Gay Rights Group
Criticizes Senator Clinton's
Stance on Same-Sex
Marriage
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ,
NYTimes on the Web, February 22, 2006
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — The head
of a leading gay rights advocacy group in New York has begun criticizing Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton's position on same-sex marriage and encouraging gays and
lesbians to stop giving money to her re-election campaign.
In a memorandum to board members, Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of
the group, the Empire State Pride Agenda, said Mrs. Clinton was "a complete
disappointment," taking issue with her opposition to same-sex marriage and her
support for the Defense of Marriage Act.
Mrs. Clinton supports civil unions between members of the same sex but opposes
gay marriage. She also opposes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban
same-sex marriage.
In his memo, which was reported on Tuesday on the Politicker Web site of The New
York Observer, Mr. Van Capelle said that he refused to "lend my name and sell
tickets" to any fund-raiser sponsored by a gay group for Mrs. Clinton's
re-election campaign. He said supporting such fund-raisers for Mrs.
Clinton would "actually hurt" the gay and lesbian community.
"It will send a message to other elected officials that you can be working
against us during this critical time and not suffer a negative pushback from the
gay community," he said. "We have become a community that throws money at
politicians, and we demand nothing in return. And that's what we get:
nothing. It's the wrong message to send."
Mrs. Clinton's advisers countered that her support within the gay community runs
deep, noting that a fund-raising event planned for next month will have
prominent gay politicians and activists as hosts, including Christine C. Quinn,
the New York City Council speaker, and Ethan Geto, a well-known lobbyist.
In an interview last night, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, a Manhattan Democrat
who is gay, said that Mrs. Clinton remained an extremely popular figure in the
gay community. He called her a strong advocate for the gay and lesbian
issues, noting that she has helped secure federal funding for critically
important programs, including AIDS treatment.
"Would we like her to be 100 percent on the marriage issue? Yes," he said.
"But it's important for us to continue educating her on the issue."
The remarks by Mr. Van Capelle, who did not return phone calls left at his
office yesterday, come as national Democrats are reassessing the party's
positions on gay marriage, a social issue that Republicans used to undercut
Democratic candidates in the 2004 elections.
In his memo, Mr. Van Capelle said he believed that Mrs. Clinton has generally
served New York well as a senator and that she deserved to be re-elected.
"My vote for Senator Clinton will come despite her regrettable statements on the
issue of marriage for same-sex couples," he wrote.
He also said her position on gay marriage compared unfavorably with the position
taken by other New York Democratic officials and politicians.
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