THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250070
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Long : 128 lines
Adam Ebbin usually has to beg for volunteers to help put together a mailing for Virginia Partisans, a club for gay and lesbian Democrats.
``We call around and we're lucky to get five or six people,'' Ebbin said. ``But we called around the other night and got 18.''
In a year when many Democrats are drifting in a strong Republican tide, gays and lesbians are energized by the re-election campaign of Democratic U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb.
To the homosexual community, Robb is widely viewed as a leader with the courage to condemn discrimination against gays in the military and in the workplace, despite the obvious political risks that such a stand represents in a conservative southern state.
A Robb victory over Republican Oliver L. North, who says homosexuals are unfit to serve in the military, could represent a turning point for gay Virginians.
``It would mean that perhaps Virginia is ready . . . to accept the fact that `liberty and justice for all' means just that,'' said Kim Burns, the chairperson of the Hampton Roads Lesbian and Gay Pride Coalition.
``A Robb victory is essential for me,'' said Stuart Portnoy, a physician who works for the federal government. ``He's bringing my vote to the Senate. He represents my interests.''
The Human Rights Campaign Fund, a national gay political action committee based in Washington, has made the Robb-North contest one of its top priorities this year.
``The radical right views Chuck Robb's convictions on lesbian and gay equality as a weakness, and will attempt to use this against him in their effort to defeat him,'' executive director Tim McFeeley said in a May 17 letter to members. ``We need to prove that Chuck Robb can beat the radical right this year in Virginia.''
Robb, a cautious man who has steered clear of controversy for much of his political career, is an unlikely champion of gay rights. In May, he generated headlines by appearing at a Human Rights Campaign Fund conference in Washington and calling efforts to end anti-gay discrimination the ``last front of the true civil rights struggle.''
His campaign staff - anticipating a possible North TV assault on gays in the military - has offered Robb's position as evidence that the senator is willing to take a stand on matters of principle.
``He's going to do what he thinks is right, whether or not it's popular,'' Robb spokesman Bert Rohrer said.
On the campaign trail, Robb never talks directly about gay and lesbian issues. He occasionally mentions ``human rights,'' a sort of code word. His campaign literature makes no mention of gays in the military.
Gay activists say they understand why Robb has not been more outspoken in recent months.
``I don't expect to hear a detailed analysis of his support for us,'' said Carl Archacki, a member of the Richmond Democratic Committee. ``What he has done is admirable.''
Robb, a former Marine who was a company commander in Vietnam, has become a leader in the efforts to allow homosexuals to serve in the military.
Robb would go beyond the Clinton administration's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy to give gay servicemen and women a way to acknowledge their sexual preference, provided they do not engage in behavior that is disruptive or hurts morale.
Military personnel, Robb has said, should be judged on performance, not race, creed or sexual preference.
North, a former Marine who also served in Vietnam, has been a strident critic of gays in the military. Before he launched his Senate bid, North headed a conservative group that sent out fund-raising appeals that described President Clinton as ``the point man . . . for the radical homosexual lobby.''
In March 1993, North joked at a Republican fund-raiser that he was unable to get a call through the switchboard of the Clinton White House until he called back and imitated a lisping gay man. He also joked that Clinton wanted to rewrite the Marine Corps Hymn to include the phrase, ``Don we now our gay apparel.''
During the campaign, North has said that allowing gays to serve openly would hurt combat readiness and turn the armed forces into ``a laboratory for social engineering.''
While Robb's stand on gays in the military may hurt him among many voters, his position brings the Democrat a nationwide pool of campaign contributions and provides him with a ready cadre of campaign volunteers.
David B. Mixner, a gay-rights leader from California, mailed an appeal to several thousand homosexuals around the country last December soliciting contributions for Robb.
The Human Rights Campaign Fund has kicked in the maximum allowable $10,000, and several fund members have held private Robb fund-raisers, according to a spokesman for the group. Enthusiasm for Robb was evident earlier this month at the annual Richmond Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade.
``For him to be elected would be wonderful,'' said David Northrup, a parade organizer. ``If we have Chuck in office, at least we'll have a political voice that opposes what Gov. (George F.) Allen stands for.''
A dozen or so participants interviewed at a post-parade rally said they were motivated as much for Robb as they were against North. To them, North would be the same type of gay-bashing Republican as Allen, who has said that gays lead an ``unnatural'' lifestyle.
``We see Ollie North as encouraging hate and intolerance,'' said Ebbin, the chairman of Virginia Partisans.
``Robb has said, `Hey, these people exist and they have a right to exist.' That shouldn't alarm mainstream Virginia because, after all, we're their neighbors, co-workers and children.
``The thought of Ollie North extending Jesse Helms' legacy into the next century has woken up people who were apathetic before.''
Many of the 100 or so people at the rally wore Robb stickers. There were several anti-North posters, including a computer-generated sign that read: ``You're for Ollie North, and you think I'm queer?''
``This election is not about who you're for,'' said Susan Corbett, a member of a support group for parents of gay and lesbian children. ``It's about who you're against.''
Enthusiasm for Robb, however, was not universal. A 29-year-old lesbian, who gave her name as Susan, said she agreed with the Democrat on virtually every issue, but that she was troubled by reports of his off-hours socializing at Virginia Beach during his term as governor from 1982-86. Robb has admitted putting himself in situations inappropriate for a married man.
Susan said she probably would vote for Robb, but with misgivings.
``He's very good on the issues,'' she said, ``but these other things detract. If I were committed to a partner, he should be committed to his partner. At some point, politics is personal.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
David Perry mans a table in Richmond on Gay Pride Day earlier this
month as he works for Sen. Charles S. Robb's re-election.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
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