Date: Wed, 11 Jun 97 20:03:25 EDT From: "communications" Subject: Christian Coalition's New Leaders Tate, Hodel (HRC Release) ________________________________________________________ NEWS from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: hrc@hrc.org WWW: http://www.hrc.org ________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, June 11, 1997 PAT ROBERTSON TAKING CHRISTIAN COALITION `BACK TO THE FUTURE' WITH HODEL AS PRESIDENT, HRC SAYS Terms Randy Tate No Friend to Gays and Lesbians WASHINGTON -- Randy Tate, who has been tapped to succeed Ralph Reed as executive director of the Christian Coalition, has a history of opposing equal rights for gay men and lesbians, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Tate, who served one term as a GOP congressman from Washington's 9th Congressional District, earned a zero on HRC's scorecard for the 104th Congress. "During his single House term, Tate opposed every pro-gay and supported every anti-gay measure that came to a vote," said Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's legislative director. "Not surprisingly, the Christian Coalition found him 100 percent in agreement with their legislative agenda." Donald Hodel, a former Cabinet secretary, was named Christian Coalition president. Hodel headed the Interior and Energy Departments under President Reagan. Both appointments were announced today by the Rev. Pat Robertson, who also announced he is moving from coalition president to board chairman. "In naming Hodel, Robertson appears to be trying to take the Christian Coalition back to the future, to those failed days of the so-called Reagan revolution," Stachelberg said. Tate voted against maintaining federal AIDS training programs and for the virulently anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, Stachelberg noted. "He also refused to support a measure to repeal the discharge of HIV-positive service members and declined to sign a policy indicating he would not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in employment." Tate also urged Congress to terminate the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts because of their limited support of projects with gay and lesbian themes. In the last election cycle, HRC's political action committee contributed $8,622 to the campaign of Adam Smith, a Democrat who defeated Tate. That figure included the services of a member of HRC's Youth College for Campaign Training who worked in Smith's campaign. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. - 30 -