Sep 23, 2005  |  By: EARTHA JANE MELZE  | COMMENTS     

Gay and lesbian Virginians became a part of the most recent debate between the leading Virginia gubernatorial candidates, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and former Attorney General Republican Jerry Kilgore (R), when Kaine accused Kilgore of spending heavily on radio ads attacking gay Virginians.

The debate, which was sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, took place on Sept. 13 at the Hilton McLean Tyson’s Corner and was moderated by Tim Russert, of NBC’s “Meet the Press”.

In response to an audience question about the decision by the town of Herndon to spend tax dollars to create a day laborer center that would be used by undocumented immigrants, Kaine said it was the federal government’s responsibility to enforce immigration laws and that he didn’t want to second guess what local officials do to address the situation with day laborers.

Kilgore responded with harsher language, opposing in-state tuition credits and driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.

Kaine called Kilgore mean-spirited.

“[I oppose your] mean-spirited effort to try to go after people trying to make a living and to go after local officials who are trying to deal with a tough problem,” said Kaine, looking at Kilgore.

“And Jerry, there’s a mean-spiritedness in your attack, just as when you tried to get the state’s universities to dismantle all their diversity programs, just as when you went to the U.S. Supreme Court and asked that they declare the Americans with Disabilities Act unconstitutional, just as when you put hundreds of thousands of dollars in radio ads on the air in Virginia attacking gay and lesbian Virginians.”

Kilgore later said that Kaine was “making things up” and that he would be a governor who brings people together.

Kaine invited the public to check the statements he had made for accuracy.

“Kaine probably became the first nominee for a top Virginia state office to bring up gays and lesbians before the statewide press corps in a way that did not use them as political punching bags,” said Virginia Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who is gay.

Ebbin said that because the debate was covered by the Spanish language channel Univision, Kaine’s remarks might help unite Latinos and gays as underdogs used for political purposes by the far right.

“We don’t disclose how much we spent on certain advertisements, and we certainly don’t tell him,” Kilgore spokesperson, Tim Murtaugh said in response to Kaine’s claim that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent on anti-gay radio ads.

“We do run ads saying that Tim Kaine supports gay adoption, and he has run ads saying he is against gay adoption. For him to say we are bashing gays doesn’t make sense,” Murtaugh said.

Kaine’s position is that the current law — which says the best interest of the child is the primary consideration, and allows single people and married couples to adopt — strikes the right balance, according to Delacey Skinner of the Kaine campaign.

“Jerry Kilgore is suggesting that sexual orientation become a litmus test for adoption, that you would be asked if you are gay and it would become a factor,” Skinner said.

David Lampo, president of the Virginia Log Cabin Republicans, did not watch the debate, but said Kilgore’s position on gay adoption is disingenuous.

“Sometimes he seems to be supporting the status quo,” Lampo said, adding that if Kilgore supports banning gay adoption, as was proposed earlier this year by Del. Dick Black (R-Loudoun), it would be a radical position.

“I have tried to get clarification, but all I get is confusion,” Lampo said.

Lampo said he doesn’t think Kilgore engages in gay bashing, and that when the Log Cabin Republicans of Virginia met with Kilgore in 2003, “He certainly gave us the impression that he believed in an inclusive Republican Party.”

Kilgore signed the Equality Virginia non-discrimination pledge two years ago and specifically condemned Del. Bradley P. Marrs (R-Chesterfield) when he criticized his opponent for receiving a contribution from a gay man, Lampo said.

“We hoped he would make a statement that he wanted the support of all Virginians,” Lampo said. “But his campaign has been a disappointment.”

“What we need is a bold statement from the campaign, and we are not going to get that.”

Democrat also accused of gay-baiting campaign

Though Kilgore did not mention it in the debate, some observers believe that the Kaine campaign is actually using anti-gay tactics against Kilgore.

In an April 27 editorial titled “Gubernatorial gay-baiting” in the Cavalier Daily newspaper of the University of Virginia, Opinion Editor Mike Slaven wrote that the Kaine campaign had “crossed the line” into “using stereotypes to harness bigotry” when ...