Outed state senator eases stance against gay rights

SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Roy Ashburn has begun taking some tentative steps toward backing gay rights, a little less than three months after the California Republican was outed after a drunken-driving arrest near the state capitol.

He vowed at the time to continue his staunch opposition to the expansion of gay rights — he has one of the strongest anti-gay records of any lawmaker — saying that is how his constituents would have him vote.

But since then, Ashburn, of Bakersfield, has held several meetings at the capitol with a major gay-rights organization that he previously avoided, and on Thursday made an unusually personal speech that showed he is re-evaluating his thinking on some issues. Senate colleagues say he seems happier.

“I would not have been speaking on measures dealing with sexual orientation — ever — prior to the events that have transpired in my life over the last three months,” Ashburn said on the Senate floor, surprising some of his colleagues. “However, I am no longer willing or able to remain silent on issues that affect sexual orientation (and) the rights of individuals. So, I am doing something that is quite different and foreign to me and is highly emotional.”

Ashburn was arrested March 3 on suspicion of drunken driving after reportedly spending the evening at a Sacramento gay club, and pleaded no contest to the charge in April. Several days after he was arrested, he confirmed that he was gay during a radio interview, in which he also pledged to continue voting against gay rights.

But on Thursday, Ashburn argued for a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays and lesbians serving in the military, voting for the measure that he had opposed twice, most recently last year.

“The current policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is clearly out of date and discriminatory,” he said. “I rise in support of this resolution because it calls upon our nation’s best instincts and seeks to correct a basic discrimination that is hurtful to people and our country.”

But Ashburn also voted against another measure that would state explicitly in law that people opposed to performing marriages for same-sex couples for religious reasons would not be forced to, and that religious organizations would not lose their tax-exempt status if they did not hold such marriages.

In 2005, he helped lead a rally in Bakersfield opposing same-sex marriage, but last week he said, “gay marriage is a very complicated issue.”

The changes, though minor, have caught the attention of advocates for gay rights.

“Just like everyone else, we were surprised to see these statements come out of his mouth,” said Charles Moran, spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP organization.

Ashburn, a divorced father of four, is the highest-ranking openly gay Republican in California, and while Log Cabin officials have yet to meet with him, Moran said his speech may be the impetus for that.

“Here is somebody who is open and out of the closet and has truly changed their policy position,” Moran said, though he added that while gay people have wide-ranging views on marriage, “I still think he may have a long way to go and that’s what was demonstrated in his marriage vote.”

Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, the author of the marriage legislation, said he did not understand Ashburn’s logic in voting against the bill.

Leno, who is gay, said he hopes Ashburn’s being out during his remaining few months in office “will be an opportunity for his leadership not only in his district but also in his caucus to bring some rational thinking and light to the subject of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) civil rights.”

Under term limits, Ashburn is out of office at the end of this year.

Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, wrote the “don’t ask, don’t tell” resolution, and said she thinks Ashburn’s openness will spur change in the Republican caucus. Kehoe, who is a lesbian, said Ashburn has told her he feels like a weight has been lifted off him and that he is even contemplating attending a San Diego gay pride event.

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