B.2Û02*
nTT7TîT!m new s
nation protections covering sexual orientation.
National Stonewall Democrats asked Presi
dent Bush on Nov. 19 to accompany his plan
with an executive order specifically requiring
private companies bidding on federal contracts
to retain existing civil rights protections. Presi
dent Bill Clinton signed an executive order in
1998 outlawing anti-gay discrimination in the
federal workplace.
Right-wing homophobes already are salivat
ing at the possibility of victory. According to
Robert Knight of the Culture and Family Insti
tute, forcing Christian-owned businesses to hire
queers would be a “disaster.”
“They could decide to stay in business in
some cases, or surrender their beliefs,” he said.
“If the president allows this to happen on a
national level, he’ll he putting many business
es at risk.”
U
.S. Sen. Rick
Santorum,
R-Pa., told the
Washington Post he
supports a provision
that would allow
faith-based groups
receiving
federal
funding for commu
nity service pro
grams to discrimi
nate against gay
men and lesbians in
hiring— even
in
cases where local Rick Santorum
and
state
non
discrimination laws are already in place. “I will
make that stand,” he said.
Santorum’s comments are in contrast to his
remarks last year on faith-based initiatives legis
lation, in which he said he did not want to
include a provision to pre-empt state and local
civil rights laws in legislation he drafted with
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. Elizabeth
Birch, Human Rights Campaign executive
director, sent him a letter Nov. 25 asking him to
clarify his views on the issue.
To date, HRC has not opposed religious
exemptions for hiring laws, as long as the groups
and organizations are not using federal money.
For example, the Employment Non-Discrimina
tion Act, federal legislation that would protect
gay men and lesbians from bias in hiring, includes
language from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that
exempts religious organizations and permits them
to favor members of their own faith.
- 2 -
he gay, lesbian and bi community made up
5 percent of the electorate during the 2002
midterm elections, according to a poll released
Nov. 21. The survey was arranged after the
Voter News Service decided not to identify
queer voters this year.
“These numbers clearly demonstrate the
importance of the gay community in major elec
tions,” said David M. Smith, Human Rights
Campaign communications director and senior
strategist. “In the current political climate, 5
percent of the vote is often the entire margin of
victory.”
In the past four consecutive elections, the gay
community consistently has represented 4 per
cent to 5 percent of the electorate. Comparative
ly, according to the Voter News Service’s 2000
statistics, African American voters comprised 10
percent of the electorate, Hispanic voters 7 per
cent, Jewish 4 percent and Asians 2 percent.
“As a demographic, the gay community is
consistently active at the polls. Both parties
would be wise to recognize the significance of
the gay vote,” Smith said. “It’s also important to
remember that many gay and lesbian voters are
reluctant to come forward and be counted out of
fear of discrimination— so these numbers are
probably low.”
The poll measured both the size and voting
patterns of the gay community in congressional
races. Gay voters in the 2002 elections were 71
percent Democratic, 19 percent Republican, 4 1
percent Libertarian and 2.7 percent Green.
In U.S. Senate and House races, gay voters
reported that their top three priorities were the
economy, the candidate’s political ideology and
taxes. Nearly half who identified as gay said they
voted out of a sense of civic responsibility.
The poll was conducted from Nov. 13 to 18.
A total of 8,280 likely voters were drawn from a
prescreened pool of 63,000 people registered
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T
Tom Tancredo thinks Big Brothers and Sisters
of America’s nondiscrimination policy
“ignores...common sense’’
L
f .S. Rep. T im Tancredo, R-Colo., has
spearheaded a congressional sign-on letter
to President Bush attacking a policy enacted
during the summer by Big Brothers and Sisters
of America prohibiting discrimination based on
sexual orientation. The agency has had a
nondiscrimination policy covering sexual orien
tation, race, religion and ethnicity for more than
25 years, and in July the rule became mandato
ry for all affiliates.
"Rep. Tancredo and his associates are play
ing on long-standing prejudices in an attempt
to smear gay men and lesbians who are giving
of their time and talent to mentor at-risk
youth,” said W innie Stachelherg, Human
Rights Campaign political director, in a
Nov. 20 statement. "A person’s sexual orien
tation has nothing to do with their ability to
provide positive mentoring to children in
need.”
T he letter also has been signed by G O P
Reps. John Hostettler and Brian Kerns o f Indi
ana, Ernest Istook and John Sullivan o f O kla
homa, Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania, Jim Ryun
of Kansas, Boh Schaffer o f Colorado and Chris
Sm ith of New Jersey. In addition to the attack
on the nondiscrimination policy, the letter
attempts to link sexual orientation with
pedophilia.
“T h e new policy ignores the psychological
research and com m on sense,” Tancredo
wrote. “As a general rule of thumb, Big Broth
ers doesn’t match up adult men with teen-age
girls. Obviously that would set up a risky situ
ation that could lead to sexual abuse."
Com piled by News Editor JlM RADOSTA, who can
be reached at iim@iustout .com.
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