[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 20984-20986]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    ANTI-GAY BIGOTRY AGAINST ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE STEVE MAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, at a time when the leaders of this country 
should rise up and speak out in favor of the family and commitment, it 
is a disgrace to our common sense that our nation and in particular our 
Department of Defense, continues to persecute gay Americans who espouse 
these values.
  Though millions of law-abiding, tax-paying gay Americans honor the 
tradition of family by honoring their unions to each other, they 
consistently see their efforts rewarded by a rhetoric that is seemingly 
aligned with their commitment to these values and yet is used as a tool 
to alienate them from this society and deny them their most basic 
rights.
  Recently, Arizona State Representative Steve May added a heroic voice 
to those calling for full civil rights for gay Americans by refusing to 
accept the bigotry and prejudice inherent in the movement to strip away 
domestic partner benefits for gay couples. During debate in the Arizona 
State House of Representatives on legislation barring Arizona counties 
from offering domestic partner benefits, Mr. May bravely spoke out 
against the legislation and told his fellow legislators that he was gay 
and that he would not tolerate discrimination against gay families.
  Representative May is a member of the Army Reserve and a former 
active duty soldier. After acknowledging in the debate that he loves 
and shares his life with another man, the Army has initiated an effort 
to remove him from the military.
  Mr. Speaker, what hypocrisy! At a time when our nation's military is 
being forced to lower its standards in order to maintain force levels, 
we are expelling from the military highly talented and experienced 
individuals who want to serve our nation.
  Mr. Speaker, the New York Times last Sunday (September 5, 1999) 
published an Editorial Observer column by Brent Staples which 
eloquently places the experience of Steve May in a suitable context and 
appropriately denounces the injustice of attacks on gay women and men 
in this country. I urge my colleagues to read this excellent piece and 
to join me in ending the injustice of protecting some families while 
harming others.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the column by Brent Staples commending Steve 
May and his stance on domestic partner benefits in The New York Times 
to be placed in the Record.

                [From the New York Times, Sept. 5, 1999]

               Why Same-Sex Marriage is the Crucial Issue

                           (By Brent Staples)

       The civil rights movement had made spectacular gains in the 
     courts--including Brown v. Board of Education--before Rosa 
     Parks galvanized public opinion in a way that lawsuits had 
     not. Ms. Parks became an emblematic figure when she was 
     arrested in Montgomery, Ala., for refusing to sit in the 
     ``colored only'' section of a bus. The sight of this

[[Page 20985]]

     dignified woman being denied the simplest courtesy because 
     she was black crystallized the dehumanizing nature of 
     segregation and rallied people against it.
       Racism began to wane as white Americans were introduced to 
     members of the black minority whom they could identify as 
     ``just like us.'' A similar introduction is underway for gay 
     Americans, but the realization that they are ``just like us'' 
     has yet to sink in. When it finally does, the important 
     transitional figures will include State Representative Steve 
     May, a 27-year-old Republican from Arizona.
       Mr. May is a solid conservative who supports issues like 
     vouchers and charter schools. He was raised a Mormon and 
     recalls himself as the kid who ``had to go out and bring in 
     the wayward souls.'' He is also a former active-duty soldier 
     and an Army reservist, whose record shows that he could have 
     moved up swiftly and been given a command.
       But Mr. May is about to be hounded out of the Reserve for 
     publicly admitting he loves and shares his life with another 
     man. This acknowledgment came last winter during a heated 
     exchange in the Arizona Legislature over a bill that would 
     have barred counties from offering domestic-partner benefits, 
     stripping them from gay couples who currently enjoy them.
       Mr. May could have sat quietly, protecting his career. 
     Instead he exposed the provision as bigoted and told the 
     Arizona House: ``It is an attack on my family, an attack on 
     my freedom. . . . My gay tax dollars are the same as your 
     straight tax dollars. If you are not going to treat me 
     fairly, stop taking my tax dollars. . . . I'm not asking 
     for the right to marry, but I'd like to ask this 
     Legislature to leave my family alone.''
       When Rosa Parks declined to yield her seat on that bus, she 
     was telling Alabama that she was not just a colored person, 
     but a human being who deserved the respect and protection of 
     the law. Mr. May's words in the Arizona House were similarly 
     clarifying. Fearful of a backlash, gay politicians rarely 
     mention their mates in public--and shy away from speaking of 
     them in terms that might disturb even constituents who know 
     that they are gay. But by framing his argument in the context 
     of ``the family,'' Mr. may disarmed his bigoted colleagues 
     and took the debate on same-sex unions exactly where it 
     needed to go.
       When Mr. May's comments became public, the Army Reserve 
     began an investigation that legal experts say will certainly 
     end in discharge. Lieutenant May will then become a casualty 
     of ``don't ask, don't tell,'' which ended more than 1,100 
     military careers in 1998, on the grounds that homosexuals who 
     reveal the fact are no longer fit to serve.
       This is a staggering loss at a time when the armed services 
     are canvassing strip malls and lowering entrance requirements 
     to find personnel. By the time this policy is abandoned, 
     thousands of talented Americans will have been lost to a 
     purge that will come to be recognized as contrary to the 
     public good and morally wrong.
       Republicans began the 1990's refusing campaign 
     contributions from gay organizations and demonizing 
     homosexuals for political gain. But in the race for 2000, the 
     most prominent candidates are accepting the money and say 
     that they would hire gay workers as long as they refrained 
     from pressing ``a gay agenda''--a code phrase for keeping 
     quiet about issues of same-sex intimacy, up to and including 
     marriage. The trouble with this approach is that legitimacy 
     for same-sex unions is the heart of the matter. By denying 
     that legitimacy, we declare gay love less valid than 
     heterosexual love and gay people less human. We cut them off 
     from the rituals of family and marriage that bind us together 
     as a culture.
       The legislator who wished to revoke benefits from same-sex 
     partners in Arizona viewed those partnerships as culturally 
     alien and morally illegitimate. The military establishment 
     may force Mr. May out of the service--despite an exemplary 
     record--because his family consists of two men who are 
     indistinguishable from their neighbors, except that they 
     sleep together.
       This persecution finds a parallel in statutes that made it 
     illegal for blacks and whites to get married up until 1967, 
     when the Supreme Court declared the laws unconstitutional. 
     The laws were based on the primitive belief that blacks and 
     whites were set apart on the tree of life by God Himself. 
     Interracial couples were initially seen as a threat to the 
     social order and to the institution of marriage. Over time, 
     the culture began to discard the filter of race, viewing the 
     couples as ``just like the rest of us.'' The same process 
     will probably work out for same-sex couples--but only after 
     an extended battle. When the matter is settled, historians 
     will look back at people like Steve May, who declined to go 
     quietly to the back of the American bus.

                       SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February 
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized 
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees, 
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This 
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate 
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules committee--of the time, place, 
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or 
changes in the meetings as they occur.
  As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this 
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this 
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the 
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
  Meetings scheduled for Thursday, September 9, 1999 may be found in 
the Daily Digest of today's Record.

                           MEETINGS SCHEDULED

                              SEPTEMBER 13
     10 a.m.
       Joint Economic Committee
         To hold hearings on certain tax cut provisions and budget 
           surplus issues.
                                                            SD-124

                              SEPTEMBER 14
       Time to be announced
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Energy Research, Development, Production and Regulation 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on S.1051, to amend the Energy Policy 
           and Conservation Act to manage the Strategic Petroleum 
           Reserve more effectively. (Subcommittee hearing will 
           immediately follow the 9:30 full committee hearing).
                                                            SD-366
     9:30 a.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold hearings on S.1052, to implement further the Act 
           (Public Law 94-241) approving the Covenant to Establish 
           a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 
           Political Union with the United States of America.
                                                            SD-366
       Appropriations
       Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed fiscal year 2000 youth 
           violence intiative.
                                                            SD-192
       Armed Services
         To hold hearings on issues concerning the sinking of the 
           USS Indianapolis.
                                                            SH-216
     10 a.m.
       Judiciary
         To hold hearings on issues relating to hate on the 
           internet.
                                                            SD-226
       Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
         To hold hearings on issues relating to educational 
           readiness.
                                                            SD-430
     2 p.m.
       Judiciary
         To hold hearings on pending nominations.
                                                            SD-226
     2:30 p.m.
       Aging
         To hold hearings on the benefits of exercise for the 
           elderly.
                                                            SH-216

                              SEPTEMBER 15
     10 a.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold hearings on the nomination of David J. Hayes, of 
           Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior; the 
           nomination of Sylvia V. Baca, of New Mexico, to be an 
           Assistant Secretary of the Interior; and the nomination 
           of Ivan Itkin, of Pennsylvania, to be Director of the 
           Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, 
           Department of Energy.
                                                            SD-366
       Governmental Affairs
         To hold hearings on the nomination of Sally Katzen, of 
           the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Director for 
           Management, Office of Management and Budget.
                                                            SD-628
       Judiciary
         To hold hearings to examine certain clemency issues for 
           members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation.
                                                            SD-226
     2 p.m.
       Intelligence
         To hold closed hearings on pending intelligence matters.
                                                            SH-219
       Judiciary
       Immigration Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on Immigration and Naturalization 
           Service reform issues.
                                                            SD-226

                              SEPTEMBER 16
     9:30 a.m.
       Governmental Affairs
       Investigations Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on the practices and operations of the 
           securities day trading industry.
                                                            SD-628

[[Page 20986]]

     10 a.m.
       Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
       Public Health Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine issues relating to children's 
           health.
                                                            SD-430
     2 p.m.
       Intelligence
         To hold closed hearings on pending intelligence matters.
                                                            SH-219
     2:30 p.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Forests and Public Land Management Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on the Administration's Northwest Forest 
           Plan.
                                                            SD-366

                              SEPTEMBER 21
     9 a.m.
       United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics 
           Control
         To hold hearings on counterinsurgency vs. counter-
           narcotics issues in regards to Colombia.
                                                            SH-216

                              SEPTEMBER 28
     9:30 a.m.
       Veterans' Affairs
         To hold joint hearings with the House Committee on 
           Veterans' Affairs to review the legislative 
           recommendations of the American Legion.
                                               345 Cannon Building

                              SEPTEMBER 30
     2:30 p.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Forests and Public Land Management Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on S.1457, to amend the Energy Policy 
           Act of 1992 to assess opportunities to increase carbon 
           storage on national forests derived from the public 
           domain and to facilitate voluntary and accurate 
           reporting of forest projects that reduce atmospheric 
           carbon dioxide concentrations.
                                                            SD-366
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