National
Gay GOP groups spar over ‘outing’ of Perry campaign pollster
Pollster accused of helping Perry develop anti-gay strategy
Robert Turner, president of Log Cabin Republicans of D.C., criticized the co-founder and executive director of GOProud, a gay conservative Republican group, for disclosing on Twitter this week that a pollster and consultant for GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry is gay.
Jimmy LaSalvia, the GOProud executive director, created a stir last week when he denounced Tony Fabrizio, a nationally known pollster and GOP campaign consultant, for playing a key role in Perry’s decision to attack gay rights in campaign statements and ads.
“I’ve just about had it with faggots who line their pockets with checks from anti-gay homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus,” LaSalvia said in his Twitter posting.
LaSalvia tweeted about Fabrizio less than a week after Perry attacked President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for their pledge of U.S. support for efforts to curtail anti-LGBT persecution in foreign countries that have imprisoned and in some cases executed gays solely because of their sexual orientation.
Last week, Perry launched a TV ad in Iowa in which he questions why gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military while children “can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
LaSalvia told the Blade that he did not think he was outing Fabrizio because the Republican pollster’s sexual orientation is well-known in political circles.
Turner told the Blade Fabrizio is not widely known as gay outside of a circle of political insiders. He said no one’s sexual orientation should be disclosed by those who disagree with their political views or campaign tactics.
“GOProud has used Twitter to out someone with whom they disagree,” Turner said. “Log Cabin Republicans also disagreed with the Perry ad, but the national office had the backbone to issue an honest press release and list what they disagreed with,” he said.
“GOProud, by contrast, dribbled out a person’s private life through tweets. Worse, given that we don’t know the internal workings of the Perry campaign, we don’t know what connection, if any, Mr. Fabrizio had with the noxious ad.”
LaSalvia and GOProud co-founder and President Christopher Barron issued their own statement on Friday saying their group has a longstanding policy against outing and they would never intentionally out someone.
“However, in the case of Tony Fabrizio, top pollster and chief strategist for the presidential campaign of Texas Governor Rick Perry, we did not believe there was any question about his sexual orientation – nor did the reporters who called us to ask about his involvement in Perry’s anti-gay campaign strategy,” the two said.
“Let us be crystal clear, however, Tony Fabrizio is not the victim here. Tony Fabrizio has lined his pockets for years with money from gay groups and is now one of the chief architects of a campaign strategy – not just an isolated television ad – intended to demonize gay people in order to score political points,” LaSalvia and Barron said in their statement.
Fabrizio could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Huffington Post reported on Thursday that a staff member of the Perry campaign took credit for initiating and producing the Perry TV ad in Iowa linking ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal with Christians not being allowed to pray openly in public places. The campaign staffer, Nelson Warfield, told Huffington Post that Fabrizio was opposed to the campaign ad and described it as “nuts.”
“If Fabrizio really does oppose the ad and the broader strategy then the honorable and decent thing to do would be to resign from the campaign,” LaSalvia and Barron said. “Tony Fabrizio is no junior staffer he is one of the top campaign pollsters and strategists in the country.”
The two added, “It is obvious that the campaign of Rick Perry is desperate, and in a desperate last ditch effort to become relevant in the GOP presidential race he and his campaign have decided to employ a strategy that plays to the cheap seats and appeals to the worst in people. Rick Perry should be embarrassed and the people around him who are the architects of this strategy, particularly people like Tony Fabrizio, should be ashamed.”
Fabrizio, considered one of the nation’s leading pollsters and survey research experts, has worked as a consultant for a wide range of corporations and organizations, including the national Log Cabin Republicans group. He served as pollster and chief strategist to the former Senator Robert Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign and has served as a consultant to the Republican National Committee, according to a biography on his firm’s website.
“Tony Frabrizio does not deserve the vicious assault on his character,” said R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the national group Log Cabin Republicans. “By all accounts, Tony rightly objected to the ‘Strong’ ad as being counter-productive, ineffective, and offensive – in a word, ‘nuts.’ As a skilled pollster and strategist, he knew Americans today have no desire to see their gay neighbors used as a campaign wedge issue.”
Cooper added, “The Perry campaign would have been well served to heed Fabrizio’s advice, and it is a shame that certain individuals within our community are trying to punish Tony for doing what he could to prevent this ad from airing. Thankfully, Perry’s mistake has sent a clear message: the days of scoring political points through antigay rhetoric are over.”
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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