Gingrich on gay issues, despite his anti-gay voting record, because he is known to be a "consensus builder."

Third in line to the presidency, the Speaker is one of the most powerful positions in the country. But several factors indicate Hastert will not move gay-rights legislation forward in the 106th Congress. Hastert has voted in favor of several anti-gay amendments in the U.S. House -- including those that would freeze funds for federal AIDS programs, ban the city of San Francisco from enforcing a local pro-gay ordinance, bar the District of Columbia from allowing gay couples to adopt, and ban needle-exchange programs that could help prevent new HIV infections.

The 57-year-old representative received a 0 percent rating on his voting record from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian and gay political organization based in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, he has refused to co-sponsor either ENDA or HCPA, and his office still doesn't have a written policy banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The legislator also received a 100 percent rating on his voting record from several religious Right groups, including the Christian Coalition.

But gay Republicans say Hastert was largely responsible in 1996 for helping to re-authorize the Ryan White Care Act, which funds federal AIDS programs, because he didn't block movement of the reauthorization bill while serving as a member of the House Commerce Committee -- which reviews nearly half of all legislation before it can reach the House floor. And activists from the Illinois congressional district that Hastert has served since 1986 believe the new speaker isn't someone who should be written off.

"With regard to the interests of the gay and lesbian community, he does not have a good voting record, but he is not viewed as a rabidly anti-gay legislator," said Rick Garcia, director of the Illinois Federation for Human Rights.

When asked if Hastert has adequately represented the people in his district, Garcia said Hastert has failed to meet the interests of his gay and lesbian constituents but that is largely due to insufficient lobbying. Hastert's Illinois District is mostly suburban and consists of high tech firms, industrial complexes and expansive farm land.

"He needs a lot of work, but he is someone I think is redeemable and is not someone I would write off. I think he has been lobbied far more heavily by the Christians from his district, and things will change in terms of the gay lobbying now that he has become Speaker," Garcia said. "He comes from a district that is not a hotbed of gay and lesbian activism, and he just may not have had the proper lobbying and contact with the gay and lesbian community."

Members from the National Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), a gay Republican group, said it's now up to gay individuals from both parties to educate Hastert on their issues.

"To sit here and try to make predictions about what anyone's leadership will be like is silly; you have to work to make a member understand your issues, and that is what we are doing now," said LCR Spokesperson Kevin Ivers.

"[Hastert] brings back the old spirit of the way the House used to be. ... The people who get things done have returned," Ivers said, adding that it's now up to gay activists to push the legislators into taking up gay issues like ENDA and HCPA while preparing for another reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act in 2000.

"Gay issues are not at the top of the agenda for Democrats or Republicans in the 106th Congress because the top issues are Social Security, Medicare, tax reform and defense spending," he said. "We must continue to plug ahead and promote what we feel are the most important issues and action items for our community's best interests."

Hastert isn't giving any individual interviews until after the president's State of the Union address later this month. But in his public remarks during the Jan. 6 swearing-in ceremony, he called for the new Congress to leave the "turbulent" days and personal attacks behind and begin to move forward and address the real problems facing the nation.

"Solutions to problems cannot be found in a pool of bitterness. They can be found in an environment in which we trust one another's word, where we generate heat and passion, but where we recognize that each member is equally important to our overall mission of improving the life of the American people," Hastert said on Jan. 6. "In short, I believe all of us -- regardless of party -- can respect one another, even as we fiercely disagree on particular issues."

Based on his remarks, leaders from the HRC are optimistic they can work with Hastert, although the proof will be in the pudding. "When someone becomes a leader, their role changes because they are no longer just representing their district but America as a whole. How Hastert will take his new responsibility in that role is a mystery at this point," said Wayne Besen, a spokesperson for the HRC. "[Hastert] said in his speech that he wants the middle ground, but the question is: How he will define the middle. His definition of the middle may be so far to the Right that you will need binoculars to see it."

Hastert is closely associated with several anti-gay legislators, including Reps. Dick Armey and Tom DeLay, both Republicans from Texas. Several published reports have indicated such allies may influence how Hastert will act as Speaker -- a concern that was echoed by Besen.

"It depends on whether or not he will be his own person or whether he will be a mouthpiece for the far Right," Besen said.

"At this point, the questions is: At what point will public opinion mean something again."

Regardless of how Hastert acts as Speaker, gay activists are equally concerned with how the rest of Congress will tackle gay issues because the new Congress hasn't changed much from the 105th Congress that went against public opinion and voted to impeach President Clinton.

Several recent polls have shown that most Americans are against employment discrimination of any kind, which has drawn increasing public support for ENDA. And some gay activists say that last year's brutal anti-gay murder of Matthew Shepard swayed public opinion in favor of HCPA. But Besen said those facts won't matter if the Right believes it is doing God's work.

"If the far Right is going to be in control, the public opinion plays very little into the equation if they believe they are doing God's work and they blame the public for being immoral, as they have with [public opinion on the Clinton impeachment,]" he said. "If [the new Congress says] the American public is immoral, it doesn't matter how popular the legislation is or how many people's minds are changed by Matthew Shepard." But following the outcome of the Nov. 3 general election, Ivers said gay Republicans are now more likely to shift to the center in order to maintain their already diminished majority.

"The Democrats want the Republican Party to be extreme and to have the politics of personal instruction continue. We don't want the Republican Party to be extreme ... [because] then it's going to destroy the majority of the Party," Ivers said.
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