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Is Marco Rubio anti-gay?
Could Floridians find out too late that they voted for a staunchly anti-gay U.S. Senator?
Florida’s leading GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio, doesn’t like to talk about social issues now that he’s the clear front runner for his party’s nomination. In fact, his campaign Web site is silent on key issues important to the LGBT community–nothing on employment non-discrimination, adoption, partnership rights, etc.
But Rubio, a 39 year-old former State House Speaker, has rocketed past Gov. Charlie Crist in polls of likely Republican voters largely on a message of conservative purity.
Florida LGBT activists say Rubio opposes marriage equality and supports the military’s ban on openly gay troops. In fact, his early endorsement by the rabidly anti-gay Family Research Council may indicate a more hard-core social agenda than he’d like like to acknowledge as he heads into a general election contest. ”FRC Action PAC believes that Marco Rubio will be a true advocate for the issues that best uphold and strengthen families. We are proud to support his candidacy,” said FRC’s Tony Perkins, a nationally known anti-gay talking head.
One Florida LGBT activist, who asked not to be named because he works with Tallahassee Republicans, told GayPolitics he believes Rubio and his staff have made a concerted effort to stay silent on LGBT issues. ”But the truth is Rubio’s horrible,” the source added.
Tony Plakas, an openly gay columnist for the Florida Sun-Sentinel, told GayPolitics Rubio may not be talking about LGBT issues because his GOP primary opponent, Crist, doesn’t dare raise the issues himself. ”For Rubio, no position is the best position right now. This is Charlie Crist’s fault,” Plakas said. ”Apparently Charlie’s closet is big enough for Marco Rubio or any other primary challenger.”
Crist, whose sexual orientation has been the subject press speculation and at least one documentary feature film, has denied he is gay.
But Rubio may also know that going on the record now opposing the LGBT community’s top legislative priorities could alienate moderate voters in the fall, when he will likely face Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek. National GOP strategists are increasingly advising social conservatives to tone down their rhetoric on hot-button social issues in order to gain more support from independents, which now outnumber both registered Democrats and Republicans.
Rubio’s campaign did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on his positions on LGBT issues.
Oklahoma Senate tries to thwart U.S. hate crimes law
Oklahoma state senators yesterday voted overwhelmingly to block federal law enforcement officials from investigating hate crimes in the state. The move is a reaction to enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed by Congress last year, which added sexual orientation, gender identity and disability to existing federal hate crimes statutes.
“We just don’t want the pendulum to swing too far the other way,” said Sen. Steve Russell (R-Oklahoma City), according to the Oklahoman. ”This protects people to do or say whatever they want, as long as it complies with local ordinances.”
But Sen. John Sparks (D-Norman) said the measure, which must be approved now by the State House, could put local district attorneys in a bind. ”They could be guilty of obstruction of justice if the federal government requests evidence and they don’t turn it over. This language has all sorts of ramifications,” Sparks told the Oklahoman.
School cancels prom to avoid lesbian couple
A Northern Mississippi school district has cancelled its annual prom rather than change a policy that forbids same-sex couples from attending. The ACLU of Mississippi had asked Itawamba County school officials to allow an 18 year-old student, Constance McMillen, to attend with her girlfriend, who is also a student.
According to the Asheville Citizen-Times:
The ACLU said McMillen approached school officials…because she knew same-sex dates had been banned in the past. The ACLU said district officials told McMillen she and her girlfriend wouldn’t be allowed to arrive together, that she would not be allowed to wear a tuxedo, and that she and her girlfriend might be asked to leave if their presence made any other students “uncomfortable.”
…
Anna Watson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, was looking forward to the prom, especially since the town’s only hotspot is the bowling alley, she said.
“I am a little bummed out about it. I guess it’s a decision that had to be made. Either way someone was going to get disappointed — either Constance was or we were,” Watson said. “I don’t agree with homosexuality, but I can’t change what another person thinks or does.”
Other students are on McMillen’s side.
McKenzie Chaney, 16, said she wasn’t planning to attend the prom, but “it’s kind of ridiculous that they can’t let her wear the tuxedo and it all be over with.”