As
he
approached
Capitol
Hill
on
the
evening
of
April
28
for
a
gay
and
lesbian
reception,
Chris
Barron
expected
to
eventually
find
it
in
a
cloistered
corner
of
the
Russell
Senate
Office
Building
with
little
pomp
or
circumstance.
But
climbing
the
stairs
to
SR-385
with
the
other
50
or
so
attendees,
Barron,
the
legislative
director
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
noticed
the
stately
flags
adorning
the
large,
paneled
doors.
Walking
through
them,
he
saw
gay
Hill
staffers
and
their
supporters
—
including
several
members
of
Congress
—
mingling
over
drinks
in
a
decorous
room
with
vaulted
ceilings
typically
reserved
for
key
Senate
hearings.
As
he
entered
the
inaugural
event
for
the
Gays,
Lesbians
&
Allies
Senate
Staff
(GLASS)
Caucus,
Barron
said
he
knew
gay
staffers
had
prominently
arrived
in
some
of
the
nation’s
most
important
halls.
“I
remember
coming
up,
I
thought
‘Where
exactly
will
this
be
tucked
away,’”
Barron
told
a
buttoned-down
contingent
of
federal
employees.
“Then
I
saw
Room
385,
and
I
didn’t
think
it
could
possibly
be
here.
But
it
is.
“We
have
come
a
long
way.
It
is
extremely
courageous
and
important
what
you’re
doing
by
just
standing
here.”
For
more
than
a
decade,
a
gay
and
lesbian
professional
association
has
met
regularly
on
the
House
side
of
Congress
to
raise
the
visibility
and
awareness
of
gay
congressional
employees.
Inspired
by
that
group’s
success
and
prompted
by
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment,
two
staffers
—
a
young
man
from
a
voluble
Democrat’s
office,
and
a
long-term
administrative
director
for
a
conservative
Republican
—
decided
to
establish
a
sister
organization
across
the
Hill.
GLASS
co-founder
Lynden
Armstrong,
an
employee
of
Sen.
Pete
Domenici
(R-N.M.),
said
that
he
has
received
significant
support
for
the
GLASS
Caucus
from
members,
including
his
own,
who
backed
the
FMA,
but
is
“supportive
of
my
professional
development
as
an
employee.”
However,
Armstrong
acknowledged
that
many
other
Republican
staffers
“have
been
reserved
about
getting
involved.
“When
they
see
that
it’s
not
an
activist
organization,
I
believe
they
will
be
more
inclined
to
join,”
he
said.
No
political
or
federal
organization
keeps
statistics
on
the
number
of
gay
men
and
lesbians
currently
working
for
Congress.
Those
who
have
publicly
come
out
say
they
believe
the
numbers
are
much
higher
than
estimated,
and
that
many
gay
staffers
still
fear
termination
or
ostracism
if
they
declare
their
orientation.
“There
are
hundreds
of
gay
and
lesbian
staffers
here;
it’s
just
a
matter
of
letting
people
know
there
is
a
supportive
network,”
said
Mat
Young,
the
Democratic
half
behind
the
GLASS
Caucus
and
a
legislative
aide
to
Sen.
Debbie
Stabenow
(D-Mich.).
“They
need
to
know
that
they
can
be
openly
gay
and
still
have
a
successful
career
in
Congress.”
While
appearances
by
Sen.
Edward
Kennedy
(D-Mass.),
as
well
as
progressive
Senators
Frank
Lautenberg
(D-N.J.)
and
Mark
Dayton
(D-Minn.)
lend
legitimacy
to
the
GLASS
Caucus,
they
don’t
speak
for
the
other
senators
with
a
history
of
intolerance.
Over
the
past
decade,
several
have
publicly
indicated
their
refusal
to
hire
gay
or
lesbian
staffers,
including
Senator
James
Inhofe
(R-Okla.),
according
to
Capitol
Hill
newspaper,
Roll
Call.
Others
have
made
other
disparaging
remarks,
comparing
homosexuality
to
kleptomania
in
the
case
of
former
Majority
Leader
Trent
Lott
(R-Miss.)
in
1998,
and
equating
it
to
bigamy
and
incest,
as
Senator
Rick
Santorum
(R-Pa.)
did
in
a
2003
Associated
Press
interview.
