Bay Windows - September 9, 2004
Ethan Jacobs, ejacobs@baywindows.com.

Ann Northrop, a spokesperson for Gays Against Bush, said there were about 50 protestors outside the restaurant, although press reports place the number closer to 20 or 30. She said the group was raising awareness about the Aug. 3 referendum in Missouri in which about 70 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

"It's confronting the Republican delegates directly with their bigotry," said Northrop. "... We got a lot of support from people passing by who cheered for us and clapped."

Northrop said the protestors stood outside the restaurant for a half-hour, distributing flyers and unsuccessfully trying to engage the Missouri delegation. Eventually New York City police forced the protestors to move away from the restaurant behind a barricade, ending the protest.

The next night Gays Against Bush chose a more high-profile target for their dinner-time protests, Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. In an April 2003 Associated Press interview Santorum angered many in the GLBT community when he said abolishing sodomy laws could lead to legalizing incest and bestiality. He is a leading proponent of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which failed in the Senate July 14.

Northrop said a crowd of about 50 demonstrators gathered outside the Tuscan Steak Restaurant, where Santorum was having dinner, and chanted "Santorum is a bigot" and "Shame, shame shame." She said demonstrators purposely avoided blocking the sidewalk, and police allowed them to protest. After about an hour and a half Santorum left out the back and the protest dispersed.

Northrop said protestors wanted to remind the public about Santorum's record on GLBT issues.

"He's just a terrible bigot, and we always want to make people aware of that fact so they aren't lured into a sense of complacency about these people," said Northrop. She said Gays Against Bush was formed just prior to the convention, but protestors hope to continue the group's activities through the November elections.

Party crashers

The Republican National Convention inspired a number of protests by a multitude of groups struggling to be heard, but the AIDS activist group ACT UP managed to attract media attention through two high profile protests.

On Aug. 26, shortly before Republican delegates were expected to arrive in New York City, a group of about 11 ACT UP members stripped naked and blocked traffic in front of Madison Square Garden. Their bodies were painted with the slogans "Stop AIDS" and "Drop the Debt," a reference to a proposal for prosperous nations like the United States to forgive the debts of Third World countries ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. Asia Russell, a member of ACT UP, said the protestors were arrested and later released.

On Sept. 1 ACT UP grabbed headlines again by infiltrating the Republican Youth Convention, held during the day at Madison Square Garden. Shortly after White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card began his speech before the young delegates, a group of about 11 ACT UP activists stripped off their formal attire to reveal T-shirts reading "Bush: Drop Global Debt Now" and began chanting "Bush lies, drop the debt, stop AIDS now!"

The young Republicans responded by shouting back, "Four more years!" Secret Service arrested the protestors, and as they forcibly dragged them from the convention hall Card said, "You represent in this room what this convention is all about. You represent the future of America."

Russell said the protestors, who she described as nonviolent, were originally charged with assault, but their charges were later reduced to violations. She said the protestors plan to fight the charges.

Russell also said protestors deliberately targeted Card's speech. In addition to Third World Debt, Russell said protestors also hoped to highlight the Bush administration's refusal to provide what ACT UP sees as adequate funding for international AIDS programs and its promotion of abstinence-based prevention programs, which ACT UP argues have no proven record of success.

"Who we were reaching was the decision-makers responsible for the White House's failed record of compassion on global AIDS," said Russell.

Mitt steps forward

In a speech largely focused on questioning the qualifications of his state's junior senator to serve as president, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney eased up on criticizing John Kerry long enough to speak out against same-sex marriage. Romney, who many political observers believe has his eye on the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, has increased his national profile over the past year by speaking out against the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

Addressing the convention Sept. 1, Romney said, "Throughout our history when our country needed us, Americans have always stepped forward, standing up to every challenge." He said his parents' generation did so when fighting on the beaches of Normandy during World War II.

He then explained how Americans step forward today, listing examples far removed from fighting the Nazis: by supporting the war in Iraq, by holding schools accountable for teaching children, and by insisting on a compassionate and fiscally conservative government. Romney's final example of stepping forward, which drew applause from the crowd, was opposing same-sex marriage.

"We step forward by expressing tolerance and respect for all God's children, regardless of their differences and choices," said Romney. "At the same time, because every child deserves a mother and father, we step forward by recognizing that marriage is between a man and a woman."

Redefining compassion

Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who raised the ire of many in the GLBT community for telling the Associated Press in April 2003 that abolishing sodomy laws would encourage incest and bestiality, began his Sept. 1 speech before the convention on a warmer note, explaining the importance of compassion. In 2000 during his presidential campaign George W. Bush promoted himself as a "compassionate conservative," and much of this year's convention also emphasized Bush's compassion.

Yet Santorum put a spin on compassion that likely raised eyebrows of many in the GLBT community, arguing that the president's effort to advance the Federal Marriage Amendment is an example of compassion.

"George Bush has shown his compassion by advancing his faith based initiatives, strengthening marriage, and fighting to let the American people define marriage, not left wing judges," said Santorum.

The gospel according to Donnie

Unlike the 2000 Republican National Convention, which featured a speech by openly gay Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe, this year's convention featured no openly gay speakers. Yet on Sept. 2, the final night of the convention, the Republicans came close.

One of the evening's featured entertainers, the Grammy-winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, recounted in his 2001 book "Eternal Victim/ Eternal Victor" his own struggle with homosexuality, which he says he overcame through his faith.

Upon learning of McClurkin's selection as a convention performer the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a group working to build support for same-sex marriage in the black community, drafted a letter to President George W. Bush alleging that McClurkin said that gay and lesbian people are "trying to kill our children" during a Sept. 2003 segment of the Christian television show "The 700 Club." McClurkin's management did not return a call asking for comment on HRC and NBJC's allegations.

The letter asked Bush to repudiate McClurkin's comments, and HRC Communications Director Steven Fisher said the groups received no response from Bush.

A statement from the ex-gay group Exodus International praised the selection of McClurkin for the convention, calling him "a brave example for many seeking to live life beyond homosexuality and flourish in Christ."

In an Aug. 29 interview with New York Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove, McClurkin described himself as a "reformed bisexual" and said "I was involved at one time in bisexuality, but it was God that delivered me from that."

He said maintaining his heterosexuality is an ongoing struggle.

"It was a progression of years around '88, '89. It's not like you just stop smoking," he told the Daily News. "There are still some thoughts. You're subject to the memories of the past. But I understand who I am now."

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