Representatives Of Big Gay Districts in CA, TX And FL Won't Sign On As Sponsors Of The Respect For Marriage Act

No respect for marriage from Mary Whittaker Bono Baxley & Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy IV

Early this morning, Ken did an excellent job of explaining the importance of the Respect For Marriage Act, the bigger picture. He also republished Earl Blumenauer's moving Huffington Post piece on why he's changed his position on DOMA, something everyone should read, a yes vote in 1996 that the veteran lawmaker now calls "the worst vote of my political career." Today Blumenauer is one of the 91 co-sponsors of the Respect For Marriage Act.

My congressmember, Diane Watson is on that list too, and so is Ken's (Charlie Rangel). I live in the 33rd CD in Los Angeles, in a district without any ostensibly gay neighborhoods-- no West Hollywood, no Silverlake, no Echo Park, no Venice. In fact, it's a solidly middle class district with lots and lots and lots of churches. The district is only about 20% white, with far more blacks and far more Hispanics than Caucasians and it includes Koreatown. Watson won with 88% last year, the first time she's had an opponent since 2002 (when she garnered a mere 83%). I can't imagine where the 12% who voted for McCain came from; maybe elderly people who couldn't get the peg in the right hole on the ballot. This year, though, Watson has a slick prosecutor running against her, Felton Newell. He doesn't sound like he's going to be the kind of committed, fighting progressive that she is. He's already attacked her for wanting to liberalize U.S. policy towards Cuba and he sounds more like a Republican than like a Democrat. We haven't heard his position on this yet; it's probably something he'll have whispered than in writing.

Here's the full list of the original 91 co-sponsors of the bill, all Democrats:

Jerry Nadler (D-NY) Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jared Polis (D-CO), John Conyers (D-MI), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Steve Israel (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Diana Degette (D-CO), Pete Stark (D-CA), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Mike Capuano (D-MA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), José Serrano (D-NY), John Olver (D-MA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Ed Markey (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Paul Hodes (D-NH), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Bob Andrews (D-NJ), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), George Miller (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Mike Honda (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Diane Watson (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Robert Brady (D-PA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Rush Holt (D-NJ), John Larson (D-CT), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), John Lewis (D-GA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Lois Capps (D-CA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Bill Delahunt (D-MA), James McGovern (D-MA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Howard Berman (D-CA), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), Jesse Jackson, Jr (D-IL), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Susan Davis (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Nikki Tsongas (D-MA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Jane Harman (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA), Jim Himes (D-CT), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Dan Maffei (D-NY), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Betty McCollum (D-MN), and David Wu (D-OR).

Four Republicans with outsized gay populations in their districts-- 3 of whom try to play up to that community-- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL)-- are all refusing to sign on as co-sponsors. (The 4th is John Culberson a dedicated homophobe and represents the Montrose area of Houston.) Kirk, who's running for the U.S. Senate and is deathly afraid of teabaggers and extremists in his own party, has already shown what a complete coward he is by announcing that if he's elected to the Senate, he'll oppose the climate and energy bill he voted for in the House. Yeah, all anyone needs to do is scratch an eighth of an inch of hypocrisy off any mainstream Republican and you're left with... Joe Wilson or Virginia Foxx.

When I tweeted at 8AM that Ros-Lehtinen refuses to cosponsor the bill, she responded quickly but rather weakly: "Pleased to see folks on Hill pushing for 3 year Ryan White Act extention: HIV program that saves lives. Expires Sept 30. Needs to move fast." Bono-Mack, on the other hand, is just hiding under her bed.

Republican closet cases, of course, are getting nowhere near this. David Dreier (R-CA)-- whose closet door has been off its hinges for at least half a dozen years-- isn't only not a co-sponsor; he probably could be safely assumed to be a "no" vote. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) hope people will let them off the hook because their gay "flings" were in their wild youths. Patrick McHenry, who's conveniently announced an engagement (to a woman) has been wild much more recently. None of them are co-sponsors and none can be considered even "maybes." There's also a closeted Blue Dog who isn't a sponsor but since he hasn't ever voted against any gay civil rights legislation, I won't out him... until he does.

Not expected to be a co-sponsor any time soon: