San Francisco Chronicle - The Voice of the West, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94119 - MONDAY December 24, 1990 Edition: FINAL Section: NEWS Page: A8 Word Count: 474
David Tuller, Chronicle Staff Writer

Among the critical victories this year were passage of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which ordered the Justice Department to document hate crimes against members of minority groups, including homosexuals; the Americans With Disabilities Act, whose provisions included strong protections for people with AIDS, and last month's immigration reform bill, which removed homosexuality as a legal basis for excluding travelers or immigrant from the United States.

The hate crimes bill was the first federal law to recognize gays and lesbians as a protected class, and President Bush set another precedent when he invited gay leaders to the signing ceremony at the White House in April.

Tallying up the votes on these and other issues, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has prepared "report cards" on members of Congress. Twenty-five members of the California delegation voted in accord with the task force's positions and received ratings of 100 percent from the group.

House members from Northern California receiving top marks, all Democrats, were:

Douglas Bosco of Sebastopol, Robert Matsui of Sacramento, Vic Fazio of West Sacramento, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, Barbara Boxer of San Francisco and Marin County, George Miller of Pleasant Hill, Ronald Dellums of Berkeley, Fortney (Pete) Stark of Oakland, Don Edwards of San Jose, Tom Lantos of San Mateo, Norman Mineta of San Jose, Leon Panetta of Carmel Valley and Richard Lehman of Fresno.

In the Senate, Alan Cranston received a 100 percent rating, while Governor-elect Pete Wilson scored 67 percent.

In particular, Peri Jude Radecic, legislative director for the task force, cited Pelosi for her work on a bill to create housing for people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and HIV infection, Boxer for her efforts in behalf of gays in the military, Dellums for his support on the arts and censorship and Edwards for exploring in public hearings FBI discrimination against homosexuals.

In addition to the major victories, gay rights groups cite other favorable congressional decisions this year.

In reauthorizing the National Endowment for the Arts, for example, Congress removed language characterizing homoerotic art as obscene. An attempt to prevent gays from volunteering as Big Brothers in Washington, was also defeated.

Also, a comprehensive gay and lesbian civil rights bill, which was first introduced in the 1970s, now has 12 co-sponsors in the Senate and 79 in the House -- an all-time high.

The lowest-rated members of the California delegation were Republican Representatives William Dannemeyer of Fullerton, Wally Herger of Chico and Norman Shumway of Stockton, with 6 percent each.

"We're disappointed that we didn't get zero," said Paul Mero, a spokesman for Dannemeyer, a vocal opponent of gay rights.

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