Gay Community Gave Dean Early Boost

Civil Unions Law Signed in Vermont Drew Supporters

By Thomas B. Edsall, washingtonpost.com from the Web, January 1, 2004

Washington , DC -- Former Vermont governor Howard Dean's record-setting fundraising first took off in large part because of an outpouring of support from the gay community.

With just one exception, every fundraiser Dean attended outside Vermont in 2002 was organized by gay men and lesbians, as were more than half the events in the first quarter of 2003, according to Dean advisers.

"The early foundation of Governor Dean's presidential campaign -- both in fundraising and organization -- was built by the support of the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community around the country," said Dean finance director Stephanie Schriock.

The gay community "was the first to recognize Dean's strength of character after his leadership on Vermont 's civil union legislation, and because of that, they were the first to open up their homes for events and ask their friends and colleagues to give money to this endeavor," she added.

This early backing provided a foundation for Dean to expand his core support to include voters opposed to the Iraq war, angry at President Bush, embittered by the outcome of the 2000 election and discontented with what they saw as a Democratic Party establishment without backbone.

All nine Democratic presidential candidates support most issues of importance to gay organizations, but Dean has one major advantage: On April 26, 2000 , he signed the nation's first law granting same-sex couples the right to enter legally sanctioned civil unions that provide many of the protections of traditional marriage.

The gay community has become a powerful force in the Democratic Party, reflecting the growing importance of socially and culturally liberal groups in providing both votes and money, as business and trade associations shift increasingly toward the Republican Party.

Key Democratic fundraisers estimate that the gay community provides at least 10 percent of the money flowing to the party and its nominees.

In a reflection of the politicization of the gay community, the Democratic National Committee's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, which requires a contribution of $10,000, has more than 300 members, said Executive Director Lila G. Gracey. Of the DNC's constituency groups, the top three sources of cash are the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, the Business Council, and the Women's Leadership Forum.

In 2001 and early 2002, well before he announced his candidacy, Dean capitalized on his signing of the civil unions law and his hero status in the gay community, speaking to branches of the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations across the county.

Some of the largest contributions to the Fund for a Healthy America, the political action committee Dean set up in 2001 to finance the exploration of a presidential campaign, were from prominent leaders in the gay community.

In November 2001, David Bohnett, chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, which according to its Web site supports "the positive portrayal of lesbians and gay men in the media," gave the Dean PAC $5,000, and Charles C. Nolan, the partner of DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias, gave $2,500. In December, Kathy Levinson, a successful Palo Alto , Calif. , entrepreneur and founder of the Lesbian Equity Foundation of Silicon Valley, contributed $5,000.

One of the first major donors to Dean after he formally announced his candidacy was Georgetown University law professor Craig Hoffman. He first heard Dean speak at a California meeting of gay philanthropists sponsored by the Gill Foundation and in May 2002 contributed $1,000.

Even though the view then was that "he didn't have a chance," Hoffman said, "I didn't care, because at least there was someone saying things that I believed in without being afraid." In November 2002, Hoffman hosted a Dean fundraiser in Washington that 40 people attended.

The Dean campaign's first presidential fundraiser was June 22, 2002 , on New York 's Fire Island , a summer resort community popular among gays. James F. Guidera of New York was on Fire Island and decided to see what an unknown former Vermont governor had to say. He left impressed. "If you are in the gay community and you see a governor who signs the civil unions law and everyone else is afraid of the whole concept, and even Democrats are helping to pass the Defense of Marriage Act, then Dean stands out," Guidera said.

In June 2002, Guidera gave the Dean presidential campaign $1,000, then the maximum allowed under law.

Guidera and other donors said they were impressed not only by Dean's outspoken support of gay rights but also by his enthusiastic readiness to do battle with the GOP on controversial and divisive issues.

"The Republican Party seems eager to run against me because of my role in enactment of this historic law. I welcome that debate," Dean writes on his Web site. "I can't wait to ask the President of the United States . . . to repudiate the GOP-authored Defense of Marriage Act, an unconstitutional, mean-spirited law that stoked fears of homosexuality."

The gay community's support has paid off not only in cash -- helping Dean set an all-time Democratic record of at least $40 million raised through the end of last year -- but also in a decisive lead among gay voters, according to two surveys.

"Dean realized that after civil unions happened he had a naturally expanded base beyond Vermont , a constituency that was looking for someone, a constituency that wanted a change from the existing administration as strongly as any other," said Chuck Wolfe, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign, said, "Governor Dean early on used his support from the gay and lesbian community as key building blocks to a campaign that we see as hugely successful, as having built a large grass-roots network both in terms of contributors and ground troops." The group has not endorsed a presidential candidate.

Two independent surveys of gay voters last summer showed Dean holding a substantial lead over his Democratic opponents, a 22-percentage-point lead in one, and a 33-point lead in the other.

One of the first organizations to endorse Dean was the New Jersey-based Gay and Lesbian Political Action and Support Groups (GayPASG), run by John Campbell and Richard Harrison.

Campbell said he and Harrison were in Vermont "the day civil unions became available."

"We got our license the first day and a justice of the peace to do the ceremony," he said. "We've been supportive of him ever since." They have held three Dean fundraisers.

Printed in the 1/1/04 issue of the Washington Post, Page A08

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