Kuhl On Gays-1

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1 of 1 DOCUMENT The New York Times February 6, 1993, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

POLITICAL MEMO; Albany G.O.P. Grappling With Gay Rights BYLINE: By KEVIN SACK, Special to The New York Times SECTION: Section 1; Page 23; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk LENGTH: 1135 words DATELINE: ALBANY, Feb. 5

The State Senate's decision on what action to take on a gay-rights bill is shaping up as a particularly difficult test for the Republican majority -- one that could define the direction of party politics in New York through the 1994 elections. Both supporters and opponents of the bill believe the choice confronting 35 Republican senators reflects the divisions in the national party after the loss of the White House. Supporters of the bill, which passed the Democratic-controlled Assembly for the first time on Monday, believe the Republicancontrolled Senate can distance the state party from the right-wing politics of Patrick J. Buchanan and Pat Robertson by approving the legislation. Many see a more inclusive Republican approach as vital to the party's chances in the 1994 gubernatorial election. Similarly, many of the delegates attending a meeting of the Republican National Committee in St. Louis last weekend argued that the party can regain the Presidency only if it becomes a "big tent," enveloping a diversity of views on abortion and other social issues. Much of the introspection in St. Louis, including an extraordinary valedictory by the departing national chairman, Richard N. Bond, focused on the need to eliminate abortion as a Republican litmus test. But some Republicans believe the party could also broaden its support by toning down its hostility toward gay rights. In New York, where Republican power is concentrated in the State Senate, advocates on both sides of the gay-rights debate agree that the Senate's decision will help shape the party's image. "If the Republican Party folds on this issue, then in fact what does the Republican Party stand for?" asked Michael R. Long, the chairman of the Conservative Party and an opponent of the bill. "And if they stand for nothing they might as well be Democrats. The Democratic Party has been pandering to the homosexual community for years." The opposite view was voiced by David A. Hansell, the deputy executive director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, which has lobbied for the bill. "What's very much at stake here is the message that the Republican Party wants to send about its tolerance of different viewpoints," he said. "To deny a vote on this issue would send a message very analogous to that sent at the Republican Convention in Houston, which is that the party only wants to appeal to the narrower elements." The Senate majority leader, Ralph J. Marino, who controls the fate of the gay-rights bill, has yet to signal whether he will pull his members toward the center or seek to shore up support on the right. A survey of Republican senators this week indicated that many were clearly waiting for Mr. Marino to provide some leadership and, in a number of cases, some political cover. Although gay-rights bills have been kicking around the Legislature for more than two decades, most of the senators surveyed said they would not make a decision until they conferred privately with Mr. Marino and their colleagues. Only three Senators -- Roy M. Goodman of Manhattan, Nicholas A. Spano of Yonkers, and John A. DeFrancisco of Syracuse -said they support the bill. Eleven senators said they adamantly oppose it, 12 said they were completely undecided, four said they were undecided but had serious reservations, and three said they were undecided but leaned toward supporting it. Two senators did

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not return repeated telephone calls made during the last four days. Those who opposed the legislation voiced a number of concerns. They included having the state condone homosexual life styles; opening the door to new laws or court precedents that would permit homosexual marriages and health benefits for domestic partners, and giving sexual orientation, which many consider a matter of preference, the same protections as genetic classifications like race, sex and ethnicity. Mr. Marino, who is from Oyster Bay, L.I., has said he plans to discuss the bill in a closed-door conference of the 35 Republicans in the 61-member Senate. He has said he will put the bill on the floor of the full Senate only if most of the Republicans support doing so. The question of whether the vote goes to the floor is critical. If it does, support can be expected from almost all of the 26 Democrats in the Senate, meaning that the bill could be passed with as few as seven or eight Republican votes. "Members are waiting to see just how much of a push Senator Marino is going to make to get the bill out of conference and onto the floor," said a Senate aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "If he holds back, they'll be reluctant. If he pushes it out for a vote, he'll provide them with some cover." The bill received a slight boost on Thursday when Mr. Goodman announced that he would replace the Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein of Manhattan, as the prime sponsor of the legislation. Mr. Ohrenstein, who has sponsored the bill for two decades, agreed to cede prime sponsorship to Mr. Goodman on the theory that other Republicans would be more likely to support legislation sponsored by a Republican than by a Democrat. Several other political factors could influence the Senate Republicans. Conservative Party United States Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, a Republican with close ties to the State Senate, announced last week that he supports lifting the ban on gay people in the military. Supporters of the gay-rights bill have made the case that Mr. D'Amato, who is considered a possible 1994 gubernatorial candidate, understands the political wisdom of supporting gay rights. But Mr. D'Amato's decision invited harsh criticism from his old allies in the Conservative Party, and 29 of the 35 Senate Republicans ran last November on the Conservative line as well as the Republican line. Mr. Long, the Conservative chairman, said his party would not withdraw its endorsement of a candidate solely because of a vote in favor of gay rights. But he warned that the party would be likely to support a similarly qualified opponent who opposed gay rights. The bill is also opposed by the New York State Catholic Conference, an organization of church leaders. Twenty-one of the 35 Republican senators are Catholics, but they have occasionally disregarded Catholic Conference positions on social issues, including the death penalty. To combat opposition from conservative and religious groups, gay rights advocates plan to dispatch friends and family members to lobby their senators. "The lesbian and gay voting bloc does not just consist of lesbians and gays," said Dick Dadey, the executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, a leading gay and lesbian lobbying group. "It's all these other people who are connected to us, like my family members. That's not just one vote. That's 10 votes." LOAD-DATE: February 6, 1993 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: Photos: Roy M. Goodman; Joseph R. Holland; John R. Kuhl Jr. (pg. 27) Chart: "New York State Senate: Three Republican Views on the Gay Rights Bill" SUPPORTS THE BILL ROY M. GOODMAN (Manhattan): "People have said that proceeding with this is a political torpedo and I would say damn the torpedo, full speed ahead.

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In a pluralistic society there's no place for bias of any kind. You don't have to agree with a person's point of view in order to support the idea that that view should not be ostracized." UNDECIDED JOSEPH R. HOLLAND (New City, Rockland County): "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not afraid of gays but I don't want them teaching. That might be a problem, but maybe not. I don't know. I've worked with people who are admitted homosexuals. As long as they don't make any overt moves or threaten anyone -- some of the parades they do in San Francisco and that they do here are just distasteful -- maybe it wouldn't be a problem." OPPOSES THE BILL JOHN R. KUHL Jr. (Hammondsport, Steuben County): "I don't think I'm going to support it. I don't condone their lifestyle. I think it's their choice and they have to live with it. I look at it different than an Italian person or blacks or Chinese, people who have genetic traits that they can't do anything about. Sexual orientation is their choice and I don't think it's our place to force people that might have a moral opposition to it to have to put up with it and condone it." Copyright 1993 The New York Times Company

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