Copied without permission from the San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 22,
     1994:

     CLINTON'S REVERSAL ANGERS GAYS
     San Franciscan dropped from ambassadorial list

     By Ken Hoover
     Chronicle Staff Writer

     Gay and lesbian leaders reacted with outrage yesterday to news that
     President Clinton will not go forward with the nomination of San
     Francisco philanthropist and civic leader James C. Hormel as
     ambassador to Fiji.

     The administration has told Hormel, who would have been this country's
     first openly gay ambassador, that his name will not be submitted to
     the Senate for confirmation because Clinton wants to avoid a possible
     fight over homosexuality with incoming Foreign Relations Committee
     chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., the Washington Post reported.

     The Senate will be in Republican hands beginning in January.

     For almost a year, those in Bay Area Democratic circles expected
     Hormel, the 61-year-old heir to the meat-packing fortune, to be
     formally named to the Fiji post.

     Hormel declined to comment on the report, which could not be confirmed
     by the White House last night. But other gay and lesbian Democrats
     were not reluctant to discuss the political implications.

     'Spineless Approach'

     "His rejection once again underscores the spineless approach of the
     Clinton administration to the gay and lesbian community," said San
     Francisco Supervisor Carole Migden, who is also a member of the
     Democratic National Committee. "We are all very disappointed."

     Migden was critical of the administration for waiting so long to
     nominate Hormel formally before the November election. She said she
     knew Hormel was anxious to have the nomination go forward.

     "It has been known for months that this election would bode poorly for
     Democrats," Migden said.

     She added that the administration has moved too slowly to fill many
     federal posts, and not merely those involving nominations of gays.
     According to Migden, judicial nominations submitted to the White House
     months ago by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer still have
     not been acted upon.

     "The administration has been in place for two years now," Migden said.

     Soon after Clinton went to the White House, gay rights advocates
     hailed his appointment of San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg,
     a lesbian, as assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and
     Urban Development.

     But the president disappointed many gay groups when he compromised on
     a pledge - made more than a year before he was elected - that he would
     lift the ban on gays serving in the military as one of his first acts
     in office.

     Clinton Compromise

     In the face of congressional and military resistance, Clinton settled
     for a compromise "don't ask, don't tell" policy that left the status
     of gay servicemen and women uncertain.

     Yesterday, some gay political leaders said Hormel's situation marks
     another instance in which Clinton has backed down because of
     controversy.

     "Gays and lesbians are going to be angry, and people who know Jim
     Hormel are going to be angry," Matthew Rothschild, San Francisco
     Democratic chairman and former chairman of the Alice B. Toklas
     Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club, the nation's oldest and largest gay and
     lesbian political organization. "Three months ago, this was a good
     nomination. Now it isn't.

     "I thought we elected a fighter. I say take (Helms) on. There's no
     other reason other than lack of guts to abandon this nomination."

     Hormel operates a firm that invests the family fortune. He said he
     also spends much of his time in civic and charitable activities. He
     works on projects with AIDS service providers, is a former board
     member for public broadcasting television station KQED, is on the
     board of the American Foundation for AIDS research and serves on many
     other boards.