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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1995)
O ▼ n ov*m b«r 3, 1905 ▼ just out national news • ...%••■*•>. Í: i»\. K a r e .v \ s— T , . ................ e H > M Obstetrics aird.'Cyiiecology, ' /SiiÉ iS:-) y - W A j v . i v Metrcfj \ V* • ./ . 1 V * L linic b.N.w/àzh'ci, Suite 520 Portland,'Oregon 9721t)' A w ake of mixed emotions The senator who torpedoed gays in the military is retiring, but his gay constituents fear his replacement may be worse ▼ by Richard Shumate am Nunn’s quarter century in the U .S. Senate may be remembered by many in this country for his unbending op position to letting gay men and lesbi ans serve openly in the military, but his decision to retire in 1996 has left gay and lesbian political leaders in Georgia with emotions that are more mixed than jubilant. For while his gay and gay-supportive constitu ents are not shedding tears because of Nunn’s departure, there is concern about who may be elected to replace him in a state where the conser vative tide has been pronounced in the last five years. “Some of the choices in Georgia are much scarier than Sam Nunn,” says Cherry Spencer- Stark, co-chair of the Georgia Equality Project, a group formed last year to campaign for gay and lesbian rights. “But it will certainly raise this race on the radar screen more than it would have if Nunn had run.” On Oct. 9, in front of an audience of 100 supporters and elected officials crowded into the House chamber at the State Capitol, Nunn announced that he would not run for re- election to a fifth term in 1996, ending months of speculation about his political future. He said he didn’t want to wait until he was removed from office “by the grim voter or the Grim Reaper.” “I know in my heart that it is time to follow Sam Nunn a new course,” Nunn said, adding that he wants more time to “read, write and think.” When Democrats lost control o f the Senate in 1994, Nunn, a Democrat first elected in 1972, lost his powerful position as chairman o f the Senate Armed Services Committee. Though he did not address the issue in his speech, many political analysts believe his loss o f the chairmanship— and the likelihood that Republicans would keep control o f the Senate for the foreseeable future— played a role in his decision to leave Washington. In 1993, Nunn led the opposition to President Clinton’s plan to overturn the executive order used to throw openly gay and lesbian people out of the military. In the face o f that opposition, Clinton backed down, and Nunn then sponsored legislation that strengthened the ban by making it a federal law. During ihe controversy it was also revealed that Nunn, while chairman o f the Armed Services Committee, removed gay committee staffers for security reasons. Nonetheless, Clinton was effusive in his praise after the announcement of Nunn’s retirement, thanking the senator “for his wise counsel and personal friendship.” Nunn remains very popular among the Geor gia electorate as a whole. But during the gays-in- the-military imbroglio, bumper stickers saying “Who Elected Sam Nunn President?” sprouted on S I have chosen to take a more human approach as a Realtor. I build my business on a referral basis and firmly believe that the satisfaction of my client is far more important than my financial gain. I communicate clearly and openly, and I’m always honest with my clients. I’ll gladly climb a nearby tree to check on a roof or get a bit dirty investigating a crawl space or an attic. 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Yet Nunn’s overall voting record on gay, lesbian and AIDS issues, while weak, was stron ger than that of Georgia’s other senator. Republi can Paul Coverdell. And Nunn was a longtime backer o f funding for the Ryan White Act. “He didn’t vote the way I wanted him to vote on a number of issues, especially gays in the military. But in my opinion, he would be a lot more compatible with the gay and lesbian com munity than some of these other [potential candi dates],” says Ed Scruggs, an Atlanta activist and member of the national board of the Human Rights Campaign. Still, if he had run again, many gay men and lesbians who could not bring themselves to vote for Nunn would probably not have had a candi date to rally behind, due to the fact that Nunn was expected to only have token opposition. “For the gay and les bian community, this re ally opens up the way, perhaps for a candidacy by somebody the com munity can support,” says Larry Pellegrini, the community’s lobbyist at the state Capitol. It also op en s up Nunn’s seat to the Re publicans. Five years ago, Newt Gingrich was the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation. Now, nine of the delegation’s 13 mem bers are Republicans and none have a record o f being gay-friendly. And in G eorgia, anti-gay Christian conservatives have a great deal o f in fluence on the GOP nominating process. After Nunn’s announcement, about a dozen Republicans either announced they were running for his seat or said they were considering the race, a field that includes at least four state legislators from Cobb County, home o f the infamous anti gay resolution. Though none of these potential candidates has a record of being stridently anti gay, only one has any record of reaching out to the community. That candidate is Fulton County Commission Chairman Mitch Skandalakis o f Atlanta, who actively campaigned for gay votes when he ran for re-election in 1994 and has since appointed a gay and lesbian advisory committee. On the Democratic side, Secretary o f State Max Cleland, who has been endorsed by gay political groups in past races, is the only person who has expressed interest in the Senate seat. Cleland headed the Veteran’s Administration while Jimmy Carter was president. As for Nunn, he did not rule out a run for governor o f Georgia in 1998. And that may leave lesbians and gay men in Georgia between a rock and a hard place, because the Republican candi date for governor is expected to be Attorney General Michael Bowers, who says he believes homosexual conduct is “immoral” and has taken a stand against the community in several high- profile court cases.