BOSTON
—
Gay
delegates
at
the
Democratic
National
Convention
said
they
believe
Democratic
presidential
candidate
John
Kerry
sent
a
clear
message
of
support
for
gay
civil
rights
in
his
July
29
convention
speech,
even
though
he
did
not
mention
the
word
gay.
Kerry’s
was
the
first
Democratic
convention
speech
since
1988
from
the
party’s
presidential
nominee
that
did
not
mention
gays
or
gay
rights
legislation.
President
Clinton
mentioned
gay
Americans
in
his
1992
and
1996
convention
speeches.
Vice
President
Al
Gore
mentioned
the
Employment
Non-discrimination
Act,
a
gay
civil
rights
bill,
and
his
support
for
a
hate
crimes
bill,
which
he
said
was
inspired
by
the
murder
of
gay
University
of
Wyoming
student
Matthew
Shepard,
in
his
2000
convention
speech.
Several
gay
delegates
said
they
were
pleased
that
Kerry
alluded
in
his
convention
speech
to
his
opposition
to
a
constitutional
amendment
seeking
to
ban
gay
marriage,
saying
it
was
tantamount
to
mentioning
an
important
gay
issue
of
the
day.
"Let’s
honor
this
nation’s
diversity,"
Kerry
said
in
his
speech.
"Let’s
respect
one
another,
and
let’s
never
misuse
for
political
purposes
the
most
precious
document
in
American
history,
the
Constitution
of
the
United
States."
In
an
hour-long
address
that
electrified
the
thousands
attending
the
convention,
Kerry
called
on
the
nation
to
reject
politics
"calculated
to
divide
race
from
race,
group
from
group,
region
from
region."
Kerry
also
discussed
the
issue
of
"family
values"
in
a
way
that
debunked
claims
by
Republicans
that
support
by
Democrats
of
gay
rights
and
same-sex
marriage
is
contrary
to
the
principles
of
family
values,
gay
delegates
said.
"For
four
years,
we’ve
heard
a
lot
of
talk
about
values,"
Kerry
said
in
his
speech.
"But
values
spoken
without
actions
taken
are
just
slogans.
Values
are
not
just
words.
They’re
what
we
live
by.
They’re
about
the
causes
we
champion
and
the
people
we
fight
for.
…
We
believe
in
the
value
of
doing
what’s
right
for
everyone
in
the
American
family."
Gay
delegates
said
Kerry’s
record
of
support
on
gay
issues,
a
record-breaking
contingent
of
gay
delegates,
and
convention
speeches
by
three
lesbians
and
two
gay
men
made
the
convention
gay-friendly
and
gay
supportive.
They
noted
that
a
parade
of
Democratic
senators,
U.S.
House
members
and
governors
that
spoke
at
the
caucus
meetings
of
the
gay
delegates
this
week
also
highlighted
the
party’s
treatment
of
gay
citizens
as
full
partners
in
party
affairs.
Veteran
gay
Democratic
activist
Phil
Pannell,
a
delegate
from
D.C.,
said
he
believes
Kerry
chose
not
to
specifically
mention
gays
in
his
speech
because
doing
so
could
bring
into
play
more
attacks
by
Republicans
on
the
gay
marriage
issue.
"The
times
are
different
now
from
what
they
were
when
Clinton
and
Gore
gave
their
speeches,"
Pannell
said.
Although
he
would
like
to
have
seen
Kerry
speak
"a
little
more
forcefully"
on
gay
issues,
Pannell
said
he
and
other
gay
delegates
remain
strongly
supportive
of
Kerry.
"People
who
typically
would
be
mad
about
certain
policies
or
certain
omissions
in
speeches
are
so
determined
to
defeat
Bush
that
they
are
willing
to
not
let
that
bother
them,"
he
said.
Gay
Democratic
activist
Todd
Dickenson,
who
served
as
head
of
the
U.S.
Patent
&
Trademark
Office
during
the
Clinton
administration,
called
the
Kerry
speech
a
"home
run."
Dickenson
said
it
helped
to
define
Kerry
in
the
eyes
of
the
voters
as
a
highly
principled
and
highly
qualified
leader
capable
of
taking
the
country
to
"new
heights."
Asked
if
he
thought
Kerry’s
omission
of
the
word
gay
from
his
speech
was
a
transgression,
Dickenson
said,
"I’m
too
hungry
to
win
this
election.
I
can’t
worry
about
transgressions
like
this
when
I’m
too
hungry
to
win."
Gay
delegate
Danny
O’Donnell,
a
New
York
State
Assemblyman
from
Manhattan
and
the
brother
of
lesbian
television
star
Rosie
O’Donnell,
said
he
viewed
Kerry’s
criticism
in
his
convention
speech
of
Republican
efforts
to
amend
the
Constitution
as
a
"strong
statement"
on
gay
issues.
"For
him
to
stand
there
and
attack
the
Republican
Party
for
trying
to
amend
the
Constitution
for
exclusionary
reasons
is
a
defense
of
gays
and
lesbians
and
our
right
to
marry,"
he
said.
"I
view
this
as
a
very
positive
message."
"I
thought
it
was
a
great
speech,"
said
Keith
Boykin,
a
White
House
special
assistant
in
the
Clinton
administration
and
the
former
head
of
the
National
Coalition
of
Black
Lesbians
&
Gays.
"He
talked
about
a
broad
number
of
issues
that
represent
all
Americans.
I
was
really
inspired
by
what
he
had
to
say."
Added
Boykin,
"I
came
into
the
convention
more
anti-Bush
than
pro-Kerry.
And
I
ended
up
leaving
the
convention
much
more
pro-Kerry.
So
he
accomplished
what
he
set
out
to
do."
Similar
to
his
1992
convention
speech,
Clinton
mentioned
gays
in
his
1996
convention
address
as
part
of
a
litany
of
groups
that
he
said
should
be
welcomed
into
the
fabric
of
the
nation.
"Look
around
this
hall
tonight,"
Clinton
said.
"And
to
our
fellow
Americans
watching
on
television,
you
look
around
this
hall
tonight
…
Old
and
young,
healthy
as
a
horse
or
a
person
with
a
disability
that
hasn’t
kept
you
down,
man
or
woman,
native
born,
immigrant,
straight
or
gay
—
whatever
—
the
test
ought
to
be:
‘I
believe
in
the
Constitution,
the
Bill
of
Rights,
and
the
Declaration
of
Independence.
I
believe
in
religious
liberty.
I
believe
in
freedom
of
speech,
and
I
believe
in
working
hard
and
playing
by
the
rules.’"
In
his
2000
convention
speech,
then-Democratic
presidential
candidate
Al
Gore
said,
"[H]ear
me
well.
We
will
pass
the
Employment
Non-Discrimination
Act.
And
we
will
honor
the
memory
of
Matthew
Shepard,
Joseph
Ileto,
and
James
Byrd,
whose
families
have
joined
us
this
week,
by
passing
a
law
against
hate
crimes.
It’s
time."
