Bay Windows - Local News, December 2, 1999
Scott A. Giordano, Bay Windows staff

Following the election that bumped Albert "Dapper" O'Neil from the Boston City Council after 25 years, gay activists recently shared with Bay Windows some of their recollections of the "old-school" politician and what they call his blatant hostility and homophobia through the years, as they await him to leave office in January.

To begin with, there is O'Neil's voting record. In his 25 years on the City Council, no gay activist could recall O'Neil ever voting in support of a pro-gay measure.

In 1984, for instance, O'Neil was the sole vote against a Boston human rights ordinance that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation prior to the passage of the Massachusetts gay civil rights bill. More recently, O'Neil opposed a Boston domestic-partnership home-rule petition in 1996 that would have extended health insurance benefits to the unmarried partners of Boston municipal employees. (The home-rule petition was later signed into law as an executive order by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, but that measure was then struck down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court because the court ruled it conflicted with state insurance laws.)

By and large, the City Council has not had to vote directly on many gay-related issues, but gay activists and allies say the tenor of O'Neil's rhetoric was often unfriendly, at best. For instance, fellow City Councilor Charles Yancey said O'Neil was very dismissive this fall of an openly gay firefighter, Jim Murphy, who testified before the City Council about alleged rampant homophobia in the Boston Fire Department.

"I thought some of [O'Neil's] remarks directed at Jim Murphy certainly were homophobic, and Dapper treated Jim Murphy with great hostility," recalls Yancey, who has demonstrated support of the gay community and co-sponsored the 1984 human rights ordinance. "I have been [on the City Council] for 16 years and [O'Neil] has had many confrontations with me in the past. ... I have been fighting to make Boston a more hospitable place for everyone, particularly gays and lesbians, women, and people of color. Many of those discussions and battles I have had, I typically found Dapper O'Neil on the other side of the table during the discussion."

Boston attorney and long-time gay activist Vincent McCarthy has been familiar with O'Neil for 37 years. He recalls O'Neil's hostility as far back as 1962.

"[O'Neil] displayed an antipathy to every conceivable minority group in the city and had a particularly vitriolic personality. He was extremely nasty to people and was rude and sexist toward women," McCarthy said. "Even back in 1962, he was [the] governor's chauffeur [who was running for office] and I had to send a memo to the campaign manager as to how offensive [O'Neil] was and that something ought to be done about it. He is not just a throwback to the past; he is one of a kind. Nobody in Boston in all my life was as rude and offensive over the years as Dapper O'Neil."

Much has been made in the press about O'Neil's departure from the City Council, with some people calling it the end of an era and referring to O'Neil as a legendary figure. But most gay activists, like McCarthy, say they will remember O'Neil as being a divisive and mean-spirited councilor.

"In all his years on the City Council, [O'Neil] was always a very conservative voice and one that consistently opposed issues of importance to the gay and lesbian community. You could always count on Dapper to oppose us. But it was more than that; he really would say some cutting and very nasty things," recalls Arline Isaacson, a co-chair and lobbyist for the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. "Frequently, his opposition to our issues came in a very mean-spirited and derogatory fashion. ... I vaguely recall Dapper saying outrageous things to [former openly gay councilor David] Scondras over the years."

Scondras, the first and only openly gay man to sit on the Boston City Council, held his District 8 Council seat from 1983 to 1993. He said O'Neil personally offended him and insulted him as a gay man from day one.

"From the beginning, when I walked in with the human rights ordinance, he slapped the ordinance against the concrete of City Hall and was the sole vote against it. From that moment on, it was me being the subject of constant humiliation," Scondras said. "He protested sitting next to me on the City Council when we were seated alphabetically, making implications that he might get sick from being that close to me. I can't recall one positive thing he has said or done for the gay community."

Scondras noted that even current City Council President James Kelly, who is also considered unfriendly on many gay issues, voted in favor of the human rights ordinance in 1984.

"At best, Dapper thought gays were funny. At worst, he hated them. He tried to mellow out later in his life and would raise the issue over and over again that he wasn't homophobic, but he opposed every single pro-gay measure that was brought to the Council. That, alone, speaks for itself. He was the most consistently anti-gay person I ever met," Scondras said.

When asked to comment on the remarks made by Scondras, O'Neil interrupted a Bay Windows reporter who was attempting to relay the allegations to him. "That is absolutely untrue. [Scondras] is a liar ..." he said, before threatening to call his attorney if Bay Windows were to follow through with this story.

Follow-up phone calls to O'Neil's office were not returned at Bay Windows press time.

But prior to that initial interview's end, O'Neil did say he was not homophobic and that he was tired of people trying to crucify him in the press.

"I wish the newspapers would get off my back and stop printing untruths. I have taken all I am going to take," he said. "I am not what people think I am. If you want to be gay or lesbian, that is your right, but I don't approve of same-sex marriages and that is why I voted against those things." O'Neil also defended his rhetoric, saying that he's always stated it's OK to be gay or lesbian but "that I will not go along with their way of life."

Robert Greenwald, director of public policy and legal affairs for the AIDS Action Committee (the state's largest AIDS-service organization), said O'Neil was virtually silent on HIV/AIDS-related issues.

"Particularly in recent years, Dapper remained relatively silent on HIV/AIDS issues, which is what we felt is the best we could get from him. So he certainly didn't oppose us in recent years, but he didn't champion us either. We are excited and look forward to having a more supportive and newly composed City Council," Greenwald said.

Given O'Neil's alleged hostility towards minorities, some wonder how he was able to retain his City Council seat for so long. Most gay activists credit O'Neil's tenure to his ability to entertain people, his strong name recognition, and his ability to play to his constituency that consisted largely of elderly voters.

"I really think half of [O'Neil's supporters] vote for him because of the amusement factor," said Gary Daffin, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, prior to the Nov. 2 election. "He is a colorful figure because he says some of the most outrageous things that causes everyone to stop and look at him in horror."

One can dispute the reasons O'Neil was able to retain his City Council seat for so long, but what is now indisputable is that one of Boston's loudest and most enduring critics of pro-gay municipal initiatives has lost his place on the City Council. And gay activists say the time was long overdue.

"Boston has progressed into a true world class city that is not racially divided the way it was in the 1970s, and people don't like that kind of talk [O'Neil's rhetoric] now, with Boston being as successful as it is today," McCarthy said.

When asked if he felt an era has come to an end, Scondras replied, "Yes, and one that needed ending. This is one step forward and a great improvement for the future of the city and for the gay community.
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