The
Human
Rights
Campaign,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
political
group,
earlier
this
year
hired
as
its
media
relations
director
the
former
press
secretary
for
a
Democratic
congressman
from
Oklahoma
who
voted
for
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
gay
marriage.
HRC
Communications
Director
Steven
Fisher
said
HRC
hired
Brad
Luna,
28,
for
the
media
relations
post
because
Luna
is
a
seasoned
press
spokesperson
and
skilled
election
campaign
adviser
who
is
openly
gay
and
a
“passionate
gay
rights
advocate.”
Fisher
said
the
story
behind
Luna’s
rise
as
native
Oklahoman
to
become
press
secretary
for
former
Rep.
Brad
Carson
(D-Okla.)
and
later
chief
spokesperson
for
Carson’s
unsuccessful
2004
race
for
Oklahoma’s
U.S.
Senate
seat
would
likely
convince
skeptical
observers
that
Luna
is
the
right
person
for
the
HRC
job.
But
Fisher
and
Luna
himself
acknowledge
that,
at
first
blush,
Luna’s
association
with
Carson
would
likely
raise
questions
about
HRC’s
decision
to
hire
Luna.
When
the
proposed
constitutional
ban
on
gay
marriage
—
known
as
the
Marriage
Protection
Amendment
—
came
to
the
House
floor
for
a
vote
in
October
2004,
Carson
was
in
the
midst
of
a
heated
U.S.
Senate
race
against
former
congressman
Tom
Coburn,
an
anti-gay
Republican
and
former
chair
of
President
Bush’s
HIV/AIDS
advisory
council.
The
Senate
seat
became
vacant
when
incumbent
Sen.
Don
Nickles
(R-Okla.)
chose
not
to
seek
re-election.
In
a
news
release
issued
from
his
Capitol
Hill
office
on
the
day
he
voted
for
the
Marriage
Protection
Amendment,
Carson
called
marriage
a
“hallowed
institution
between
one
man
and
one
woman.”
“As
a
life-long
Southern
Baptist,”
Carson
added,
“I
firmly
believe
that
marriage
must
remain
a
consecrated
union
between
one
man
and
one
woman.
I
was
the
first
member
of
the
Oklahoma
delegation
to
publicly
call
for
a
ban
on
gay
marriage.
Today
I
cast
my
vote
against
gay
marriage.
I
am
committed
to
maintaining
the
traditional
definition
of
marriage
throughout
the
United
States.”
A
short
time
later,
HRC
gave
Carson
a
rating
of
11
out
of
a
possible
100
in
its
2004
congressional
scorecard
on
gay
and
AIDS-related
issues.
In
addition
to
voting
for
the
anti-gay
marriage
amendment,
Carson
declined
to
co-sponsor
the
Employment
Non-Discrimination
Act
or
a
hate
crimes
bill.
His
2004
scorecard
rating
represented
a
decline
from
his
2002
rating
of
50,
when
Carson
did
vote
against
a
proposal
to
repeal
D.C.’s
domestic
partners
law.
Luna
said
he
was
in
Oklahoma
working
on
Carson’s
Senate
campaign
at
the
time
of
the
House
vote
on
the
Marriage
Protection
Amendment,
and
he
did
not
write
Carson’s
strongly
worded
news
release.
Luna
said
he
urged
Carson
not
to
support
the
marriage
amendment
and
frequently
called
on
him
to
be
more
supportive
on
gay
rights,
but
said
he
knew
instinctively
that
the
political
reality
in
Oklahoma
required
Carson
to
distance
himself
from
gay
rights
to
remain
a
viable
candidate
for
public
office.
“I
grew
up
in
Oklahoma,”
Luna
said.
“I
saw
firsthand
how
extremists
use
our
issue
to
divide
the
country
and
as
a
weapon
against
the
candidates
they
oppose.”
Luna
said
he
has
been
openly
gay
since
he
started
work
on
Carson’s
House
staff
in
January
1999,
when
Carson
first
took
over
the
House
seat
that
Coburn
voluntarily
gave
up
as
part
of
a
pledge
to
follow
a
self-imposed
term
limit.
He
served
as
Carson’s
chief
spokesperson
in
Washington
until
November
2003,
when
he
returned
to
Oklahoma
to
work
on
Carson’s
fledgling
Senate
campaign
as
press
spokesperson.
Gay
Democratic
activist
Peter
Rosenstein
of
D.C.
said
he
recommended
Luna
for
the
HRC
job.
Rosenstein
said
he
met
Luna
while
Luna
worked
on
Carson’s
House
staff
and
was
impressed
with
his
skills
then
and
during
the
stint
on
Carson’s
Senate
campaign,
which
Rosenstein
supported.
Rosenstein
provided
unintended
ammunition
for
Coburn’s
successful
effort
to
defeat
Carson
in
the
Senate
race.
Rosenstein
wrote
an
opinion
column
for
the
Washington
Blade
calling
on
gays
to
support
Carson’s
campaign.
He
wrote
that
Carson
—
an
opponent
of
gay
marriage
—
would
be
generally
supportive
on
gay
issues
than
Coburn.
A
group
formed
by
social
conservative
leader
Gary
Bauer
called
Americans
United
to
Preserve
Marriage
seized
on
Rosenstein’s
column
in
a
television
attack
ad
against
Carson
during
the
peak
of
the
campaign,
saying
the
column
showed
that
Carson
backed
the
homosexual
agenda.
The
ad,
which
showed
the
Blade’s
front-page
logo,
described
the
paper
as
a
“radical
homosexual
newspaper”
sympathetic
to
Carson.