MARCH 13 . 2004 • Q-NOTES
National
11
Kerry: supporter of equality, strives for presidency
from page 1
District Attorney’s office in the late 1970s.
In 1984 after a two-year stint as
Massachusetts Lt. Governor, he was
elected to the U.S. Senate. He won
reelection bids in 1990, 1996 and 2002.
He has been described as a moderate
and has worked to reform public educa
tion, strengthen the economy, protect the
environment and advance equality for all
Americans.
Then there’s Kerry’s wife — condi
ment heiress Teresa Heinz.
Heinz has an equally interesting
background. She became chair of The
Howard Heinz Endowment and the
Heinz Family Philanthropies following
the death of her husband. Sen. John
Heinz, in 1991. She has received numer
ous awards and 10 honorary degrees for
her charitable work. Last year she was
presented with the prestigious Albert
Schweitzer Gold Medal for
Humanitarianism. Heinz also has children
— three sons from her marriage to Heinz.
Most recently she spoke about same-
sex marriage at a campaign stop for her
husband in San Francisco, confirming
that she believes the United States will
eventually come to accept gay and les
bian marriage.
“1 think with time and without a lot of
politicization of this, we’ll get there,” she
said. “1 think our country is basically a
tolerant country.”
Mixed signals
Kerry’s stand against DOMA is partic
ularly noteworthy since he favors civil
unions over same-sex marriage, it’s even
more ironic, given that Massachusetts, by
order of its highest court', is set to become
the first state to legally recognize gay
weddings.
Kerry says he opposes the move and
argues that extending civil union benefits
is the best way to protect same-gender
relationships without dismantling tradi
tional marriage.
After the Supreme Judicial Court decision
last November, he said, ”1 have long believed
that gay men and lesbians should be
assured equal protection and the same ben
efits — from health to survivor benefits to
hospital visitation — that all families
deserve. While I continue to oppose gay
marriage, I believe that [this] decision calls
on the Massachusetts State legislature to
take action to ensure equal protection for
gay couples. These protections are long
overdue.”
The call for civil unions was made
moot on Feb. 4 when the assenting jus
tices clarified that nothing short of full
marriage would satisfy the terms of their
ruling.
Later when pressed by reporters, Kerry
stated unequivocally that he would not
support the Federal Marriage
Amendment, a proposed bill that would
constitutionally limit marriage to oppo
site-sex couples, as a means of redress.
However he told a National Public Radio
interviewer the following week that he
might support an amendment to the
Massachusetts constitution.
"It depends entirely on the language of
whether it permits civil unions and part
nership or not,” he explained. ”I’m for civil
unions; i’m for partnership rights.”
With the exception of the Log Cabin
Republicans (see related story on page
18), LGBT leaders have mostly remained
silent on Kerry’s opposition to gay mar
riage — possibly due to his broad view of
civil unions.
Unequivocal Support
At a Feb. 27 fundraising meeting with
leading Democrats in San Francisco —
where marriage licenses are already
being issued to same-sex partners under
the direction of Mayor Gavin Newsom —
Kerry told a gathering that included state
Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San
Francisco) and U.S. Sen. Dianne
Feinstein that he does, in fact, support
granting state-sanctioned gay and les
bian couples the same 1,049 federal
rights provided to married heterosexuals.
Steve Elmendorf, Kerry’s openly gay
deputy campaign manager, says that
activists must be pragmatic about
the situation and focus on the big
picture.
"[LGBT] voters have to under
stand that all the major candi
dates are against gay marriage.
Our answer is that [Kerry] has a
30-year, pro-gay record, a far
superior record to George Bush
and the Republicans. [Same-sex
marriage] is the one issue where
we will disagree, but we are not
going to disagree on the
Employment Non-Discrimination
Act. hate crimes legislation and money
for HIV prevention and treatment.”
Elmendorf is correct, of course.
Kerry has proven himself to the LGBT
community. Count on conservatives to
work this angle in an attempt to con
vince swing voters that the general
election is a choice between traditional
P RES IDE N T
values and social decay — and in a
way it is.
Kerry’s beliefs in country, equality and
public service are just about as tradition
al as American values get.
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