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Honestly, Gordon
Sen. Smith's 'moderate' stance scrutinized
by Jaymee R. Cuti
administration’s tax cuts benefiting the wealthy;
and he was a chief sponsor of a bill to give a one-
year tax break to multinational corporations that
have money tied up in overseas tax havens.
Terry Bean, a founding member of HRC who
sits on the board of directors, considers Smith
a friend. Bean has been credited with enlightening
the senator on gay issues. He had this to say on
Smith’s support for sexual minorities: “Of course
I’m very disappointed with his FMA vote, and I’m
a dyed-in-the-w(x>l Democrat and I’m so pleased
that we have Democrats in the majority in the
Senate. It’s making an enormous difference for
GLBT rights. Having said that, there is no
Republican and maybe only one or two Dem<x:rats
who have taken as many leadership roles on GLBT
issues that Sen. Smith has. I truly believe his work
on this has been from his heart and not for any
political gains on these issues.”
Smith spoke with Just Out by phone from his
Washington, D.C., office about whether he has
earned the gay vote.
help them with many of their
causes and concerns, and
1 hope that my votes will speak
louder than I can, because they
stand the test of time.
Jaymee R. Cuti: There was a time when Lon
Mabon of the Oregon Citizens Alliance said the
two of you were on the same page regarding the
immorality of homosexuality. Was there a certain
experience that shaped the future support you
gave to gay rights issues?
Gordon Smith: Lon Mabon has never spoken
for me. I had the gixxl fortune to develop a friend
ship with Terry Bean. I told him how uncomfort
able 1 was with the way 1 was viewed with the gay
and lesbian community and I had also hired as the
Tegislative director Rob Epplin, who is a gay man,
and I began to ask questions of Terry and Rob.
1 felt in my heart to listen and learn and lead in a
different direction.
JRC: Why did you feel it
necessary to vote for the Fed
eral Marriage Amendment?
GS: From the outset of
my conversations with Terry
Bean and Rob Epplin and
many others in the gay
community, I made clear
that to be true to them,
I couldn’t be untrue to
myself. I will admit to being
a traditionalist and an
idealist, and 1 believe that
marriage is defined tradi
tionally as an ideal that has
many societal benefits. It’s
an ideal that I feel in my
bones to preserve, but let me
say clearly and loudly, that
U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., weighs in on issues relevant to
does not mean in any way
gays and lesbians.
that children cannot be
raised successfully and nurtured lovingly in non-
JRC: Queer voters have more than one issue
traditional families. There is abundant evidence
on their minds. Your voting record with regard
to that, and that’s why I support gays and lesbians
to a range of issues is very conservative. Do you
being able to adopt, why I believe we need to
feel that you represent the views of Oregon
strengthen family law. That’s why I have signed
progressives?
on to a whole range of legislation that protects
GS: I hope 1 represent the view of Oregon’s
and defends nontraditional families.
majority. If you kx)k at my votes for hate crimes, for
ENDA, for stem cell research, for family planning
JRC: If the FMA came up again, would you
funding internationally, for school clinic funding,
vote the same way?
for mental health parity—yes, 1 am a conservative,
GS: Yes.
but 1 am also a centrist.
JRC: Some wonder if you are courting the gay
community as part of a re-election strategy. How
would you respond to those suspicious of your
commitment to gay rights issues?
GS: 1 support a number of causes and commu
nities that do not vote for me. I support them
because I believe that their causes are right. 1 don’t
know how large or small the gay community is in
Oregon, but I have it in my heart and backbone to
JRC: Do you support civil unions? What is
your position on House Bill 2007, Oregon’s civ
il unions bill?
GS: I would want to see the language in a civil
union bill, but there are many that I could support.
I haven’t read [HR 2007] and 1 don’t know any of
its details, but 1 support the concept. I will leave
that bill to the judgment of my state colleagues ;md
not endorse or in any way denounce it.
JRC: Is there anything else you’d like Just
Out readers to know?
GS: I hope, whether 1 get their votes or not,
that they will know I’m their friend and my door,
my heart, my mind is open to their concerns.
1 think what’s important is that what I said I would
do, I have done. Where 1 said 1 couldn’t go, I have
not gone. 1 have been honest with the gay and
lesbian community of Oregon. ©
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U S SENATE
I .S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has posi
tioned himself as a friend of the gays.
Certainly, he’s a friend of the Human
Rights Campaign, which has described
W his slate of gay rights bills as “heroic.”
Some of these stances—legal recognition for
same-sex relationships, for example—aren’t contro
versial in a Democratically led Congress. Others are
downright pioneering coming from a member of
the Republican Party.
“You only need to look to his long-standing
support of hate crime legislation and his close
relationship with Judy Shepard to see his commit
ment on a range of issues is not just sincere but has
a long history,” said Joe Solmonese, executive
director of HRC.
Smith has been the lead Republican on two
health benefits acts, including the Domestic
Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which
grants partners of federal employees the same
benefits as spouses married to federal employees. He
is the lead Republican on the Local Law
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which
adds sexual orientation and gender identity to exist
ing federal Hate Crimes law. He is the author of the
Early Treatment for HIV Act, which he reintroduced
last month with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton,
D-N.Y. Smith is also a sponsor of the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
But with Smith’s seat clearly in Democratic
sights for 2008, some queer voters are skeptical of his
motives, recalling his vote for the Federal Marriage
Amendment (FMA) in 2006. Smith has said he
would vote the same way again if the opportunity
arose.
Still, for voters with an eye beyond queer civil
rights issues, Smith’s record is markedly conserva
tive. His. pro-life view earned him a 15 percent
approval rating with the National Abortion and
Reproductive Rights Action League, and he was
rated 14 percent with the National League of
Conservation Voters, a group that has always
endorsed Smith’s opponents. He supported sending
more troops to Iraq as late as December 2006; he
called for U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to
overturn Oregon’s Death with Dignity law; he
voted to support drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge; he voted for all of the "Bush