NATIONAL

Opponent outs GOP candidate for Fla. governor
Crist has denied rumors, opposes gay marriage

PHIL LAPADULA
Friday, October 20, 2006

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In 1985, Max Linn participated in a three-month program called Leadership St. Petersburg that focuses on grooming future leaders in business and politics. One of his classmates in the program was Charlie Crist, who is now Florida’s attorney general and the Republican nominee for governor.

Linn, who is running against Crist on the Reform Party ticket, said there were only about 20 people in that 1985 class.

“So you got to know everybody,” he said.

According to Linn, during the course of conversations with Crist he learned that the future attorney general is gay. The two talked about “what would happen if [Crist’s sexual orientation] comes out” during a political campaign, Linn said.

Linn kept quiet about Crist’s supposed gay secret for more than 20 years until he launched his third-party bid for governor. Then, on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, Linn outed Crist on WFTL, a South Florida radio show.

“Charlie, come out, come out from wherever you are,” Linn said on the radio show.

Crist has repeatedly denied rumors that he is gay. When Miami radio host Jim DeFede asked Crist if he is gay in July, Crist responded, “The point is, I’m not. There’s the answer. How do you like it? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as they say on Seinfeld. But I just happen not to be.”

In January 2005, Crist denied rumors that he is gay during an interview on WQYK, a country music radio station based in Tampa. During the interview, Dave McKay, co-host of WQYK’s “Randy and Dave Show,” asked Crist, “Are you a homo?”

Crist responded, “No man. No, I love women. I mean, they’re wonderful.”

Crist, 49, was married for seven months in 1979, but otherwise has lived a single life.

Repeated calls to Crist’s campaign headquarters late last week and early this week were not returned.

In an interview this week, Linn stood by the statements he made about Crist on the radio show. He said he was a registered Republican for 20 years before recently switching to become an independent. Linn said he contributed money and did volunteer fund-raising for two of Crist’s past campaigns, including his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1998.


A matter of ‘honesty’

Linn said he has no problem with gay candidates running for office, but he thinks they should be open about their sexual orientation. The recent Mark Foley affair and the scandal involving former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevy have highlighted the dangers of running in the closet, he said.

“When you lie about it, that opens you up to extortion and bribery,” Linn said. “That’s what happened with McGreevey.” He referred to McGreevey’s book, in which the former New Jersey governor detailed how his closeted life made him vulnerable to an extortion attempt.

Linn said it’s also “a matter of integrity and honesty” for a candidate to disclose their sexual orientation to voters.

Linn claimed that Crist’s sexual orientation is an open secret in Tallahassee, much like Foley’s was.

“In my opinion, it’s widely known throughout the Republican Party that Crist is gay,” Linn said.

Josh Earnest, communications director for Crist’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Jim Davis, said the Democrat has no plans to make Crist’s sexual orientation an issue.

“We believe the most important issues relate to Crist’s public record and his failure to fight for lower property taxes, lower property insurance rates and better schools,” Earnest said.

He also compared Crist’s record on gay rights against Davis’, noting that Crist supports a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage while Davis opposes such an amendment.

In the post-Foley political landscape, more people are arguing that exposing the truth about closeted gay politicians is in the best interests of the public. For example, in an Oct. 13 opinion piece published in the Los Angeles Times, gay columnist Michelangelo Signorile blamed the media for not outing Foley.

“The media enabled a man overwhelmed by the destructiveness of the closet to ultimately implode in the halls of Congress,” Signorile wrote in the column.

Will the Foley fallout cause more voters to have doubts about Republican candidates who are even rumored to be gay, regardless of whether or not they are?

Andy Eddy, communications director for the Broward Log Cabin Republicans, doesn’t think so. First of all, Eddy questioned just how “closeted” Foley was, noting that the former congressman was known to attend gay events with his boyfriend.

“When [Foley] accepted the Gold Medallion award from the People With AIDS Coalition of Broward, he was there with his boyfriend and made it clear to everyone that it was his boyfriend,” Eddy recalled. Furthermore, Eddy noted that Foley was identified as gay by several publications including New Times, the Advocate and the Washington Blade during his aborted Senate campaign in late 2003 and early 2004.

Eddy said he thinks the Foley scandal will be “temporarily counterproductive for gay Republicans.” But he thinks voters will eventually realize that Foley’s inappropriate behavior with teenage pages “had nothing to do with his sexual orientation.”

Eddy questioned Linn’s credibility and motives in outing Crist in the governor’s race.

“He seems to be doing it for political gain,” Eddy said. “If someone is outed because they’re attacking the community, that’s a different story. But to out a person for any kind of personal or political gain, I think is wrong.”

Eddy thinks Crist may be telling the truth when he says he’s not gay.

“He could be bisexual,” Eddy said.

In a written statement, Patrick Sammon, executive vice president of the national Log Cabin Republicans, said the group is opposed to outing.

Despite persistent rumors about his sexual orientation that date back to his first campaign for elected office, Crist easily defeated Tom Gallagher for the Republican nomination in September and has since opened up a big lead over his Democratic opponent, Rep. Davis.

Recent polls have shown Crist with a substantial lead. He led Davis 54 to 38 percent in a Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters that was released Oct. 2. A Survey USA poll released Oct. 12 has Crist ahead of Davis 54 to 41 percent.

Most of the polls have not included Linn. Poll figures were not available since Linn outed Crist.


Foley scandal changes
political dynamics

A Florida political science expert thinks that the Foley scandal has changed the political climate for closeted gay Republicans or, in Crist’s case, for a candidate whom many people believe to be closeted.

“The Foley scandal is likely to cause a demand for purity from the ‘theo-cons’[religious conservatives],” said Tony Smith, an assistant professor of political science with the University of Miami. “They are going to say, ‘You can’t be one of our standard bearers and be gay,’”

But the ultimate effect that the “outing” of Crist has on the governor’s race will depend on whether or not the mainstream media picks up the story, Smith said. As of press time, no major newspapers or TV stations had reported on Linn’s latest assertions about Crist’s sexual orientation.

“If the mainstream media doesn’t pick it up, voters will say that it’s just nastiness because the poor man can’t find a wife,” Smith said. “If it doesn’t get brought to the forefront of people’s conversations, then it’s still just an unproven rumor. But if the social conservative groups believe it, he’s dead in the water.”

Michael Albetta, president of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, said he doesn’t think Crist’s sexual orientation is a legitimate issue in the campaign.

“A person should be judged on their job performance and not their personal life,” Albetta said.

Albetta said gay voters should compare Crist’s record on gay rights to Davis’. He contended that Crist is “two-faced” on gay rights, giving different answers on questions about his positions depending on who’s interviewing him.


Crist record on gay
issues a mixed bag

In fact, Crist’s record on gay rights issues appears to be a mixed bag. He opposes gay marriage and confirmed in an interview with the Florida Baptist Witness newspaper that he had signed a petition to place an anti-gay marriage amendment on the 2008 election ballot.

But during an interview with radio talk-show host Jim DeFede in July, Crist said civil unions for gay couples were “fine” with him. In the same interview, Crist said he was undecided about whether or not to repeal the state’s ban on gays adopting children.

“Haven’t taken a position yet,” Crist told DeFede.

But in his Oct. 12 interview with the Florida Baptist Witness, Crist was asked, “Do you support repealing the ban on homosexual adoption?”

Crist answered, “No.”

When the Baptist Witness asked Crist if he supported civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation, Crist responded, “I support civil rights protections on the basis of people. I believe that we need to fight discrimination that is based on race, sex, creed, national origin…” But he never mentioned sexual orientation.

In a follow-up question, the Baptist Witness interviewer asked Crist, “To be more precise about it, the homosexual lobby is pressing for civil rights on basis of sexual preference or sexual orientation, they would say. Do you support that agenda?”

Crist answered, “No, it’s not an agenda item that I support. But I support civil rights to fight discrimination.”

Crist has come out in favor of anti-bullying legislation that includes specific protections for gay students. He is also a strong supporter of hate-crimes laws.

John Marble, spokesperson for the National Stonewall Democrats, said it’s important to point out that Crist has not acknowledged being gay.

But, he added, “It’s always a disservice to voters for candidates to run in the closet. It underscores a certain level of dishonesty that they think is OK with their constituents. I think the gay question is a fair question for reporters to ask a candidate. I don’t think reporters should be afraid to ask the question.”
 

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