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(and Why is He Representing Me?) By Jesse Monteagudo Until a few weeks ago, most lesbians and gay men had never heard of Tom Beddingfield. We only learned who he was when we read that Beddingfield was appointed by George W. Bush to be his advisor on lesbian and gay issues. The news dropped like a bombshell on a community suspicious of Bush's coy attitudes and mixed messages.
Tom Beddingfield featured in Oasis Magazine
Though Beddingfield is openly gay, he leaves much to be desired: he is only 22, has no connection to any major political group, and carries the most controversial baggage this side of a gay Nazi. But the most baffling thing about this baffling story is where it broke: not in the Times, the Post, the Advocate or the Blade but in the March 2 issue of an obscure, Silicon Valley rag, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. The story, which appeared in Timothy Roberts's "Biz Buzz" column, deserves to be quoted in full: Gay Republican activist moves into White House Silicon Valley has another contact in the Bush administration: Tom Beddingfield, a 22-year old Republican activist and campaign consultant. He's moving into the Old Executive Office Building, where he will advise the president and other administration officials on gay and lesbian issues. . . Mr. Beddingfield is an openly gay Republican and an irritant to the gay and lesbian political establishment, which tends to be more liberal. Just how conservative is Mr. Beddingfield? He's so conservative that even the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay and lesbian Republicans, don't want to have anything to do with him."
"His record shows that he's anti-special rights, not anti-gay," he says. His own appointment shows "the president is a very diverse president and wants to reach out to people of all walks of life," he says." This article had all of us scrambling to find out more about the talented Mr. Beddingfield. Searching the Web led us to a 1999 article in Oasis, an on-line teen mag. Oasis editor Jeff Walsh interviewed Beddingfield, then 19, right after he spoke at Youth Lobby Day, a Sacramento rally that drew 300 LGBT youth. In the speech and in the interview that followed Beddingfield sadly recalled Brandon, his high school boyfriend who shot himself on March 9, 1996, after being beaten by his father and by the other kids at school. Beddingfield was just 17. "I thank God I had him [Brandon]," Beddingfield told Walsh. "He made me everything I am today. He was the greatest influence on my life. Because of him, I became a gay rights activist. Because of him, I became a Republican. Because of him, I became a Titanic historian. He motivated me and kept pressuring me into doing this. He was the greatest thing that ever happened to me". Though Beddingfield was himself thrown out of his mother's house and sent by his father to a group home, he managed to graduate from high school and make some sort of living as a "Titanic historian". But he never recovered from Brandon's death. Indeed, he became a gay activist "in Brandon's memory". Beddingfield is a curious activist, to say the least. After all, he is "to the right of Log Cabin." In addition to opposing "special rights", Beddingfield is against hate crime laws and the right of openly gay men and women to serve in the United States military. "I think forcing Americans to accept homosexuality and to deal with it is very dangerous and detrimental to the gay community . . . It can cause a lot more animosity," Beddingfield told Oasis in a more recent interview. Beddingfield made his most bizarre "contribution" to the gay cause on February 10, 2000, when he emerged as chair of "Gays for 22", a group of homosexuals who backed California's anti-gay Proposition 22. "I am here today as a young gay man to officially add 'Gays for 22' to the coalition for the protection of marriage," Beddingfield announced at that time. "This initiative protects California sovereignty, and our state's right to decide important issues for ourselves. My life as a gay man will not change if Prop. 22 passes," he went on, finally evoking the boy whose life and death mean so much to him: "My boyfriend committed suicide after he was severely beaten by three loathsome criminals because he was gay. So, when I hear opponents equate support for Proposition 22 with violence and discrimination, I become angry and heartsick. There is nothing discriminatory about 14 simple words: 'Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.'" Though most activists took issue with Beddingfield's curious reasoning, 61% of California voters agreed with him, and passed Prop 22. With such a record behind him, most queer activists were appalled by the news of Beddingfield's appointment. "President Bush's idea of an inclusive administration is bewildering at best and hateful at worst . . . Imagine naming a man like Tim [sic] Beddingfield to a White House post who believes gay unions are 'special rights'?", rhetorically asked Michael Colby, Executive Director of the National Stonewall Democrats. An on-line activist called Beddingfield, rather harshly, a "self-hating gay man", and presented him "the Roy Cohn Award for unparalleled self-interest, combined with a total disregard for the civil rights of others in the glbt community." For their part, gay Republican activists were skeptical of Beddingfield's appointment, if only because Beddingfield had no record in GOP politics. Kevin Ivers, speaking for the Log Cabin Republicans, called the story "a little fishy"; and Charles Francis of the Republican Unity Coalition told the Southern Voice's Andy Cole that "there is no truth" to the youth's fantastic allegations. "I never heard of him," Francis added, "and neither has anybody at the highest political levels in the White House". Finally, Scott McClellan, White House Deputy Press Secretary, told the press flatly that Beddingfield was never hired by the White House, in any capacity. While running for President, George W. Bush said he had no problem appointing an openly gay person who agreed with his policies. Even so, Bush has yet to make an openly gay appointment. Recently, a White House source told Lou Chibbaro, Jr. of the Washington Blade that "a staff member holding the rank of deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison will be assigned the task of monitoring and providing advice to President Bush on Gay-related issues, in addition to several other issues within the staffer's work portfolio . . . The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Public Liaison Office official assigned to this task will likely become the contact person at the White House for Gay organizations, including Log Cabin Republicans". But such a person will not necessarily be gay, and it is more than likely that s/he will not be gay. As for Tom Beddingfield, losing a boyfriend is a devastating experience, and our hearts should go out to him. Nor should we impose a "litmus test" on anyone who wants to work for our cause. However, Beddingfield's uncertain youth and scant experiences do not quality him for leadership. His off-the wall political views, especially his involvement with "Gays for 22", makes him a poor representative for most lesbians and gay men. Furthermore, Beddingfield does not have the emotional, intellectual or political maturity needed to be a presidential advisor on LesBiGay issues or, indeed, anything else. After lying low and avoiding the press for a few days, Beddingfield gave an interview to Jon Barrett of the Advocate which only confirmed our community's doubts about the man and his qualifications. Though he refused to explain or elaborate his relations with the Bush Administration, Beddingfield promised Barrett that he would eventually "release a statement" that would clear the air. We are still waiting. Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer who lives in South Florida with his domestic partner. He can be reached at jessemonteagudo@aol.com |
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