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| Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry defended his opposition
to gay marriage and reaffirmed his support for basic civil rights, including all
the federal benefits of marriage via civil unions, in an interview with the gay
press. (File photo by AP) |
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Editors’ note: John Kerry’s
presidential campaign negotiated a 15-minute interview with the local gay press,
and a 15-minute interview with Advocate magazine, as his only formal interviews
with gay media outlets during his primary or general election campaign.
The timing of the interview was closely monitored by Stephanie
Cutter, Kerry’s communications director, who alerted the reporter when
there were 30 seconds remaining.
Lisa Keen, who conducted the interview, was the Washington
Blade’s top editor for 18 years, until 2001. She was not assigned the
story by the Blade, but obtained the interview as a freelance journalist. The
Kerry campaign has declined all requests by the Blade for interviews with the
candidate or with John Edwards, his running mate.
Keen has publicly disclosed that she made personal contributions
to two Democratic presidential candidates — Howard Dean and Carol Moseley
Braun — during the primary season. A resident of Massachusetts, Keen was
married earlier this year, and the legal status of her union and others conducted
since April in Kerry’s home state were a major focus of the interview.
She was assisted in obtaining the interview by some officials
with the National Gay Newspaper Guild, a business affiliate organization that
includes 12 of the country’s largest local gay publications. Some of those
Guild officials are themselves public supporters of the Kerry campaign and have
held fund-raisers on his behalf.
The Blade maintains strict restrictions on personal contributions
by journalists to election campaigns and on the involvement of non-journalists
in obtaining interviews. But because of Kerry’s limited accessibility,
this interview is being published with full disclosure of these potential conflicts
of interest. |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: LISA KEEN COMMENTS
 
DES MOINES, Iowa — In John Kerry’s first
published interview with the gay press since winning the Democratic presidential
nominee, the Massachusetts senator defended his support for state constitutional
amendments that ban gay marriage and said he wasn’t sure whether he would
have lived a double life as a politician if he had been gay.
The Sept. 9 interview, which was granted with significant restrictions (see
sidebar), also covered his long history of support for gay rights and his commitment
to push for workplace protection and hate crimes laws as the most achievable
gay rights issues should he be elected.
The Democratic nominee also intimated for the first time that he agreed with
the portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 1996 and signed
by President Clinton, that permits one state to refuse to recognize marriage
licenses issued to gay couples by another state. Kerry said in the interview
that he opposed DOMA as “gay bashing” because the Constitution already
permits states such authority, an interpretation of the “Full Faith &
Credit Clause” that is the subject of heated debate among scholars and
advocates.
Kerry also suggested in the interview that as much as 60 percent of gay voters
did not vote in the presidential election, an assertion that could not be confirmed
or traced. The Blade reported after the 2000 race that data from 118 precincts
in heavily gay neighborhoods around the country suggested that 68 percent of
registered voters in those heavily gay neighborhoods turned out to vote in 2000.
The interview took place at a campaign stop in Des Moines just after the senator
spoke to an audience about health care.
The gay community knows your
record, generally, and the Human Rights Campaign has described it as “stellar.”
But I don’t think many of us know exactly what inspired you back in 1985,
in your first term, to author the gay civil rights bill. Can you recall who
or what —
I just think it’s an important
matter of fundamental fairness. I think, you know, all Americans ought to be
treated fairly. And the equal rights clause and the equal protection clause
mean something to me. And I think you have to take on some tough fights sometimes.
And as president, I hope to pass ENDA [the Employment Non-Discrimination Act],
I hope to pass hate crimes legislation. I hope to be able to advance the understanding
in America of the difficulties people face in some of the choices in life and
we have to be a country that’s open and embracing people, period. I mean
I just don’t know how we’re America if we don’t live up to
those ideals.
I thought maybe you had a gay friend
or gay family member that inspired you to take up that mantle.
Well, I’ve had friends, obviously,
and I’ve had supporters in my races and people I’ve cared about.
But I just never spent a lot of time thinking about people as, you know, different.
I mean, each to their own.
People choose or don’t choose — they are who they are. You are
who you are. And that’s who we are in America — a country that’s
understanding and recognizes that.
We obviously have some distance to travel. We’re still fighting discrimination
over color and religion and a lot of hurdles to go.
— including DOMA and the Federal
Marriage Amendment. You voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, and you’ve
spoken out against the Federal Marriage Amendment. In both cases you described
it as “gay bashing for political gain.”
Many of us feel that the constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage
in Massachusetts and Missouri also constitute gay bashing for political gain.
I’m curious why you haven’t spoken out against those two?
Well, I think there’s a distinction.
I don’t think that’s gay bashing. It’s obviously a position
that people in the GLBT community disagree with — I understand that. But
I think that, historically, the definition of marriage and the application of
marriage laws has always been state defined. It is up to the states, not the
federal government.
That’s why I viewed the federal efforts, as specifically targeted, as ...
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