CA LGBT Legislative Caucus Increasing to ≥ 7

Back in May 2008 I predicted that the next California LGBT legislative caucus (January 2009) would have five members. I was correct on the numbers (5), but not on the names (Assemblymembers Perez, Ammiano, Senators Kehoe, Leno and Ashburn). And the last of these was not out until a scandal this year.

The LGBT legislative caucus of the 2011-2013 session should have at least 7 openly LGBT members, 5 in the Assembly and 2 in the Senate.

June 2010   (FIVE)         January 2011 (SEVEN)
ASSEMBLY                     
Tom Ammiano (AD-13)        Tom Ammiano (AD-13)
John Perez (AD-46)         John Perez (AD-46)                                    

                           Ricardo Lara (AD-50)                                    

                           Toni Atkins (AD-76)                                    

                           Richard Gordon (AD-21)

SENATE
Christine Kehoe (SD-39)    Christine Kehoe (SD-39)
Mark Leno (SD-3)           Mark Leno (SD-3)
Roy Ashburn (SD-18)

Ashburn is not running for re-election, but makes history as the first openly gay Republican member of the California Legislature (who was out wile still serving).

Additionally, there is a good chance that former Assembyman John Laird may re-join the caucus as its 8th member if he wins a special election in the 15th Senate District in August.

Formerly Closeted State Sen. Ashburn (R) Speaks

Patt Morrison (Occidental College alumna and KPCC radio host) spoke with state Senator Roy Ashburn for the Los Angeles Times about his life as secretly gay man voting as a Republican state senator against every piece of LGBT legislation he saw (and Equality California has sponsored and had enacted nearly 50 pieces of legislation since 2002) before being caught driving under the influence from a Sacramento gay bar with an un-named male companion last year.

To his credit, Ashburn came out publicly soon after and has voted in favor of LGBT equality since.

Here's an excerpt from his interview which appeared in today's paper:

Barry Goldwater had a gay grandson and didn't think government had any business in anybody's bedroom. But the recent brand of Republicanism has championed anti-gay issues.

I truly believe the conservative philosophy as embraced by Goldwater: that the government has no role in the private lives of the citizens. In the 1980s, there was a coming together of the religious right and the Goldwater right, sort of a marriage of convenience. It propelled Ronald Reagan to the presidency. Reagan never repudiated that but — this is just my view — I don't think he really embraced it either. In no way do I want to put down people of strong religious convictions; I happen to have very strong religious beliefs myself. But it was a merger of those two, and the religious [right's issues] were about same-sex rules, same-sex marriage, abortion, gun rights, these sort of core, litmus-test issues.

Did you feel uneasy with that combination? You did help to organize and speak at a rally in 2005 against a legislative bill sanctioning same-sex marriage.

How I ever got into that is beyond me. I was very uncomfortable with that, and I told one of my confidantes, "I'm never doing that again." It was not what I wanted to do, it wasn't me, but I helped to organize and lent my name.

A lot of people, gay or straight, are probably wondering why you voted even against issues like insurance coverage for same-sex partners.

The best I can do is to say that I was hiding. I was so in terror I could not allow any attention to come my way. So any measure that had to do with the subject of sexual orientation was an automatic "no" vote. I was paralyzed by this fear, and so I voted without even looking at the content. The purpose of government is to protect the rights of people under the law, regardless of our skin color, national origin, our height, our weight, our sexual orientation. This is a nation predicated on the belief that there is no discrimination on those characteristics, and so my vote denied people equal treatment, and I'm truly sorry for that.

It's well worth the read and shows why closeted gay Republicans should be outed as often as possible. It makes a difference.

LAT Editorial on "gay anti-gay legislator" Roy Ashburn

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-ashburn10-2010mar10,0,4070153.storyThe Los Angeles Times has an incisive editorial on the curious case of GOP State Senator Roy Ashburn, the anti-gay legislator who was caught driving under the influence leaving a Sacramento gay bar with another man and his weak explanation for his consistently anti-gay record in his long legislative career that "[his] votes reflect the wishes of people in [his] district."

That's not an entirely unreasonable defense. After all, if every politician who ever voted contrary to his or her personal beliefs in order to please constituents were branded a hypocrite, you'd be hard-pressed to find one without a scarlet "H." Yet Ashburn's seeming concern for the will of the people is highly selective. In February 2009, he was one of six Republicans in the Legislature who approved a budget deal that raised taxes and fees, inspiring widespread wrath in his district and a recall campaign against him. Moreover, voters trust representatives to use their best judgment and vote on laws according to their own consciences, not to consult the polls before every controversial decision.

The best way to fight bigotry is by setting an example. By coming forward, acknowledging his sexual orientation and pointing out that gay people can be successful business owners and politicians and even Christian conservatives, Ashburn could soothe his community's fears and help others like him end their deception. And there are others; aside from famous examples such as former Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho or former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, the documentary "Outrage" last year pointed out many other closeted right-wing politicians so full of self-loathing that they consistently vote to deny equal rights to themselves. There's a better path, and we hope Ashburn finds it -- but first he has to admit the real reasons for his self-destructive votes.

Zing!

Anti-Gay Sen. Ashburn (R) Busted For DUI Leaving Gay Bar

Republican State Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested 2 a.m. Wednesday morning for driving under the influence (DUI) less than a block from the well-known gay bar Faces in Sacramento. There was another man (so far, unidentified) in the car at the time of the arrest.

From Joe.My.God:

Ashburn has been a loud opponent of LGBT rights and has organized and hosted anti-gay marriage rallies for the Traditional Values Coalition. He also has a 100% rating from the anti-gay Capitol Resource Family Impact group for voting against every LGBT rights bill during his tenure.

[...]

Ashburn is being term-limited out of office in 2010. In January he surprised supporters by announcing that he would not be running for the U.S. House or the powerful California State Tax Board, two jobs he'd publicly had his eye on for the last year. Ashburn divorced his wife in 2003.

ANTI-GAY VOTING RECORD: In March 2009, Sen. Ashburn voted against a Senate resolution declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional. Ashburn voted three times to oppose the creation of Harvey Milk Day. In September he voted against California recognizing out of state same-sex marriages. In 2008 he voted to oppose an expansion of the state's insurance laws to include sexual orientation as a protected class.

Here is a video of a local television station's coverage of the scandal:

I don't usually cover closeted anti-gay politician's scandals but this one is just so egregious, it's unavoidable. I'd love to hear what openly gay Speaker of the Assembly John Perez or openly gay State Senator Mark Leno have to say about this "affair."

Big shout out to Joe.My.God for alerting me to the "gay" angle of this story. The report of the state senator driving a state-issued vehicle being arrested for a DUI has been news down here in Southern California, but curiously they didn't mention the fact he was leaving a gay bar with another man at the time.