ESTRANGED BEDFELLOWS: KEHOE DEFENDS BLOCK, BUT SAYS SHE’S “DISAPPOINTED” WITH LACK OF VOTE FOR GAY MARRIAGE LEGISLATION

By E.A. Barrera

April 2, 2009 (San Diego)—Openly gay San Diego State Senator Christine Kehoe defended newly elected 78th District Assemblyman Marty Block, even as she scolded Block for his refusal to support a resolution calling on the California Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8, the voter-approved measure which invalidated gay marriages in California.

Kehoe said she “had not lost trust in Marty, but was disappointed in him” for failing to support Assembly Bill HR-5/SR-7, which passed both the Assembly and State Senate on March 2. The bill, written by San Francisco area Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, stated the California legislature was opposed to Proposition 8 because it was “an improper revision, not an amendment, of the California Constitution and was not enacted according to the procedures required by Article XVIII of the California Constitution.”

"Marty is new to the Legislature and it is a high learning curve," said Kehoe to a crowd of more than 100 during the group's monthly meeting at the Joyce Beer's Community Center in Hillcrest. "He has a lot of work to do in rebuilding trust with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community, but there are very many issues — protecting gay youth from violence, mental health, civil rights issues — where I know Marty stands with us."

California voters approved Proposition 8 by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent last November. In Block's district, the measure was supported by 57 percent of voters. Block told the SDDC audience he felt his district’s support of Proposition 8 was "heartbreaking" but did not support HR-5/SR-7 because he thought the measure was an improper pressure tactic by the Legislature on the California courts.

"I am an attorney and a former judge pro-tem. I can tell you this sort of pressure won't get you far with the courts and is not a good idea,” said Block. “I preferred that the Legislature pass an Amicus-brief (a friend-of-the-court legal opinion volunteering advise on a pending issue before a court). I believe that all people should have the right to marry, and I have always supported marriage equality for the LGBT community, but I felt this legislation was flawed."

From the outset of the meeting, anger towards Block was evident. Tom DiCioccio, former vice president of the San Diego Democratic Club, stood in front of the Beer's Center wearing a duck costume and holding up a sign which read "Marty Block ducks gay equality votes." Inside, several members of the audience used terms such as "betrayal" and "disappointment" for what they considered Block's lack of leadership in avoiding a vote on the resolution.

In an open letter to Block, SDDC president Larry Baza called Block's unwillingness to vote "an inexcusable dereliction of your duty to serve your LGBT constituents." Baza added that Block’s decision to avoid voting on "this basic civil rights issue, affirming LGBT equality and supporting the invalidation of Proposition 8" led him and the SDDC to question the group's previous support of Block during his race against Chula Vista Republican City Councilman John McCann.

"When you appeared at the San Diego Democratic Club's  endorsement meeting on September 27, 2007, you received a 100 percent score on our Club's questionnaire and the endorsement of  78 percent of our membership," noted Baza in his letter. "Our Club not only provided you an important, early endorsement in your hard fought race, but we made your race a priority in both the primary and general elections. As you also know, you received the endorsement of Equality California (political action committee), which states that LGBT Californians should 'vote with confidence' and that EQCA endorses 'only candidates who support the entire LGBT community 100 percent of the time.'," said Baza.

Block brought 46th District Assemblyman John Perez to support him during the meeting with the SDDC. Perez, a co-author of HR-5 and one of four openly gay members of the Assembly, said the LGBT community needed to accept some of the blame for the passage of Proposition 8.

"We in the LGBT community failed in our outreach - explaining to voters why they were voting the wrong way," said Perez.

Perez, who represents a largely Latino population in Los Angeles, said economic problems often led to divisions among people and issues such as civil rights were more broadly supported during better economic times. He also offered the club his opinion on “coalition politics” noting the Democratic Party of California had many different constituencies.

“The Democratic Party is not a myopic, litmus-test party and Democrats will never agree all the time,“ said Perez. “The core of coalition politics is not to vote the same way, but to recognize what we each need and see if we can be there for each other. Our goal can never be unanimity on all issues. We have to be concerned with economic as well as social issues and to simply try and keep the ball moving forward."