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Movement's 1st Civil Rights Leader sees 'Day/Night Choice' 'Gore agrees with us; has supported us actively' says Pioneer |
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Compiled by GayToday
Washington, D.C.—Dr. Franklin E. Kameny, a founder in 1961 of The Mattachine Society of Washington, the nation's first gay and lesbian civil rights organization, has, at the request of GayToday, issued an advisory which reflects the revered political strategist's views about tomorrow's presidential election. Kameny's statement says: "In my view, for gay and lesbian people, the difference between Gore and Bush, in the Presidential election, is stark and clear, in favor of Gore. "Over the past decade, Gore has been a good friend to the gay community. "He agrees with us and has supported us actively on issue after issue. He has met with gays in his home and on other occasions. He has been a featured speaker at an HRC dinner. "When it seemed that he might be able to exercise his Constitutional power to break a Senate tie vote in favor of ENDA he made a special trip back to Washington for the purpose. "More importantly, perhaps, his administration will be building upon a strongly gay-supportive structure created by Clinton over the past eight years. "There are large numbers of openly gay people in the Executive Branch -- more, perhaps, than most people realize, and some of them in high-level positions. "The post of White House Liaison to the Gay Community has been created, and is likely to be continued under Gore, giving us direct access to the Oval Office on a continuing basis. "In short: We have a truly meaningful 'seat at the table'. We have made truly astonishing advances during the 1990's, far beyond anything that might realistically have been predicted a decade ago. "We are off to a running start, now in 2000, and under a Gore presidency, all that will be continued and extended. "In contrast, the situation with respect to Bush is as day unto night. A Bush election will be an unmitigated disaster for gay people. Bush refused even to meet with gays out of his own Republican party until pressured into doing so, and then made no meaningful commitments of support. "Bush opposes us on every issue, from sodomy law repeal, to same-sex adoptions, to domestic partners and other forms of same-sex relationships, to anti-discrimination laws. He seems to have no grasp of our concerns at all, referring to them disparagingly and dismissively as 'special rights'. "Most importantly, he is under the thrall and control of irrational zealots of the insanely homophobic religious right, who are unwilling to throw us even the slightest crumb. He has pledged to them that there will be no appointments of openly gay people; the White House Liaison post will be abolished. They will pressure him intensively and effectively to deny us everything, and to give us nothing at all. "If Bush be elected President we will be in for a bleak four years (or eight) indeed. As the Red Queen said to < b>Alice in Wonderland: " 'We will have to run as fast as we can, just to stay in the same place.' "For gay and lesbian people, the choice is absolutely clear: Vote for Gore-Lieberman. Franklin E. Kameny |
