Four years ago this week, the Georgia House voted to send a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to voters. The measure passed overwhelmingly in November 2004, and since then, gay rights advocates have lived in fear that the other shoe will drop in the General Assembly.
As Georgia’s first and only openly gay state legislator, Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) says she often has to keep any legislative agenda in the closet, or face the specter of a law banning gay adoption.
“I value that issue a lot because I’m a mom, and I know lots of same-sex couples that love their children, or who want to have children,” Drenner said. “So every session I kind of do the same thing where I sit down and I shut up, and I kind of play by their rules, so I can somehow perhaps keep it from coming to the floor.
“I do know if an adoption measure ever does come to the floor of the House it will pass, and it won’t be friendly to gay people,” she said.
Citing the overwhelming passage of the marriage ban, which won with 76 percent of the vote, Drenner said some representatives have tried to leverage votes by threatening adoption legislation.
Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) is chair of the Rules Committee that sets the House’s agenda. If a bill gets to the floor, it must pass through Ehrhart’s hands. He called the idea of Republicans threatening Drenner with banning gay adoption silly.
“No one has ever used it a club. I don’t see it as a club,” Ehrhart said.
Earlier in the year, Georgia Equality lobbyist Cathy Woolard told supporters one reason most adoption legislation doesn’t move is fear that there would be an amendment to ban gay adoption. Ehrhart, who has the power to keep bills from reaching the floor, said other issues keep adoption off the table.
“Personally, my issue is that it is so terribly difficult to craft adoption legislation,” he said.
“I guess if I had a fear it would be opening up the side where someone who has been adopted [can identify the birth parents]. What generally comes before what you are talking about is that you can go back and discover the parents, and I kind of fall on the side of, wait a minute, there was a reason, what are you opening up there?” he said.
“I have heard [the gay adoption ban] side, but that’s what really motivates not opening up that legislation as far as I’m concerned,” Ehrhart said.
Adoption is just one of several issues that makes it hard for gay activists and supporters to make progress in a legislature where Republicans rode a wave of huge voter turnout for the anti-gay marriage amendment to significant majorities in the House and Senate. In an effort to overcome those odds, Georgia Equality’s new strategic plan is the “Campaign for a Fair Majority,” an effort to elect gay-supportive lawmakers from both parties.
Georgia Equality Political Director Kyle Bailey said there are a number of moderate suburban Republican senators who are willing to work with the organization on gay issues. The House, however, is a different animal.
After the Senate convened a study committee over the summer, activists were hopeful there would be movement this year on an inclusive hate crimes bill. House Speaker Glenn Richardson dashed those hopes when he said before the session that the House would not take up a hate crimes bill this session.
“When you have the Speaker of the House announce to a reporter before the session starts that hate crimes will not be considered, it is very disappointing,” Anti-Defamation League Southeast Regional Director Bill Nigut said at press conference March 21. “It means that we did not even have the chance to debate the issue.”
Nigut said Richardson’s proclamation stopped any progress in the Senate. Richardson’s staff did not make him available for interviews, and did not respond to requests for comment on his statement.
Jason Cecil sits on the boards of the Stonewall Democrats and Young Democrats of Georgia. He said Georgia’s gay population is forced to play more defense than offense.
“It’s extremely difficult,” Cecil said of passing positive gay legislation. “With the Republicans that are in charge right now, especially the House Speaker, I think you’re looking more at a defensive stance, trying to prevent really bad legislation instead of promoting positive legislation. One exception to that is the bullying bill.”
The anti-bullying bill by state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) surprised many gay pundits when it passed the Senate with no debate and unanimous support. Georgia Equality claimed the passage of the bill as a major success.
“I think we passed the anti-bullying bill in the Senate and a lot of people didn’t think we had a shot. We got it on the calendar because we did a lot of grassroots lobbying,” Georgia Equality’s Bailey said.
While Georgia Equality lists the bill as a success, the group admits to not having a hand in drafting it. While Bailey and Woolard lobbied extensively for its passing, Rogers’ influence could just as easily explain how it sailed out of the Senate.
When it comes to issues such as domestic partner benefits, second parent adoption, and partnership dissolution, any positive movement would likely have to be disguised, or folded into a much more popular bill.
“You would have to have the gay aspect folded into something else that is much more palatable to the current majority. In that instance I guess we would try to be more quiet, so that it doesn’t attract attention as a gay issue,” Cecil said.
Bailey said his organization tries to play what cards they have smartly, sometimes using allies in other lobbying organizations to advance their agenda, playing a behind-the-scenes role, or finding straight constituents with gay family members to contact lawmakers.
Both parties believe the Republicans will remain in power through the next election cycle, as Democrats focus on finding candidates for 2010 campaigns.
“We’re working on a long-term strategy, we’re working to elect a Democratic governor, but we know we have to pick up a few seats along the way,” said Jane Kidd, chairperson of the Democratic Party of Georgia.
The 2010 elections are pivotal because whatever party is in charge controls the re-districting process in 2011 — the year when the state legislature redraws district lines based on 2010 census data. For Democrats, getting control of a key office is almost do or die.
“If we don’t have the governor’s office, lieutenant governor or Speaker of the House, it’s going to be a very hard thing [to regain any control],” Kidd said.
The Democrats controlled the House and Senate during the last redistricting process, and Ehrhart clearly enjoys the irony of seizing a majority with the Democrats’ map which now protects Republican districts.
“We’re pretty stratified in our districts,” Ehrhart said. “One of the things the Democrats did do is during reapportionment, they packed us in. There was a packing of Republican districts, and now that they’re the minority party, it's come back on them.
“Identity politics really got them there,” he said. “They beefed up all the districts, put fences around all the Republicans, and now those fences are protecting the majority.”
With a likely outcome of Republicans remaining at least in partial control, if not full control in 2010, Ehrhart hinted at what might lie ahead.
“We’re not going to go in and say, ‘Gee, you were wrong, let’s load up our districts with some of ya’ll so you can beat us.’ That’s not a practical reality,” he said.
seized control of the Georgia House of
Representatives in the 2004 election, Earl Ehrhart moved into a suite
of corner offices in the capitol building that once housed Georgia’s
Temperance Office. The longest tenured Republican in the House also
snagged the chairmanship of the House Rules Committee, the powerful
group that controls the House’s agenda.
During his lengthy stay under the Golden Dome, Ehrhart has drawn
fire from gay activists when he passed a bill preventing the City of
Atlanta from enacting a living-wage policy that included favoring
contractors who offer domestic partner benefits, and a bill that
protected the Druid Hills Golf Club from a city effort to punish the
club for not offering the same benefits to gay couples and straight
spouses.
Ehrhart continues to defend the Boy Scouts of America in their
decision to bar gay scoutmasters and maintains his actions have not
been anti-gay, but rather anti-government control. On Good Friday, he
gave an extend interview to Southern Voice to explain how his
Libertarian and conservative views conflict with gay activism.
SoVo: Sen. Vincent Fort’s (D-Atlanta) hate crimes bill died in the
state Senate, and several senators said there was no point in passing a
bill that would die in the House. As a member of the House leadership
how do you feel about hate crimes laws?
Ehrhart: I’m not a fan hate crime legislation, I never have been. I
disagree with the concept. I think any crime is a hate crime and I want
to punish everyone who commits crimes harshly.
I submit that much of our legislation that we passed is for the GLBT
committee. Tax relief is the kind of thing where everyone pays a car
tax. I’d say that there is no distinction in different communities
wanting relief that.
SoVo: So you just don’t see the need to change the law to incorporate categories.
Ehrhart: No, I really don’t. I think we Balkanize too much. When we
break ourselves down into identifiable groups whether they are men or
women, whether it’s black or white, gay or straight, I think we take
something away from our basic humanity, and I’d rather deal on that
level. I like the basic constitutional principal that everyone should
be treated equally, that’s just my personal opinion.
SoVo: There is a feeling among the gay community that conservative
Republicans use the gay population as a political football. Is that a
fair criticism?
Ehrhart: I’ve tried not to let hyperbole get in the way of what I
think is right. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten anyone up. The basis for
that article [point to a framed Southern Voice article with two
“Whammy” monsters on either shoulder] is the Druid Hills piece. But I
felt different for different reasons.
If anyone can feel the resonance of not being able to will [a club
membership] to a partner it’s someone like me, a single parent. My
kids, I would say that’s as close of a relationship as a partner, even
when my son turns 21 [he can’t stay on my membership] because that’s
the rules under I joined the club. I can’t change the rules.
I can’t speak for everybody obviously, but I don’t go out of my way
to find legislation that can be construed as a football. That one I
felt strongly about, just as I felt strongly about franchise fees, or
anything else I normally go after.
SoVo: So is it a pattern of opposition, or just individual issues that you feel strongly about?
Ehrhart: Philosophically on gay marriage? Is that what you’re asking
me? Then in that case I’m certainly a conservative Republican. I think
marriage is between a man and a woman, I’ve always thought that. But
you don’t see any legislation from me either; we just have a difference
of opinion possibly.
SoVo: Republicans have always believed in non-government
interference. So how to you reconcile the Libertarian side of the
Republican Party with the more conservative side of the Republican
Party?
Ehrhart: I guess the right answer is it’s a big tent. There are a
lot of Libertarians in the Republican Party, and a lot who are very
conservative. I would submit that your community, the Southern Voice
community, would find a lot to attract them to the conservative fiscal
policy, maybe not all the social policies, but like you said you
haven’t seen a lot of legislation this year either.
SoVo: Is that by design?
Ehrhart: It might by design, maybe it’s because of a cultural
affinity toward the Libertarian side of party. Only when it becomes
government driven, i.e. Druid Hills, does the party say that’s
government driven and this is a private organization being told what to
do by a government entity. Boy Scouts is the other thing for me.
SoVo: You’ve always been a big supporter of the Boy Scouts.
Ehrhart: Like I said, there is that freedom to associate. Your
community has the freedom to associate, so does a group of Boy Scouts.
As long as the government doesn’t involve itself in anybody’s business
then everyone should just go along and do that. If government got
involved and hurt somebody than I would get involved.
One of the reporters who previously worked there before you did
found out I had put $500,000 in the budget for HIV drugs. He just
couldn’t understand, he asked, “Why would you want to do that? You’re
anti-gay.” I told him the case is made that people will die if you
don’t spend the money to get this medication. That’s a no-brainer; of
course that’s a role of the government. It is now a continuation item
in this budget and it will remain that way as far as I’m concerned.
SoVo: I think Georgia is going to be Republican-controlled for the foreseeable future. What is the overall vision for Georgia?
Ehrhart: I can tell you my vision. It’s not a cliché as far as I’m
concerned, but it’s limiting government. That means limiting tax
burden. Government growing at 79 percent for [certain] school boards,
that’s a no win, you can’t sustain that level of growth. Continue to
fight for individual freedom; I think that’s crucial. Whether that’s
the business of the community that reads your paper, or anyone else, I
don’t think freedom has an identity group. Then as far as me, free
markets, the ability to practice your profession without government
interference.
I think we’re doing a lot of that across the board. You see all the
budget fights, but we’ve done a lot of things over the past four years.
I hope you understand I’m not trying to give you the pat answer, that’s
truly why I’m doing this. I don’t have to do this anymore.
SoVo: I think you can stay in office though pretty much as long as you want. How long do you want to stay?
Ehrhart: I don’t believe that; you can never tell. (He names two
former opponents) Your editors would love them. They dress up in period
dress for the flag and all that stuff. Talk about horrible things that
would come out and specifically target your community. That’s just not
my world.
I don’t know how many more years I’ll do it. My kids are 11 and 16,
and I have a lot of fun things I’m doing with them. So far I’ve been
successful with my businesses. The day that someone really wants this
more than I do they can have it. I’m enjoying the ability to do policy
now.
SoVo: How do you reconcile being a single parent and an advocate of ‘traditional families’ at the same time?
Ehrhart: I don’t think there’s a conflict. When you get to single
parents, especially with some of the child support things I did, that
used to frustrate the opposition more than us. I never lobbied for
anything to better my position because I have my children. I’ve never
received support. I actually would be entitled to support. I don’t
think there is any inconsistency to that all. I don’t know if I’m a
fathers’ rights advocate or just a family advocate.
You have to recognize today’s world. We’re in a support situation
where it’s ‘Leave it to Beaver’-land — this is the 1950s when we didn’t
recognize that ‘My goodness we have two people who work now? We have
two people with incomes and we’re going to put it all on one?’ That’s
crazy. My advocacy has to bring some compelling relevance to what we’re
doing. If I’m a fathers’ rights advocate then it’s because quite
possibly some of the father’s rights were not as well protected as the
mother. There was an admonition from one of the judges in South Georgia
who’s now thankfully gone, “Well the calves follow the heifer, you’re
just going to have to pay son,” really. What if she’s a doctor who
makes $250,00 a year and the man works at Sears? It just doesn’t make
sense.
SoVo: As a family advocate, would you support a bill to allow
statewide second parent adoption, regardless of gender or relation?
Ehrhart: That would be one of those positions I would just have to
see how the legislation was crafted, I really would. Now if we could
ever get to some adoption legislation, maybe we could make some
revisions because you would be a good dad.
SoVo: Do you think we are ever going to be in a place where we can discussion adoption without nuclear options coming out?
Ehrhart: I think so. The experience in other states is that you can kind of move forward on certain issues.
