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February 13, 2009

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 3

Gay Republicans hopeful about party's new chair

by Eric Resnick

Washington, D.C.-The new Republican National Committee chair is seen by gay Republicans as an improvement over past party leadership.

Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele was elected to head the GOP on January 30 in the sixth round of balloting, making him the first African-American head of the party.

Though Steele's records on civil rights and LGBT equality are mixed and nuanced, he is arguably the most LGBT-affirming among the five who sought the position, including former Ohio secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell.

According to a statement by the gay and lesbian Log Cabin Republicans, Steele mentioned the importance of reaching out to Log Cabin and other GOP groups as the party looks to chart a future course.

"Michael Steele understands you win elections by addition, not subtraction,” said Log Cabin president Patrick Sammon. "He understands we must focus on what unites us, not what divides us as Republicans."

Steele, the most socially moderate of the choices, was gay-baited by rivals during the struggle for the position. An unknown person attempted to smear him by sending out an e-mail with a 13-page attached file highlighting his friendliness to the Log Cabin Republicans and to former New Jersey governor Christie Todd Whitman, who is founder of the socially moderate Republican Leadership Council.

Former Ohio Republican Party Chair Robert Bennett endorsed and voted for the outgoing GOP chair, Mike Duncan, whose campaign was marred in December when a staffer sent a recording of a song called "Barack the Magic Negro" to the people voting for party leader.

Bennett did not, however, back his friend and fellow Ohioan, Ken Blackwell, but the religious conservative wing of the party did.

Blackwell, a noted gay basher, ran unsuccessfully for Ohio governor in 2006, then became senior fellow for family empowerment with the anti-gay Family Research Council.

Blackwell co-chaired Bush's Ohio campaign in 2004 and campaigned vigorously that year

Registry

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partner registry that Cleveland is copying. Others in the group come from the field operation of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

David Caldwell, who led the Cleveland Heights registry campaign, agreed to speak for the group. Others spoke off the record, indicating that once their campaign is organized, they will go on the record, too.

"We have a group of people with lobbying experience, and a group of people with campaign experience," Caldwell said. "The lobbyists are insisting that they should run the campaign. We don't think that's the best outcome for the community."

The campaign tactic in contention is canvassing neighborhoods to identify supportive voters and more campaign volunteers, and also to raise funds, and how much this should be done in relation to other campaign methods.

The only two successful pro-LGBT campaigns in Ohio have been based on voter identification canvassing. Those are the Cleveland Heights registry and the Cincinnati campaign to repeal Article 12 a year later.

Caldwell is a nationally known expert on the technique and has worked with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force on campaigns in other states, including Florida and Maine. A professional software designer, Caldwell created a system to manage the campaigns and the data they create.

"This community needs a better campaign than they know how to run,” said Caldwell, “and they [Cleveland Families Count] are not going to let us run that campaign."

"It still needs done," Caldwell said, "and we're going to let our work speak for itself."

As soon as Matthews announced his intent to repeal the registry, Caldwell and others started canvassing and organizing phone banks. Volunteer turnout was reportedly strong and growing.

The tension between the groups started heating up when Bowman and Doerfer moved the location of a December 21 canvass to a predominately white neighborhood because, as Doerfer

for the Ohio marriage ban amendment. At a campaign stop in a Toledo church, Blackwell compared gay and lesbian couples to barnyard animals.

Blackwell finished last in the first four rounds of voting for the GOP chair, and was out of the running in the final two.

Steele does not have an unblemished record on LGBT rights.

The Baltimore Sun reported in July 2002 that, "Steele balked when asked about gay rights, saying he has trouble with the concept if not precisely defined. 'There's a lot of rights that already protect white gay men,' he said."

The Maryland Gazette reported in August 2001 that Steele, then chair of Maryland's Republican Party, answered a question,:"Unless you're gay, you could care less about gay rights," he said. "Unless you're a homosexual or a lesbian, it's not going to rise up on your radar screen. I'm focused on other things. You can talk about gay rights all you want, but it doesn't mean crap if you don't have a job."

In 2005, Steele spoke at a rally in front of the Maryland statehouse supporting the state's constitutional marriage ban amendment. In 2004, he called for a federal constitutional ban on marriage equality.

Steele campaigned against same-sex marriage as an unsuccessful Senate candidate in 2006.

Log Cabin's Sammon told out Detroit News columnist Deb Price that Steele's election means the Republican Party has reached a "fork in the road" and made a smart choice.

"I feel so positive that the party knows it needs to go in a different direction," he said.

Log Cabin Republicans are waiting to see if Steele can get past his opposition to marriage equality, or at least not mention it. The party's platform calls for a federal marriage ban amendment.

"While we do not agree with Chairman Steele on every issue, we look forward to working with him to help rebuild the GOP," said Sammon. "Republicans got wiped out in November with non-white voters, young voters and self-described moderates. Michael Steele understands the base doesn't equal a majority."

confirmed, "you can't canvass in black neighborhoods near Christmas."

A January 18 canvass was canceled with the hope that suspending the campaign would make it easier for NAACP chair George Forbes to convince Matthews to call off the petitioners.

Doerfer canceled a third canvass, which was to be in a predominately black neighborhood on February 8, due to lack of volunteers.

Doerfer said her group agrees with the need to canvass, but said Caldwell thinks "everything else is basically easy and useless," and he doesn't value "other work like meetings with block clubs and media.”

Doerfer said Cleveland Families Count is planning a rally May 7 to celebrate the registry's opening.

Caldwell and Doerfer describe a February 4 meeting to reconcile the factions differently. What's clear is that there are differences over how much time should be spent on each campaign activity and who should decide how resources are allocated.

Caldwell is also critical of Cleveland Families Count's fundraising. It is generally agreed that the citywide campaign will cost as much as $1 million.

So far, according to Doerfer, the group has between $2,000 and $2,500.

Doerfer acknowledged that the Cleveland Families Count campaign could be the smaller of the two efforts.

"The goal is to protect the registry," Doerfer said. "If they can do it without assistance, that's awesome."

Caldwell said his group is looking beyond protecting the registry.

"No Cleveland LGBT group has voters as its focus," Caldwell said. "We think we need one in order to succeed as a movement. Not just for this crisis. You can't repeal Issue 1 without voters." Cleveland Families Count can be contacted through www.clevelandfamiliescount.org. Caldwell can be reached at inonit@inonit.com.

In the lion's den

A diner tempts fate by putting his hand in the lion's mouth during Asians and Friends Cleveland's Chinese New Year celebration on January 31.

The lion dance was the first part of the entertainment that evening, thrilling attendees with feats like tossing up and catching oranges, shredding and throwing lettuce, and blurring the line between fantasy and reality.

The evening also featured a quartet of drag performers, Polynesian dancing, piano playing and singing.

The event found a new home this year at Hunan Gourmet restaurant in University Hotel on Euclid Avenue.

"The venue is exactly what have had in mind for many years,” said Asians and Friends treasurer Cindy Yu. "A private dining area, built-in dance floor and a stage platform ready. Plus, it has a hotel for out-of-town guests to stay." "The University Hotel offered a very good rate for people who attended the event," she continued. "It is perfect!"

She said that the venue gave the group full control over the stage and table arrangements, which was a change from the restaurants where previous years' events were held, which had less flexibility.

This year's installment, the 14th annual, drew 150 people, up from last year's attendance of 130.

"We understood the economic tough times, so we lowered the ticket price this year so that it drew a bigger crowd," Yu said. "I think it is important to have more people come to celebrate and have a great time, in addition to carry on the tradition of the premier LGBT Asian cultural event in Cleveland." She said that Asians and Friends will "definitely" go back to Hunan Gourmet for next year's 15th annual Lunar New Year Celebration.

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