NewsMax.com
Monday, Jan. 5, 2004

According to 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.”

This early support paid off in practical dividends for Dean, says the Post.

For instance -- with one exception -- every fundraiser Dean attended outside Vermont in 2002 was organized by gays and lesbians.

Furthermore, the trend continued into 2003 when more than half the events in that year’s first quarter also enjoyed gay and lesbian sponsorship.

Even before he announced his candidacy, in 2001 and early 2002, Gov. Dean was making hay over his signing of Vermont’s civil unions law.

The signing virtually made him a hero overnight in the gay community, while also putting him on the A-list as speaker to branches of the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations across the county.

Fundraisers and speaking platforms aside, cash began to flow into the Dean coffers from the gay community – via his Fund for a Healthy America, the political action committee he set up in 2001.

One donor, David Bohnett, chairman of a foundation supporting the positive portrayal of lesbians and gay men in the media, gave the fledgling Dean PAC $5,000.

Another early contributor, Kathy Levinson, founder of the Lesbian Equity Foundation of Silicon Valley, contributed $5,000.

By May 2002, Dean was speaking at a prestigious California meeting of gay philanthropists sponsored by the Gill Foundation, where he first attracted the attention of Georgetown University law professor Craig Hoffman.

Hoffman, who immediately coughed up a grand to the Dean kitty and later hosted a fundraiser in Washington, revealed to the Post that the early view was that “he didn’t have a chance.”

But, Hoffman added, “I didn’t care, because at least there was someone saying things that I believed in without being afraid.”

Fire Island Venue

Dean’s first fundraiser as an official presidential candidate took place in June, 2002, on New York’s Fire Island, a popular resort with gays.

According to the report, James F. Guidera of New York was in attendance and 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 was referring to the April 26, 2000 signing by then-Gov. Dean of 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.

Dean says he opposes gay marriage. Though his fellow contenders for the nomination have all made pro-gay noises, none can come close to Dean’s record of having signed the civil unions law.

Dean doesn’t shy away from the subject: “The Republican Party seems eager to run against me because of my role in enactment of this historic law. I welcome that debate,” Dean announces on his famous 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.”

Early and enthusiastic backing by the gay community, noted the Post, laid the groundwork for Dean, who then expanded his core support group.

Anti-war, anti-Bush folks climbed on the bandwagon -- along with those disheartened by the outcome of the 2000 election and those generally unhappy with the Democratic Party establishment.

Meanwhile, says the Post, the gay community has become a powerful force in the Democratic Party, with key Democratic fundraisers estimating that the gay community provides at least 10 percent of the money coming into the party and its nominees.

One good example of the gay community cash spigot is the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council. The council requires a hefty contribution of $10,000 and to date has attracted more than 300 members, Executive Director Lila G. Gracey revealed to the Post.

Not surprisingly, Dean holds a decisive lead among gay voters, according to surveys. 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.

The Dean enthusiasm in the gay community has been infectious.

Case-in-point: 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 and Harrison were in Vermont the very first day civil unions became available.

“We got our license the first day and a justice of the peace to do the ceremony,” Campbell said. “We’ve been supportive of him ever since.”

[Editor's Note: See also Gay Group Sticks With GOP.]

© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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