Oh, those Republican state Assembly members! Honestly, they need to grow up. Their immature behavior was on full display Monday when the Assembly's LGBT Legislative Caucus held a recognition ceremony for six high-profile gay and lesbian leaders. Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) told us that he came up with the idea after the Assembly's Latino and Asian Pacific Islander caucuses held similar ceremonies, and it's an impressive group that was honored: Bishop Dr. Yvette Flunder, former U.S. Ambassador James Hormel, television personalities Honey Labrador and Reichen Lehmkuhl, businesswoman Kathy Levinson, and former pro football player Esera Tuaolo. Notably, Lehmkuhl, the partner of newly out former boy band singer Lance Bass, also is a former Air Force captain. Leno told us he wanted Assembly members to see the diversity of our community, and all of the honorees have personal stories of overcoming adversity and homophobia.
But Assembly Republicans decided to act as if they were back in elementary school. First, they called a caucus of the membership, delaying the ceremony. Then, about 10 of them stormed off the Assembly floor.
"Ladies and gentleman, I rise to point out the ridiculousness of the exercise," said Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia (R-San Diego), according to press reports. "We're wasting a lot of time; we have a lot of bills on the floor." Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) announced his intention to leave; Leno noted people in the audience applauded.
Just 15 minutes earlier, Leno said, there was a ceremony honoring the anniversary of the independence of Armenia; so Plescia's complaint of "a lot of bills" is a meaningless excuse. Ceremonies are held routinely in the Capitol for all sorts of groups. Why should recognizing gays and lesbians be any different?
State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), never one to hide her feelings, said that the antics by GOP lawmakers rankled her. "Most definitely the Republican insistence on reviling the community spoiled the ceremony," she said in an e-mail. "We had an ambassador, an NFL Super Bowl champion, and a business titan, all of whom had to be subjected to the humiliation that we members, and gay people, face in the Capitol."
Migden also questioned why no Assembly members spoke out in support of the community. "We wished that Assembly members had risen in our defense to make the experience and the permanent record more welcoming," she added.
Indeed, that's a point worth considering, especially because we doubt the lawmakers would have so blatantly ridiculed members of other minority communities. But Leno and the other members of the LGBT caucus refused to play into the hands of the GOP, opting instead to let the event speak for itself. And that was accomplished – Republican lawmakers indeed looked like idiots for holding up the event and then walking out.
"It was a great day," Leno told us, adding that several of the honorees told him that they were moved by the formal recognition.
This is certainly not the first time some GOP lawmakers have exhibited homophobia. They have spearheaded nasty verbal attacks during hearings on LGBT-related bills over the years, even as the majority of California residents favor such measures as domestic partner rights and nondiscrimination laws for LGBT citizens. In short, they are woefully out of touch with the mainstream of state residents and voters. Egged on by such social conservatives as Randy Thomasson of the Campaign for Children and Families, GOP lawmakers manipulate facts and don't hesitate to belittle LGBT people.
We hope those who were so rude during Monday's ceremony saw themselves on the television news reports that night. And we hope the GOP leadership will realize that its members need to grow up.