Feb 22, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

A Virginia gay Democratic club is crying foul over Equality Virginia’s decision to give a public service award to a retired Republican state lawmaker.

Equality Virginia, a bipartisan gay activist group, announced plans to honor former state Del. Vince Callahan at the organization’s annual dinner April 5. Callahan represented McLean from 1967 to 2007 and then retired.

Charley Conrad, president of the gay Democratic club Virginia Partisans, called Equality Virginia’s decision to give Callahan an award “shocking and disturbing.”

Conrad said the few gay-friendly votes Callahan cast aren’t “deserving of a public service award.”

Callahan voted in 2005 and 2006 in favor of the Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Virginia Constitution, which defines marriage as an agreement between one man and one woman.

In 2006, the lawmaker was also one of two Republicans to vote in favor of loosening the restrictions of the amendment. The change would have meant that the General Assembly would have had to approve the amendment again before the initiative went before voters.

Callahan cast numerous other votes that could be considered anti-gay.

• In 2004, he voted for the marriage affirmation bill, which prohibits Virginia law from recognizing out-of-state civil unions.
• In 2005, Callahan voted for a bill that would have prohibited gay adoption in Virginia.
• In 2007, he voted for a bill that would have required Virginia students to have parental permission to participate in extracurricular activities, including gay-straight alliance clubs.
• In the same year, he voted against legislation that would have allowed local governments to provide health insurance to same-sex couples.
• In 2004, Callahan voted to keep Virginia sodomy laws on the books, even though the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that they were unconstitutional.

The former delegate also has taken actions in support of the gay community.

• In 2007, Callahan voted for the hospital visitation rights bill, allowing hospital patients to designate whomever they choose, such as a same-sex partner, as next of kin for visitation purposes.
• In the same year, he was the co-patron of a non-discrimination bill for state government employees.
• In 2004 and 2005, he voted for legislation that would have allowed private companies to extend health care benefits to same-sex couples. The bill failed in 2004 but succeeded in 2005.
• Callahan also signed Equality Virginia’s non-discrimination pledge for employment in his office.

The Equality Virginia board of directors voted to honor Callahan with  the award Jan. 6. Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, said votes were cast through a series of e-mails so there is no recorded tally.

David Lampo, vice president of the Virginia Log Cabin Republicans and member of the 24-member board, nominated Callahan for the award. Lampo said Callahan’s voting record, party affiliation as a Republican and recent retirement played a part in his decision to nominate the former delegate.

“I think somebody with Vince’s voting record did help expand GLBT rights in Virginia,” Lampo said. “The fact that he’s not an outspoken advocate doesn’t mean that he did not help advance EV’s legislative agenda.”

Lampo said there is “nasty partisan jealously” behind Conrad’s opposition to Callahan as the recipient.

“If a senior Democrat who was retiring with Vince’s legislative record had been the nominee, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion,” Lampo said.

Conrad said he was concerned about Lampo’s status as director of Equality Virginia’s political action committee, which decides which candidates Equality Virginia will support in elections.

“I really believe that he has hijacked their PAC board to an ideology that’s not reflective of the GLBT community as a whole,” Conrad said.

Mason said Callahan deserved the award because he was “one of a shrinking few” who “was willing to buck the trend of the Republican Party” to vote for gay-related legislation.

“Through his four decades [in the House], he has shown himself to be an independent on these issues and not sort of influenced by the far right,” she said.

Mason emphasized that Equality Virginia is a bipartisan group and must work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to get legislation passed.

“If we only worked with people who were with us 100 percent of the time, we would not have that many people to work with,” she said.

Conrad said none of the Virginia Partisans were planning to attend the dinner, but ...