editorial

_oward Dean’s rock—star presence

among gay and lesbian (and

straight) audiences continues, and
the evidence is everywhere — in the gay
and lesbian media, on websites, and in
appearances greeted with standing ova-
tions. So far the only lgbt media sour
note for our former governor is a fierce
attack last month in the op-ed pages of B
New York’s Gay City News from Chrissy
Gephardt, the out lesbian daughter of
candidate Rep. Dick Gephardt.

Talking to Out for Dean web
maven Chris Cooper (Washington, DC),
and Dykes for Dean founder Jan Cadoret
(San Francisco), what we hear is how
wonderfiil Dean is, how clear and sincere
he is in standing up for full equality for
the lgbt community.

They don’t want to hear that
Howard Dean, far from taking a “leader-
ship role” in the passage of the civil
unions bill, was a reluctant ally. Although
on several occasions Governor Dean
could have ducked the issue and didn’t,
that is not the same as taking a “leader-
ship a
position.”

They don’t want to hear about
how Governor Dean signed the civil
unions bill “in the closet,” something he
never did with any other piece of legisla-
tion in his 11 years as governor. “Hey,”
they (and others we’ve talked to from
beyond Vermont’s borders) say, “he
signed it.”

Dorie Clark — Dean’s New

W Hampshire campaign communications

director — repeats the explanation Dean
gave at the time: that he signed the bill
without the usual celebratory gathering in
order to lay the foundation for “healing”

the deep divisions the debate had engen- A

dered. She and others don’t want to hear
that the move is widely perceived here as
kowtowing to bigots and slapping lesbian
and gay Vermonters in the face.

Out for Dean’s Cooper suggests ’

that the candidate’s stand for lgbt equal
rights got stronger after signing the bill
as a result of all the hate messages he and
his family received. And, Cooper says,
Dean understood the importance of our
equality on a new level because of the
stories he heard from lesbians and gay
men elsewhere about how much civil. B

B Dr. Dean, Come Home!

unions meant to them.

Out-of-state lgbt Dean support-
ers don’t want to hear that although he
has been the lionized celebrity at gay
pride parades and rallies and other lgbt
gatherings, he has never once attended a
gay pride celebration at home in
Vermont.

It is not surprising that lesbian
and gay Vermonters wonder how Howard
Dean expects to have much credibility
here, when he has never met with us as a
community. He did — when asked — issue
proclamations and statements to be read
on his_behalf, and he met with small
groups when specific issues came up. But
he has never scheduled an appearance at‘
any large gay gathering here — not then,’
and so far, not now.

But then again, we as a state
have only three electoral votes. Our con-
vention delegate selection process is late
in the election season. ’Why should he
bother to court us?

Because we know him. Because
his campaign keeps asking us for money.

Because such a meeting would

 

assure lesbians and gay men that our
issues won’t get sacrificed — as they

_always have in the past, regardless of - —i 

who the Democratic candidate was — in a? I
future strategic move to the middle of the 
road should he win the Democratic nomi- 
nation. 5 ’_
Because without our support in '
his home state, he looks just a bit oppor-
tunistic and hypocritical elsewhere.

Because without us, he never
would have signed the civil unions bill,_
there would have been no civil unions 4
bill to sign, and his presidential aspira- B
tionsgwould still be in “Howard who?”
territory,

Because it was our support and
our money here, and our lobbying on his
behalf among our lgbt contacts in other
states that gave him his presidential start.

It’s time for Howard Dean to 1,.
come home and to meet with the lesbian’.
and gay Vermonters on whose shoulders
he’s been standing. .

.,,;g»

Euan Bear ,3‘.-
mx 1

(/(,0./vk

 

at wiws end leah wittenburg