From: rdailey@acad.stedwards.edu Fri May 6 16:26:47 1994 Date: Fri, 6 May 94 14:49:47 CDT Excerpts from "A Little Bit of Colorado in Texas" by Louisa C. Brinsmade The Austin Chronicle, May 6, 1994 Mainstream Austin Coalition commandant and strategist, State Representative Glen Maxey, leads the way through the narrow downtown office building crowded with volunteers grabbing yard signs, leaflets, and stickers for another day of campaigning. He says he has very little time for our interview, but talks nearly two hours, about his fight against the Proposition 22 referendum, gay rights, and his personal ideology as Texas' first openly gay state legislator. With Maxey at the helm of the campaign against Proposition 22 -- which would repeal the city council's vote last September to extend benefits to the domestic partners of city employees -- this issue is guaranteed to increase voter turnout on both sides. Extending the Right Hand When the city council amended the city charter to extend the domestic partner benefits, the vote was immediately considered progressive and cutting edge; it acknowledged for the first time in Texas the validity and inherent rights of unmarried couple relationships, both heterosexual and homosexual. The rejoicing among the progressive liberals was short-lived. Following the council vote, the Reverend Charles Bullock of Christ Memorial Baptist Church took out a full page ad in the Austin American-Statesman blasting the council on four counts: fiscal irresponsibility; condoning illegal activity; eroding traditional family values; and condoning immoral activity. Those four tenets, in that order, are the backbone of Concerned Texans, a Christian group Bullock and fellow evangelical Baptist Michael Brandes formed to repeal the new city benefits policy. By March, Concerned Texans had gathered over 17,000 signatures -- more than enough to meet the requirement for a valid petition -- calling for the city council to put the domestic partner benefits policy to a public vote. Bullock told Chronicle reporter Sherry Wasilow-Mueller recently that the city is spending too much money on the benefits and overstepped its authority when it passed the new policy last year. Same sex couples "can't even be married in the state of Texas," he said. "They're not even legal. And the city of Austin has no authority or right to redefine marriage... it should go to the Legislature." When the referendum was approved by the city council on March 17 and placed on the May 7 ballot, the gay and lesbian community was caught off guard. "The attitude in Austin is that the radical right will never win here. People blew off Concerned Texans," says Maxey. "That is until ultimately some of us recognized they would get their referendum on the ballot." Concerned Texans was immediately labeled by the gay and lesbian community as the radical religious right when it became apparent that the group had received help from two local groups affiliated with national Christian organizations: the Austin chapter of the Christian Coalition led locally by Kirk Ingels, and the American Family Association (AFA) led locally by Jeff Fisher. (Fisher may be more commonly known as the "dildo man" for his habit of bringing boxes of vibrators, dildos, and other sex toys to legislative hearings on any topic remotely concerned with sex crimes or the Penal Code.) The Christian Coalition, with headquarters in Virginia, is led by 700 Club host Pat Robertson. American Family Association's base is in Mississippi and is led by Don Wildman. When it was discovered that the local AFA had helped gather petition signatures for Concerned Texans, to most of the gay and lesbian community, the referendum and ensuing campaign to get out the conservative Christian vote was perceived as an infiltration into Austin's tolerant, liberal environment. It's a place where even Fisher enjoys some acceptance. "It's a shame it's being represented that way, as if we have some national agenda to fulfill, beacuse we don't," says Fisher. "We do support Concerned Texans, and we are helping them wherever we can, but to call it gay-bashing or homophobia is just not true." Fisher says AFA subscribers (and there are 85,000 of them statewide), "are opposed to the homosexual lifestyle and behavior," but that mainly the group gets involved with paternal rights and school textbook issues. Sonny Hood, of the Austin Lesbian-Gay Political Caucus, believes the debate has implications beyond gay or lesbian rights. "The issue is whether Austin remains a broad-minded and tolerant community." He says he opposes "letting the religious right come in and dictate the morality of Austin." It's a National Christian Community Concerned Texans is certainly not as alone in their campaign as Brandes claims. Their contribution and expense report lists a $200 honorarium paid last December 14 to Kevin Tebedo, director of Colorado for Family Values (CFV), and the architect of the Colorado anti-gay rights Amendment 2 that passed in November 1992. Tebedo attended a November "Family Values Defense Conference" in Austin hosted by the AFA. The invocation was given by Rev. Bullock, and Tebedo lectured on "How to Win a Referendum." Concerned Texans paid the bill, plus $161 for accommodations. The problem with groups like Concerned Texans is not that they exist, because everyone has the right to gather and discuss politics, it's the disingenuousness of the players, both locally and nationally when it comes to a political agenda, says Maxey. The fear among MAC organizers is that the AFA, the Christian Coalition, or CFV will drop a chunk of money into television advertising for the Concerned Texans campaign since the final "contribution and expense" reporting period before the election ended on April 28. "No matter what happens this Saturday, afterward, the truth will come out about who they are. They can only hide their true intentions for so long," says politico David Butts. Maxey agrees and at the same time keeps one eye focused on the national picture for gay and lesbian rights. "If we win, it will be important for the whole nation -- in the way we run this campaign. Other communities will want to know how we packaged the message and pushed it through," Maxey says. "If we lose Saturday, many people will be devastated and I imagine we will be seeing another referendum on the city's policy of non-discrimination in hiring. Look for that in the next voting cycle coming near you."