Gay California Political Groups Reach Out To Ashburn

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By Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, the conservative state legislator from Bakersfield who garnered scrutiny last week following his arrest for suspicion of DUI after leaving one of Sacramento's downtown gay bars, acknowledged during a radio interview Monday he is gay, but remained unapologetic about his solidly ant-gay voting record.

In response to the senator's admission, organizations advocating equal rights for gay and lesbian Californians at both ends of the political spectrum have publicly offered to meet with the embattled legislator to help him "preserve his legacy." 

“I am gay.  And so, those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.  It is something that is personal, and I don’t believe I felt with my heart that being gay would affect how I do my job,” Ashburn told his former Kern Radio talk show colleague, Inga Barks, Monday.

Asked by Barks about his anti-gay voting record, Ashburn said, “I felt my duty, and I still feel this way, is to represent my constituents.” 

Barks wanted assurances from Ashburn that he would continue to vote against LGBT rights issues, and she got it. “I believe firmly that my responsibility is to my constituents," Ashburn told the Kern County talk show host.

Ashburn's staff reiterated the senator's comments explaining why he voted against equal rights legislation for gay and lesbian Californians.

"We will say he’s worked very hard to represent the people of the 18th district," Andrew LaFlamme, Ashburn's Legislative Director, told the California Progress Report of the senator's voting record on equal rights legislation. LaFlamme claimed not to have been aware of Ashburn's sexual orientation in the two and a half years he worked with the senator on his legislative positions. "We don't really discuss our personal lives with each other," LaFlamme told BAR.

"He's not only been a strong opponent of gay rights, he’s gone out of his way to be an anti-gay legislator," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California (EQCA),  the LGBT rights lobby in California. 

"And we don't believe the people of Bakersfield support discrimination, that they believe anyone should be denied a place to live, should be fired from their job, should be denied public accommodations or should be harassed in schools because they're gay," said Kors, "But he voted against each of those rights," claimed Kors, referring to Ashburn's votes on Equality California-sponsored legislation over the last three years.

In fact, Ashburn received "basically a zero percent" rating on the advocacy group's legislative scorecard, according to EQCA spokesperson Vaishalee Raja.

"He even went on tour with Reverend Lou Sheldon to advocate repeal of California's existing domestic partnership laws," said Kors, who pointed out that there are other legislators representing the same area who have supported equal rights, "and won by large margins."

Charles Moran, the spokesperson for California's Log Cabin Republicans, says Ashburn's story is about the legislator's personal internal struggle, not political party affiliation.  "It has little to do with party, it has everything to do with Roy Ashburn."  

"Politics is still an extremely conservative industry, both on the Democrat and Republican side," Moran told BAR. "Roy Ashburn made the comment that his is a very conservative district and I think that's right, and he voted on behalf of his district.  That is the starting point for talking about Roy Ashburn." 

"Yes, it does frustrate us," said Moran of the embarrassment Ashburn has caused everyone in the LGBT community with the events of last week. "The problem is people who live in the closet think that if they vote anti-gay it will help them to continue to preserve that image. One of the ways people in the closet protect their secret is by voting against any legislation" supported by the LGBT community."

That, says Moran, is why Ashburn's statement that being gay did not affect his ability to do his job, is false.

"I wont speak to what [Ashburn] went through," said Kors. "Living a life in the closet is very difficult and everyone goes through a journey in coming out. We hope to meet with the senator and work with him. We hope he will use what he's learned from this journey and we hope that we can work together to educate people about the need to support equal rights for everyone."

Kors believes Ashburn should continue to enjoy the rights he's voted to deny others in employment and public accommodation. "He deserves the very rights everyone else does. We hope he uses this opportunity to do good. Its what he does with this opportunity that will determine his legacy." 

"I've seen where people are expressing outrage that EQCA is calling for working with Ashburn," said Moran, who claims his group also plans to reach out to Ashburn. "We will definitely extend the olive branch to him," said the Log Cabin spokesperson.

"I know people in our community are angry. I know that people are calling this hypocrisy. But if there is nothing positive that comes out of this, then we’ve done a disservice to our community. If we don't use this as an opportunity to educate, then it becomes a negative for the coming out process and for the community. And that’s an area that [EQCA's Geoff Kors] and I are in complete agreement on," said Moran.  

"His coming out was clearly rushed and if there’s anything that Log Cabin Republicans can do, we’d like to help to make this an education experience, rather than an episode of shame," said Moran. " There’s a lot of room for redemption for Roy and I hope he accepts the offer from the community to understand and educate him to who his constituents are."

Moran told CPR over the last several days he's been overwhelmed with media inquiries and calls from Republican candidates, including "one of the candidates for governor," seeking a way to respond to the Ashburn incident. Noting the California Republican Party's silence about Ashburn, Moran said "The Republican party is not going to issue a statement," Moran told CPR. "I've become the spokesman for the party [on the Ashburn incident], by default."  

Moran noted that while the GOP has a long way to go in supporting equal rights for gays and lesbians, so do Democratic politicians. "Dick Cheney’s got a better record on gay and lesbian rights than Barack Obama, who doesn't support marriage equality," said Moran, believing "Everybody makes compromises," when supporting political candidates.

"Republicans still have a level of uncomfortability talking about sex. I hope the Republican party will get real and start speaking to the real meaning of conservatism, like low taxes and personal responsibility...I refues to let the social conservative movement define the party," said Moran, noting that Republicans like Barry Goldwater once believed in a philosophy of "Government out of our lives and our pocketbooks. It really is an issue of staying true to the conservative movement. They need to stay true to keeping the government out of our bedroom. [The social conservatives] want their liberty only in regard to their personal agendas. That's not true conservatism," Moran told CPR. 

Moran and Kors both spoke to CPR about Ashburn's  legacy. "[Ashburn] can go the direction of Jim McGreevy or Jim Cole, and make this a positive experience, or he can go the direction of Mark Foley and Larry Craig," said  Moran.

Ashburn returned to work at the Capitol Monday. The senator has not yet addressed publicly the fact that he was arrested within a block of the Capitol a few hours before he was expected in session to work on the state's legislative business, or the fact he was driving his state-owned and -issued vehicle when he was arrested under suspicion of DUI. Of those issues, Moran was less forgiving of the Senator, "He clearly made a horrendous mistake." 

Ashburn will be termed out in 8 months by California's term limits for state legislators. 

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Dan Aiello is a reporter for the California Progress Report.