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LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, February 18, 2005
On the day before he won election by acclamation on Feb. 12 as chair of the Democratic
Party, former presidential candidate Howard Dean spoke before two separate groups
of gay Democrats and pledged to expand the party’s outreach to gay voters.
Speaking before a reception hosted by the National Stonewall Democrats, Dean
denounced Republicans for orchestrating ballot measures last November to ban
same-sex marriage, saying they did so for political purposes.
“They put on the ballot of 11 states, that already outlawed gay marriage,
gay marriage for the simple purpose of scapegoating an unpopular minority so
that they can get elected,” Dean told the gay Democratic group. “That
is something the Democratic Party will never do and the day it does, I’m
no longer a Democrat,” he said, drawing loud applause and cheers.
But earlier that day, when speaking before another group of party activists,
Dean sought to distance the party from the gay marriage issue.
In an argument Dean was making about how to frame the debate, he said Democrats
are not for gay marriage. Instead, the AP quoted him as saying, “We are
the party that has always believed in equal rights under the law for all people.”
Dean’s handling of the gay marriage issue was in keeping with a theme
he repeated throughout the Democratic National Committee’s annual winter
meeting Feb. 10-12 in Washington, in which he assumed the party’s chairmanship:
Never abandon the party’s core principles but take steps to more clearly
and more concisely communicate those principles to the voters.
He voiced that theme at a time when critics have said his perception as a Northeastern
liberal could hurt the party’s chances of winning back the White House
and Congress in the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Dean acknowledged he faces a difficult job in rebuilding the Democratic Party.
But he noted that his grassroots presidential campaign, which has been praised
for attracting large numbers of new voters and contributors to the party, could
be used as a model to further expand the party’s reach in states that
supported Republicans in the 2004 election.
Dean, the former governor of Vermont, drew a strong following from gay activists
across the country when he took a lead role in pushing through the Vermont Legislature
the nation’s first civil unions bill. But when he ran for president last
year, he disappointed some gay activists by declaring his opposition to same-sex
marriage, saying he preferred that Congress recognize civil unions laws passed
by the states.
The 16-member Gay & Lesbian Americans Caucus of the DNC hailed Dean’s
selection as party chair during the group’s meeting on Feb. 11. Dean appeared
before the gay caucus meeting to thank its members for their support of him
and the party.
Jeff Soref, chair of the gay caucus, said Dean’s remark that the party
isn’t in favor of gay marriage was consistent with the Democratic Party
platform adopted at the Democratic National Convention last July.
The platform does not take a position on gay marriage, although it opposes
a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
“We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of
our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits and protections for these
families,” the platform states.
“We all know that neither party embraces gay marriage,” Soref said.
“But the Democratic Party does embrace equal rights in its platform. So
in terms of the bigger picture, it’s clear that the Democrats are far
better on our issues.”
DNC member Carole Migden, a gay member of the California state Senate from
San Francisco, said Dean’s position on same-sex marriage should not detract
from his strong, overall support for gay civil rights.
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