Gay Today: People

Signorile Versus Log Cabin Versus HRC

Compiled by GayToday

In an article posted October 10 and titled "Log Cabin's Desperate Dance" Michelangelo Signorile, Gay.com Editor at Large, critiqued newspaper ads paid for by the Log Cabin Republicans and claiming that Al Gore had voted to force gay men out of Big Brothers programs.

Michelangelo Signorile

" It's completely untrue," wrote Signorile

"As happens so often with political ads," he continued, " you can't help but wonder what drives a group like Log Cabin to such desperation, where its leaders dance on the darkest side of distortion."

Signorile wants to know why the Log Cabin leadership is supporting Gov. George W. Bush when, in fact, there's nothing in the Republican presidential candidate's record that indicates he's sympathetic to the cause of gay and lesbian liberation.

Two anti-gay votes taken by Gore—when he was a U.S. Senator in 1981— a period when a majority of politicians, Democrats and Republicans thought of homosexuality as abnormal-- were dug up by the Log Cabin group to smear the now overwhelmingly gay-friendly Gore campaign.

On Signorile's GAYBC radio program, he asked Log Cabin media director Kevin Ivers if he truly believed that Al Gore had made no progress on gay rights during the past two decades.

Ivers refused to answer, complained the radio interviewer, "and just kept reciting the Bush campaign mantra: 'Al Gore will say anything to get elected.' "

Previous People Features from the GayToday Archive:
Interview: Michelangelo Signorile

The Scary Case against George W. Bush, GOP Candidate

Al Gore's Record is Speaking for Itself on Gay Issues

Related Sites:
Michelangelo Signorile

Log Cabin Republicans

Human Rights Campaign
GayToday does not endorse related sites.

Since George W. Bush refused last year to meet with the Log Cabin Republicans the group has since "somehow convinced itself that George W. Bush has changed over a matter of months," notes Signorile.

Signorile has since been backed by Bush's choice of words in his 2nd debate with Al Gore wherein Bush shamelessly echoed the Religious Right's disingenuous use of the term "special rights."

He chastises Log Cabinites for wasting the gay Republican group's "time, money and credibility by putting out paper-thin distortions and misinformation about Gore," and for trying to trick gay voters to turn against him.

Log Cabin shot back at Signorile in a fury:

"This is not a debate. The facts are the facts," said LCR leaders:

"All a reporter had to do is check the Congressional Record from March 1, 1990, which was cited in our print ad for anyone to see, and you can read for yourself the language of the anti-gay amendment that Al Gore voted for."

"It is disappointing to see Mike Signorile join up with the Democrat spinmeisters trying to pretend Al Gore doesn't have a history of anti-gay votes," said Rich Tafel, Executive Director of Log Cabin Republicans. "Like Al Gore, Mike claims to speak with great authority, but the facts don't back either of them up."

Tafel charges: "Al Gore's Democratic surrogates in the gay community have joined in the Vice President's every attempt to distort, exaggerate and mistate the facts about his record."

David Smith, Communications Director for the nation's largest gay and lesbian organization, the Human Rights Campaign, a bipartisan group which has, in the past, endorse certain Republican candidates, jumped quickly to Signorile's defense. Referring to Gore's long-ago stance, Smith said:

Rich Tafel is the executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP group
Photo: Rex Wockner

"Mike Signorile is right. Rich Tafel and Kevin Ivers are wrong. HRCF at the time scored Gore with a 90 percent in the 101st Congress when the vote in question took place. Gore voted correctly according to HRCF's scorecard at the time. The vote was on an amendment (offered by Senator Kennedy) to an anti-gay amendment (offered by Senator Bill Armstrong, R-CO). This is a standard procedural tactic referred to as a "second degree" amendment. Second degree amendments are routinely offered, where possible, to minimize damage from hostile anti-gay amendments -- in the 101st Congress, such amendments came from Republican Senators like Helms and Armstrong.

Senator Kennedy routinely fought these battles on behalf of our community. He used creativity and ingenuity in outsmarting our enemies many times.

"Technically, the Kennedy amendment allowed volunteer organizations to bar heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual people on two grounds: if the potential volunteer had been convicted of a "sex crime" with a minor, or if the minor's parents objected to the volunteer because of her or his sexual orientation. The amendment applied to all people -- regardless of sexual orientation -- not just "gay men" as the LCR's ad states.

"In the LCR press release they get some things wrong. First, nobody would be forced out of anything as their fact bullet states. They could not interact with a minor if a parent objected if they were heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. They could continue in a program working with youth whose parents did not object if their orientation was one of the three. Second, the presiding officer of the Senate, as Gore was during this debate, does not participate in the debate so of course he didn't "say anything about it."

"Either Ivers and Tafel are intentionally misleading our community or their interpretation shows a shocking lack of understanding of legislative process and strategy, especially with the many anti-gay initiatives thrown at our community by hostile Republicans.

"Instead of distorting records, I wish Ivers and Tafel would use their considerable talents and energies trying to get George W. Bush to take one positive policy position regarding gay issues. He might be a better person for meeting with 12 gay republicans, but his policies are not better, in fact the positions he has taken are overtly hostile. Not to mention, three more Supreme Court Justices like Scalia and Thomas."