New York Times -- 3/22/92 from the Montgomery Journal, printed without permission Montgomery, Ala., March 19 Montgomery residents say this lovely river port has always been genteel except when the Alabama Legislature was in session. The legislators, many of them small-town lawyers, used to spit tobacco, engage in noisy debates, and throw their peanut sheels onto the floors. But even the legislators are models of decorum now. The spittoons and peanut shells have disappeared, and many of the lawmakers, some of whom have nicknames like Noopie, Skippy, Crum and Jabo, have traded in their plaid sport coats for tailored gray suits. Some lawmakers are even taking a measured approach to an issue that in legislatures past would surely have incited streams of invective: A bill on the current calendar of the Alabama House, Bill 454, seeks to limit gay groups on the campuses of the state's colleges and universities. It would "prohibit any college or university from spending public funds to sanction any group that promotes a life style prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws" that the state enacted in 1977. Supporters of the bill said it would prevent universities from recognizing groups like the Auburn Gay and Lesbian Association, whose charter ws recently approved by administrtors at Auburn University, about 50 miles northwest of here. The chief architect of the bill, Representative Pete Turnham, Democrat of Auburn, hesitates to insert his religious beliefs into the debate. "Sometimes you should not let your religious and personal views get involved in your clear thinking," he said. "My objective has never been to keep somebody from meeting and marching on campus, but simply to prevent state money from being used to promote the breaking of state laws." ******************* Nonetheless, deep feelings underlie both sides of the current dispute. "If the charter of this group is allowed to stand," said Representative Mark L. Gaines, a Homewood Republican who is a co-sponsor of the bill, "you've opened the door for organizations that promote bestiality and wife-swapping." But Carol Daron, an assitant professor of English at Auburn, said, "It's an absurd bill, an absolutely outrageous and embarrassing bill." The House bill, which was approved by the Judiciary Committee in early March, is but one development in four months of debate about the gay group at Auburn. The group's faculty advisor, Donna Sollie, said it was granted a probationary charter from the university's Student Government Association in 1990, and noted that the group won an award from the student government as the outstanding new organization. But when time came for a vote on the group's permanent charter last November, sentiment within the student government had changed. The vote was 23 to 7 against granting the charter. The student government president, Jon waggoner, 21, attributed the change to advice given by the Rutherford Institute, a Christian legal defense organization. "We found, because we were dealing with state laws, that we had legal grounds to deny the charter," he said. In January, however, the vice president of student affairs at Auburn, Patricia Barnes, overruled the student government and granted the charter. Mr. Waggoner asserted that the university was pressured by threats of legal action. Dr. Barnes has refused to comment on her decision. Whatever the reasoning behind the university's action, the members of Auburn Gay and Lesbian Association felt vindicated. But reaction was swift and virulent. Students opposed to the charter organized a petition drive that collected 21,000 signatures, 4,000 of them from students, asking the Auburn board of trustees to rescind approval of the gay group's charter. Demonstrations by these students and counterdemonstrations by supporters of the gay group have led to heated words and at least one incident in which a pellet gun was fired near the gay demonstrators. And then there is House bill 454, which would spread the controversy to include all the colleges and universities in Alabama, some of which also have gay groups on campus. Complicating the debate, the state's anti-sodomy and sexual misconduct laws are unclear because the specific activities outlawed are never listed. Critics of the law say activitites like oral sex between married heterosexuals could be considered crimes. At a recent reception, some lawmakers suggested that the legislature was stepping into territory where it should not go. "I don't think the legislature ought to be involved in something like that," said State Senator James Bennett, Democrat of Homewood. "We've got a lot of important work to do down here." Others say they would support the bill 454 out of a simple matter of religious conviction or legal interpretation. But for some, support for the bill, like a slavish adherence to fashion, may be rooted in a fear of ridicule. Representative David Barnes, Democrat of Birmingham, believes the bill will "pass in a minute." "People are saying if you vote against the bill," he said,"people will think you're a homosexual, and that'll send the wrong message back home." - ----------------------------------------------------------------- -Mickey McDonald -Duke University