Victory in the News

Why Obama’s Appointment of ‘Damn Lesbian’ Roberta Achtenberg to the Civil Rights Commission is Important

On Wednesday, Jan. 27, President Obama appointed Achtenberg to the US Commission on Civil Rights with barely a mention from the mainstream press and plaudits from the LGBT media. Achtenberg was one of three LGBT appointments and nominations announced by the White House yesterday. The Victory Fund notes that the Obama administration now has made 159 appointments in the president’s first two years in office, compared to about 140 during Clinton’s two terms in office.

The difference in the reception towards LGBT appointees between 1993 and 2011 is remarkable.

That is not to say that hate groups such as the Family Research Council and Townhall.com columnists such as Alan Sears aren’t still rankled that LGBT people like Chai Feldblum, Obama’s recess appointee to the Equal Opportunity Commission, are elevated to positions of power, arguing that gays will try to impose the “homosexual agenda” on democracy, which Sears sees as a threat to American liberty. But while the culture war rhetoric over abortion rights has seriously ticked up, mainstream antigay hate speech seems to have become more marginalized – even Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain was criticized during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell debate for suggesting that allowing open service by gays would cause military deaths.

But in 1993, even the idea of Boxer and Achtenberg together was anathema to the coddled hyper-antigay late North Carolina Republican Sen. Jesse Helms. During her 1992 senate campaign, Boxer, who is 4-foot-11 inches tall, would joke about standing up to the 6 foot tall Helms. And asked by The Washington Times why he wouldn’t vote for Achtenberg, Helms snapped, “Because she’s a damn lesbian.”  Later Helms added that she was “a militant, activist, mean lesbian.”

Helms and fellow Republican Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott organized a campaign of hate against Achtenberg – not just

Sen. Jesse Helms Photo from Wikipedia

her confirmation – but Achtenberg as a person, dragging her then-partner Judge Mary Morgan and their child into the public fight. Interestingly, Republican Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas expressed concern that Helms’ rhetoric would paint the GOP as the party of intolerance – though Dole, even then the presumptive GOP presidential nominee in 1996, made no effort to temper other harbingers of hate such as California Reps. Bill Dannemeyer and Bob Dornan who joined the chorus of religious hate mongers such as Rev. Jerry Falwell in saying AIDS was God’s “punishment” for homosexuality.

For two days, Achtenberg endured ugly debate in the media and on the Senate floor. Her confirmation was considered a test: though mostly closeted gays virtually ran the Capitol behind the scenes and Clinton elevated gay visibility during an excruciatingly dark and deadly time, many LGBTs questioned whether they would want to put themselves through that process just as the still relatively new national Victory Fund was encouraging LGBTs to run as political candidates.

“I am not going to put a lesbian into a position like that,” Helms said. Other conservatives attacked Achtenberg for her work as San Francisco Supervisor in denying funding to the United Way because they supported the explicitly antigay Boy Scouts. “We’re not talking about some youth gang, the Bloods and the Crips,” Dole said. “We’re talking about the Boy Scouts!”

“Ms. Achtenberg is worse than intolerant,” said Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch. “By using her position to attack the Boy Scouts, she brought the power of government to bear against a private association because that private association does not mirror her beliefs about what is good and true and just.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer Photo by Karen Ocamb

Boxer was almost beside herself: “It’s not about qualifications, it’s about a private life style,” Boxer said. “I say

America is better than that.”

”Call it gay-bashing if you want to. I don’t call it that. I call it standing up for America’s traditional family values,” an emotional Helms said on the Senate floor.

”We are crossing the threshold into the first time in the history of America that a homosexual or a lesbian has been nominated by a president of the United States to a top job in the U.S. government.”

On May 24, 1993, the Senate approved Achtenberg’s confirmation on a 58-31 vote, with five Southern Democrats joining the 26 Republicans. However, 13 Republicans joined the 45 Democrats in voting yes. One of those Democrats was Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Sam Nunn of Georgia, the man most responsible for scuttling Clinton’s effort to lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military and the subsequent “compromise” of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell was seen whispering to Nunn before the vote.

“Roberta Achtenberg has broken down a wall and made it possible for future nominees to be judged on the merits” instead of prejudice, Gregory King, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, told the Los Angeles Times. HRCF and the gay community contributed at least $3 million to Clinton’s election campaign, which Helms claimed was extortion for the nomination.

“No doubt we should show tolerance and respect for those among us who are gay,” said Dole, who voted against Achtenberg. “But showing tolerance and respect should not force us to embrace an ideological agenda most Americans do not accept.”

“The real issue,” California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told the LA Times, is whether “the United States Senate should vote down a nomination without regard to a candidate’s overwhelming qualifications simply because she is gay.”

Two months later, Boxer told National Women’s Political Caucus that the confirmation experience was “as ugly as it gets on the floor of the United States Senate. . . . You could feel the politics of hate and fear and divisiveness.” Boxer wagged her finger, imitating Helms who warned, “this vote will be remembered.” Boxer said, “It will be remembered, because we stood up. We stood up–and we won!”

Achtenberg served for two years before leaving for an unsuccessful run for San Francisco mayor. While at HUD, she made some improvements for LGBTs but she was ultimately unable to end housing discrimination against LGBTs.

“The major goal of the Fair Housing Enforcement Effort at HUD was to re-invigorate a bureaucracy that had been so depleted and demoralized because of 20 years of a lack of civil rights enforcement of any kind. My job was a very different job,” she told the San Francisco Weekly in 2009.  Additionally, the George W. Bush Administration “willfully” did a lot of damage to the HUD’s civil rights enforcement. “They essentially eviscerated the fair housing enforcement division. As people retired they didn’t fill jobs. They froze appropriations at the 1990 levels — and didn’t even ask Congress for increased amounts of money despite increased prevalence of racial and ethnic-based housing discrimination. They didn’t pursue one fair-lending case related to the subprime mortage debaucle.”

But “times have changed,” she said. “I do think the Obama administration might indeed be amenable to issuing an executive order to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in federally financed housing.”

Last Thursday, Jan. 20, HUD proposed new regulations that finally prohibit LGBT discrimination in housing. Additionally, HUD is conducting the first-ever national study of discrimination against LGBTs in the rental and sale of housing.

“This is a fundamental issue of fairness,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a press release.  “We have a responsibility to make certain that public programs are open to all Americans.  With this proposed rule, we will make clear that a person’s eligibility for federal housing programs is, and should be, based on their need and not on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The Victory Fund’s Gay Politics blog reports that the Civil Rights Commission is an 8-member, independent federal body “that investigates, reports on and makes recommendations concerning civil rights issues.  Achtenberg, who was an early advisor to the LGBT community’s ongoing Presidential Appointments Project, is believed to be the first openly LGBT commissioner appointed to the panel.  She also currently serves on the board of trustees for the California State University.”

Achtenberg’s appointment is significant for several reasons, not the least of which because she is once again an LGBT “first” on the Civil Rights Commission.  She is a person who knows first hand what antigay hatred feels like, regardless of one’s station in life.  Surely she will handle this appointment as more than an intellectual exercise.

Achtenberg’s appointment also shows the clear, unrelenting through-line in antigay political attitudes – some of the same rhetoric is being used today, against the backdrop of a change in public opinion about LGBT equality.

But perhaps most importantly, Achtenberg and this appointment profoundly illustrate that it does get better – that merit can triumph over ignorant bias. And, for those of us too afraid to leave a hard-won job to pursue a dream – only to fade from public view if the dream doesn’t come true – Achtenberg’s return to the federal stage goes to show that significant second acts are possible in a lifetime of service.

A week before the Super Bowl, gay candidate kicks off City Council bid in host city Arlington

A week before Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, openly gay Realtor Chris Hightower is set to kick off his campaign for the District 5 seat on the City Council.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which has endorsed Hightower, he would be the first openly gay city councilmember in Arlington’s history.

Hightower is an Arlington native who is the son of former Democratic State Rep. Paula Pierson. He lives with his partner in the historic “azalea house” at Park Row and Davis, according to his campaign website:

“I am running for City Council because I love Arlington,” Hightower writes. “From the classrooms of my childhood to the elected offices of today, I have witnessed firsthand what good can come from the hard work of those who care about our hometown. They have made this city into the place that I love. Now, it is time for my generation to step forward and provide leadership for our city’s future just as the generations before us have. It is my hope that children living in Arlington today choose to stay here and raise their families — not because they see the great things I saw in our city while I was growing up, but because they saw something even better.”

Hightower is trying to unseat District 5 incumbent Lana Wolff, who is seeking a fifth term on the council. Other candidates expected to run in District 5 include attorney Terry Meza and UTA student Christopher McCain.

According to his Facebook page, Hightower will host a kickoff party at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2316 Woodsong Trail in Arlington.

He becomes the second candidate from Texas endorsed by the Victory Fund this year, joining Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns, who’s seeking re-election to his District 9 seat.

The other known openly gay candidate in North Texas is James Nowlin, who plans to run for the District 14 seat on the Dallas City Council if incumbent Angela Hunt steps down to run for mayor.

Whites, men dominate new Ohio governor's Cabinet

Denis Dison, vice president of the national Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which promotes diversity of sexual orientation in public office, said the issue is not tokenism.

"You often hear, 'I'm going to search for the most qualified candidates.' If your contention is that the best qualified people were all white and mostly male, then you haven't looked too hard," he said. "Picking the friends-of-friends, the contemporaries from schools, is dangerous because you create this sort of cadre of yes-men in an echo chamber, people who have only had one set of experiences."

Nichols strongly disagreed with Dison, noting that Kasich has made history with some of his choices, including women who are his chief of staff and running mate, as well as the appointment of the state's first female adjutant general to oversee the Ohio National Guard. The chairman of Kasich's inaugural is also gay.

"I reject the question," Nichols said. "We have a lot of women in the cabinet and the show over here, in terms of our chief of staff. No echo chamber here."

So How Anti-Gay IS the GOP These Days? :: Reading the Tea Leaves

Homophobia is still more permissible in politics than anti-Semitism or racismn, however, at least according to Denis Dison, vice president of external affairs at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

"You don’t see Fox News or CNN inviting white supremacists on the air to provide regular political commentary, but they often invite the leaders of viciously anti-LGBT groups like the Family Research Council to talk about employment non-discrimination, marriage, the military ban, etc," Dison said. "Frank Rich wrote a column in which he said homophobia was still at most a misdemeanor in Washington. I think that’s right."

The article Dison referred to criticized the Smithsonian’s decision to pull a segment of David Wojnarowicz’s "A Fire in My Belly" from an exhibit at The National Portrait Gallery.

The film, an expression of Wojnarowicz’s grief and fury over the death of his former lover and mentor from AIDS, received little attention until William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, an organization many consider a one-man band.

Congress gets 4th openly gay member

Cicilline earned the endorsement of many national LGBT organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

“This is an historic day for LGBT Americans, and another step toward a government that truly reflects our country’s diversity,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.

Congress gets 4th openly gay member

Cicilline earned the endorsement of many national LGBT organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

“This is an historic day for LGBT Americans, and another step toward a government that truly reflects our country’s diversity,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.

Atkins, Gleason head Victory Fund

Two San Diegans were recently elected to the board of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, one of the nation’s largest political action committees.

Susan Atkins is the new chair of the organization and Robert Gleason was elected vice-chair.

“I am honored to lead the Victory Fund as it celebrates its 20th anniversary and enters its third decade working to grow the number of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elected officials in government,” said Atkins, who has worked from more than 20 year in communications management in life sciences and technology. She is the first woman to chair the Victory Fund board since it restructured in 2006.

Gleason is currently the chief financial officer and general counsel of Evans Hotels, which owns and operates commercial properties and resorts, including The Lodge at Torrey Pines as well as the Bahia Resort Hotel and Catamaran Resort Hotel.

For more information on the Victory Fund visit www.victoryfund.org.

The political context of the next gay rights fight and Mayor Sam Adams

In 2008, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund helped get Adams elected mayor. His campaign reported receiving $29,400 in cash and in-kind contributions from the fund, which accounted for about 8 percent of Adams’ contributions that year. That race made Adams the first openly gay leader of a major U.S. city.

Victory Fund Supports Fort Worth's Burns

The Victory Fund has made its first endorsement for 2011 — getting behind the reelection effort of Joel Burns, the gay Fort Worth city councilman who in October made an impassioned speech in council chambers on LGBT youth suicides.

Burns's speech has been watched 2.5 million times, and the Victory Fund — which works to elect LGBT candidates to political office — says he has become a role model because of it. The councilman is running for reelection next year to represent the Texas city's District 9.

"Joel represents what the Victory Fund is all about — making sure LGBT voices are represented in government, and making sure we are heard," Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, said in a press release.

Daily Business Report — Dec. 10, 2010

San Diegans Susan Atkins and Robert Gleason have been elected to leadership positions in the national Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, an organization that works to increase the number of openly LGBT elected officials in the country. Atkins was elected chair and Gleason vice chair. Atkins, a member of the Victory Fund board since 2004, has 20 years of communications management experience in life sciences and technology. In 1999, she founded one of the most successful agencies in the United States providing investor and public relations exclusively to life science companies and organizations, and sold the firm to Porter Novelli in 2005. Atkins becomes the first woman to chair the Victory Fund board since it restructured in 2006. Gleason is the chief financial officer and general counsel of Evans Hotels, which owns and operates commercial properties and resorts, including The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla as well as the Bahia Resort Hotel and Catamaran Resort Hotel, both on Mission Bay.  The Victory Fund board also elected Steve Elmendorf of Washington, D.C., as secretary, and Harvey Hurdle of Philadelphia as treasurer.  Frank Selvaggi of New York, N.Y., was also elected to serve on the Victory Fund board.

Your daily dose of Joel Burns

Ever since his “It Gets Better” speech, it seems not a day (or even an hour) goes by that we don’t hear something new about openly gay Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns. Today’s news comes from GayPolitics.com, which reports that Burns is the Victory Fund’s first endorsed candidate for 2011.

His powerful October speech about the suicides of young gay people, delivered in the chambers of the Fort Worth City Council, has been viewed nearly 2.5 million times on YouTube, prompting media outlets from across the country (and the world) to seek interviews to discuss the issue of anti-LGBT bullying.

Councilman Joel Burns has become a hero to LGBT youth who so desperately need role models — people who are successful and respected, but who are also open and honest about being gay.

Now Burns is also the first 2011 candidate to earn the Victory Fund’s endorsement. He’s running for re-election to represent District 9 on the Fort Worth City Council, and the Victory Fund is out to make sure he wins.

“Joel represents what the Victory Fund is all about — making sure LGBT voices are represented in government, and making sure we are heard,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.

San Diegans to lead national gay & lesbian political organizatiion

Two San Diegans were elected to the top posts of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which bills itself as one of the largest political action committees in the nation.

Susan Atkins, a longtime communications expert, was selected as chair, the organization announced Thursday.

Robert Gleason, an executive with Evans Hotels, was named vice chair.

“I am honored to lead the Victory Fund as it celebrates its 20th anniversary and enters its third decade working to grow the number of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elected officials in government," Atkins said in a statement released by the political action committee.

"Helping to elect the LGBT people who fight for equal rights for all every day, the Victory Fund is engaged in a mission that’s focused and effective. Our win rate was 65% this year. That's phenomenal. Now more than ever it will be important for leaders from our community to be heard, and I look forward to leading the national organization that’s making that happen.”

The organization's release says Atkins has 20 years of communications management experience in life sciences and technology. In 1999, she founded an agency that provided investor and public relations exclusively to life science companies and organizations, and sold the firm to Porter Novelli in 2005. Atkins becomes the first woman to chair the Victory Fund board since it restructured in 2006.

The Victory Fund board also elected Steve Elmendorf of Washington, D.C., as secretary, and Harvey Hurdle of Philadelphia as treasurer. Frank Selvaggi of New York, N.Y., was also elected to serve on the Victory Fund board.

In 2010, the Victory Fund endorsed 164 candidates for public office, and 107 won their elections.

Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference

Openly LGBT leaders in politics, government and non-profit work met for the 26th International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference of the Victory Fund in Washington throughout the weekend. On Thursday the conference began with a reception with featured speakers including Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe, incoming Victory Fund Board Chair Brandon Hernandez and D.C. City Councilman David Catania.

Marriage Equality Coming to Maryland?

Out Maryland state senator Richard Madaleno said he is “guardedly optimistic” that the state legislature will pass a marriage equality bill in early 2011.

In an interview with Gay Politics, Madaleno put chances in the “six, seven eight range” on a scale of one to 10 for the bill's passage in the next 90-day session from January to mid-April of next year.

“His optimism stems from a number of developments on Election Day 2010, some of which ran absolutely counter to national trends,” reported Gay Politics. "In the Maryland Senate, Democrats actually expanded their majority to a 35-12

advantage over Republicans. And some Democrats who lost their seats did so in primary fights with more progressive challengers, many of whom vowed to be even stronger champions for marriage equality.”

Maryland also increased its number of out gay lawmakers from four to seven.
Madaleno said he felt confident the senate could pass a vote, but it was more difficult to predict the outcome in the House of Delegates. Governor Martin O’Malley has promised to sign a bill if it reaches his desk.

Woman becomes nation's 1st transgender trial judge

The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund has said she is the first openly transgender trial court judge in the country.

Kolakowski spent the past three years as an administrative law judge settling energy contract and environmental compliance disputes for the California Public Utilities Commission. She underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1981.

Victory Fund: State Legislatures Void of Openly Gay Republicans

There will be zero openly gay Republicans serving in state legislatures this January, according to the Victory Fund:

Among the nearly 4,000 Republican state lawmakers expected to serve across the U.S. come this January, none will be openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.  The development marks the first time in years that an openly LGBT voice will be absent from Republican politics at the state level.

“Unfortunately our endorsed GOP candidates for 2010 lost elections for state legislative positions in Nevada and Michigan, and the three sitting openly gay Republican state senators – in California, Massachusetts and Minnesota – are leaving office at the end of this year,” said James Dozier, deputy political director at the Victory Fund.

2010 Out 100 Portfolio

As the president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, Chuck Wolfe oversees the organization’s identification, training, and support of LGBT political candidates, campaign staff, and public officials, including the 164 candidates the fund endorsed in 2010. “We know out elected officials can be a leading political indicator of real change,” he says. “ So it’s exciting to see so many candidates stepping up to run for office this year.”

Lexington to become third-largest U.S. city with an openly-gay mayor

The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based group that endorses and supports openly gay candidates, had named Lexington's contest among the "Ten Races to Watch" across the country.

Denis Dison, vice-president of the Victory Fund, compared Gray to Annise Parker, another openly gay candidate whose election as mayor of Houston, Texas, in 2009 surprised many people.

"But she was very pro-business and pro-development," Dison said. "A lot of people would think of gay candidates as being left of center and that's not always the case. In Gray's case he's a businessman and he runs a large and successful company, and that would give business leaders more comfort."

Unlike the Lexington mayor's race, Parker's campaign was marked by anti-gay fliers around Houston.

"The fact that did not materialize in Lexington is a real credit to Mayor Newberry and to the community at large," Dison said.

The Victory Fund endorsed 164 openly gay candidates in Tuesday's election, and a record 106 of them were elected.

Dison said about 30 cities across the country, most of them small, have openly gay mayors.

Congress will now have four open gay or lesbian members

The Victory Fund, a national organization dedicated to nurturing and electing qualified LGBT candidates, pointed to other elections around the nation to claim a record number of gay and lesbian candidates winning office.

Kevin Lembo, for instance, won his race to become the Connecticut state comptroller, putting him among the few gay people elected to statewide office in the nation.

Laurie Jinkins of Washington, Marcus Brandon of North Carolina, Patricia Todd in Alabama, Kathy Webb and Jack Jackson, Jr. of Arizona, Ricardo Lara in California, Lucia Guzman in Colorado, Simone Bell and Karla Drenner in Georgia,  Matt McCoy in Iowa,  Stan Rosenberg and Carl Sciortino of Massachusetts, and Heather Mizeur and Mary Washington of Maryland all won races for their states’ legislatures, as did Scott Dibble in Minnesota, Jeanette Mott Oxford and Michael Colona of Missouri, Diana Sands of Montana, Frank Ferri, Gordon Fox and Deb Ruggiero in Rhode Island, Jason Lorber and Suzi Wizowaty of Vermont and Cathy Connolly in Wyoming.

Those are in addition to Nickie Antonio, Ohio’s first out state legislator, and other local officials elected across the nation.

None of the Republicans endorsed by the Victory Fund for state legislative races were successful.

Midterms a Mixed Bag for LGBT Equality

From the House of Representatives to Lexington, Kentucky, which just elected its first gay mayor, one of the most prominent groups tied to the victory of LGBT candidates is The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. This nonpartisan, federal, political, action committee funds, trains and promotes candidates for public office through donations, its Leadership Institute and a fellowship program. By focusing on politics through the endorsement and promotion of LGBT candidates, the fund seeks to gain equality for all LGBT people regardless of political affiliation.

In fact, since its 1991 founding, the fund's web site reads, "the number of openly LGBT elected officials serving in the U.S. has grown from 49 to more than 500." And the fund has backed many of them.

This campaign season, it backed a record 164 LGBT candidates, including Democrat, Republican and nonpartisan candidates - and saw a record 106 succeed. No Republican Congressional or state legislator backed by the fund, however, won election, according to Denis Dison, the fund's spokesperson.

Of its successes, the fund's CEO Chuck Wolfe said in a statement, "We can be proud that our community continues to expand its voice at all levels of government in America. Out public officials are having a sizable impact on the local, state and national debates about LGBT equality. Increasing their numbers is a vital part of a long-term strategy to change America's politics and make our country freer and fairer for everyone."