BOSTON — Gays participated in the Democratic National Convention in greater numbers and in higher-level positions than ever before, pledging to pull out all the stops to help elect John Kerry president.

A record contingent of at least 252 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Democrats — serving as delegates, alternate delegates and convention standing committee members — downplayed Kerry’s opposition to gay marriage and gladly embraced the Kerry campaign’s call to stay on “message.”

For the first time ever, an openly gay person, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), delivered a speech before a Democratic convention during prime-time. Baldwin was also selected as a convention vice-chair, another first for an openly gay person.

Baldwin, who was assigned to discuss the party’s plans for expanding health care for Americans, did not mention that she is a lesbian or discuss specific gay issues, although she said health care coverage should include “domestic partners.”

Gay Democratic activists nevertheless called Baldwin’s appearance “historic,” saying the party designated her as a prime time speaker knowing that her status as a lesbian would be viewed as a symbolic advance for gay rights causes.

Similar to most of the 4,322 delegates and 611 alternates attending the convention, members of the gay contingent said they understood the term “message” to mean doing everything possible to oust George W. Bush from the White House in the November election, even if it means downplaying controversial issues they deem important.

Staying on message
Among those leading the clarion call for this strategy was gay civil rights attorney Mary Bresslow, the lead attorney in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in that state.

“John Kerry has, by far, the best record on our issues than any presidential candidate in American history,” she said Wednesday at a meeting of the gay convention contingent.

Bresslow and veteran gay Democratic activist Jeff Trammell serve as co-chairs of the Kerry campaign’s gay outreach committee.

“We all know what we’re here for,” said David Meadows, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club in Washington, D.C.. “We may not be pleased with Mr. Kerry’s position on gay marriage, but we know he’s far, far better than Bush on all the issues that matter to us and that matter to Democrats.”

Kerry has said he supports civil unions over gay marriage and pledged to push for legislation that would provide the same rights and benefits to same-sex couples in civil unions and domestic partnerships as those enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), have said they strongly oppose a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, saying they favor allowing states to decide the issue of gay marriage as well as civil unions. But Kerry has said he supports a state constitutional amendment in Massachusetts to ban gays from marrying.

His gay supporters note that Kerry embraced virtually every other gay civil rights initiative, including a federal gay civil rights bill banning employment discrimination against gays and legislation giving the federal government authority to prosecute anti-gay hate crimes. Kerry has said he opposes the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays in the military and would push for allowing gays to serve openly.

With the approval of the Kerry campaign, the Democratic Convention’s Platform Committee earlier this year included these and other gay rights proposals in the party’s platform.

Gay civil rights attorney Roberta Achtenberg, who served as an assistant secretary of housing during the Clinton administration, read the “gay” planks in the platform in a brief speech before the convention on Monday. Achtenberg’s speech, which took place about 6:30 p.m., when few outlets other than C-Span and public television stations covered the convention, was one of the few speeches during the first three days of the convention that touched on gay issues.

Among other things, Achtenberg pointed out that the platform calls for “full inclusion” of gay and lesbian families in the life of the nation and expresses support for “equal responsibilities, benefits and protections” for those families.

Achtenberg and Baldwin were two of six open gays scheduled to speak at the convention. Andrew Tobias, the gay treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, and Jim Stork, the former mayor of Wilton Manors, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, and a candidate for the U.S. House, spoke Monday night and Tuesday night, respectively.

Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights group, spoke Wednesday night.

Tobias devoted most of his brief speech, at about 5 p.m., to the party’s fund-raising activities. He mentioned his domestic partner ...

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