| Democrat Doug Racine, 50, hasserved as Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor since 1997. Prior to thisrole, he represented Chittenden County in the State Senate for 10 years.Racine graduated from Princeton University in 1974 and works with hisfamily-owned automobile dealership in South Burlington. OITM: Why should gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgendered Vermonters support your candidacy for Governor? DougRacine: I have made real strong efforts as a legislator and as theSenate [president] to be supportive of issues that are of concern tothe community. I have taken a leadership role on some issues such as theanti-discrimination bill that was passed in the early 1990’s andcivil unions. Now as a candidate I have been making a real strong effortto be in touch with leaders and members of the community to betterunderstand the issues of concern and how they would like stategovernment to respond. So I feel that my record is one of sensitivityand I am committed to remaining supportive of the issues that are ofconcern. OITM: Were you in the Senate when Vermont’sGay Rights Bill passed in 1992? Did you vote for it? Racine:Yes. I recall at the time saying that I never took as many nasty phonecalls as I did on that issue – until civil unions. OITM: As Governor would you appoint openly gay men andlesbians to the Legislature, state commissions, and/or yourCabinet? Racine: Absolutely. That has been part of thediscussion that I have had with gay and lesbian Vermonters, to putopenly gay Vermonters in positions that go against type – not justthings like civil rights commissions – [but] to have gay and lesbianVermonters in positions of authority in state government. When I will belooking for people to appoint, I want to be sensitive to that issue andmake sure that my administration represents Vermont and all thediversity of Vermont. OITM: What changes, if any, wouldyou support to Vermont’s civil union law? Racine:Barring the need for technical changes that I might not know about, I donot see any need to change the civil union legislation. It is a good lawand those who are affected by it are happy with it and people whoaren’t directly affected, I think, are becoming more accepting ofit. I’d leave it the way it is. OITM: Legislation hasbeen introduced that would permit Justices of the Peace to refuse toperform civil unions. What is your position on that bill? Racine: I would want to talk this over with theSecretary of State and with an attorney. Generally, I don’t thinkJPs should say yes, I’ll do marriages but no, I won’t do civilunions. I don’t know how you write or enforce that. But to sayspecifically that we are going to have a law that permitsdiscrimination, no, I wouldn’t support that. OITM:Would you support an amendment to Vermont’s Constitution definingmarriage as a union between one man and one woman? Racine: Idon’t think it is necessary. No, I would not support that. OITM: State Rep. Nancy Sheltra introduced a bill (H.259) prohibiting the “promotion” of homosexuality inVermont’s public schools. As Governor, would you support thatbill? Racine: I would be absolutely opposed to that.Rep. Sheltra and others who are thinking like her see anything butcondemnation of homosexuality as promotion. I think that is a verydangerous and ugly bill. OITM: Recently, a gay male couplein Rutland was accused of sexually assaulting a male foster child intheir care. In light of this, what is your position on gay men andlesbians serving as foster and adoptive parents? Racine: Idon’t have any problem at all with gay men and lesbians adopting orbeing foster parents. They are no more or less likely to be pedophilesthan anyone else in society. If a gay or lesbian couple has abused achild then they ought to be prosecuted for child molestation. OITM: In light of current budgetary pressures, what isyour position on the continuation of Vermont’s Human RightsCommission? Racine: The Human Rights Commission along withany other entity of state government is going to face a tighter budget.That’s just a fact of life right now. But I would certainly opposeany effort to eliminate the Human Rights Commission. It serves a crucialfunction in exposing discrimination of all sorts and in seekingprosecution in some cases. I don’t want to see those effortsend. OITM: What is your position on the medical use ofmarijuana by people living with HIV/AIDS? Racine: Iam supportive of the medical use of marijuana and would support awell-crafted bill. OITM: What is your position on legislationthat would permit citizen initiatives in Vermont? Racine: Ilike our system of government the way that it is in Vermont. Citizenshave representation through the legislature. Citizens have the abilityto petition state government to make changes to the laws and I wouldprefer to keep with our representative form of government rather than godown the road that California and other states have gone where there areso many initiatives on the ballot that are contradictory and confusing.I don’t think they are better served than the people of Vermontare. OITM: As Governor would you maintain a relationship withVermont’s gay and lesbian community through an officialliaison? Racine: The answer to that is yes, but it needsto be broader than that. I have made an effort in this campaign to sitdown with groups and not rely on one or two people to represent a wholecommunity. That would be like having one businessperson to represent thewhole business community. I think the gay and lesbian community is asdiverse as any other in their concerns about issues and political pointsof view. My efforts would be to reach out to as broad a group aspossible. OITM: Do you have any final message toVermont’s gay community? Racine: Through politicalactivism and electing the right people to office great strides have beenmade in Vermont towards moving beyond tolerance to acceptance andunderstanding of gay and lesbian Vermonters. A lot of that progresscould be lost if the wrong people are elected. We have a House ofRepresentatives in the last two years that has been very hostile tocivil unions. We have a Republican party that made opposition to civilunions two years ago the basis for their political efforts and we almostlost Governor Dean. I want people to understand how close this(election) is.
My message ismore of a plea to be politically active this year and to really searchfor the candidates who are going to be supportive of gay and lesbianissues and to be politically active on their behalf. We can lose inVermont a lot of the progress that has been made. We can lose civilunions with the wrong legislature and the wrong Governor in place. Whilemy opponent, Mr. Douglas, has said on occasion that he wouldn’tsupport repeal of civil unions, he has also said that he supports thebill (H.502) that Rep. Peg Flory got through the House last year whichvery specifically repeals civil unions. He’s trying to have it bothways, and I hope people will see through that and understand that if abill like Peg Flory’s lands on his desk as Governor, he will sign it– and civil unions will be dead in Vermont. | Republican Jim Douglas, 51,graduated from Middlebury College in 1972 and has served Vermont in avariety of roles for the past 30 years. He represented Middlebury inVermont’s House of Representatives, was an aide to former Gov.Richard Snelling, served as Secretary of State for 12 years, and hasbeen State Treasurer since 1994.
OITM: Why should gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgender Vermonters support your candidacy for Governor?
Douglas:My answer is why all Vermonters should support my candidacy. I don’twant to think of Vermonters in categories. I want to think of us as acommunity. That’s the advantage of a small state. We can all worktogether to solve our common problems. The biggest issue, I believe,confronting the state is the weakness in our economy and the erosion of8,000 jobs over the last year or so. It doesn’t matter whatanyone’s sexual orientation is, it is a serious problem that we allneed to work on all together. The goals that I have for the state applyto all Vermonters and I encourage everyone to join me.
OITM: AsGovernor would you appoint openly gay men and lesbians to theLegislature, statecommissions, and/or your Cabinet?
Douglas: I wouldn’t ruleanyone out. I want the most qualified people to serve in positions ofresponsibility and that would not be a factor in any appointmentdecisions I make.
OITM: What changes, if any, would you support toVermont’s civil union law?
Douglas: I don’t know. Iwon’t propose any changes to the law. This was a very difficultperiod for our state. It was a very divisive issue that brought outtremendous emotions on both sides of the debate. It is not an experiencethat I want to revisit so I’m not going to propose any changes. AndI’ll go so far as to say that I’m not going to sign a bill thatrepeals it. On the other hand, I would be amenable to considering legalrecognition of other types of loving family relationships. There hasbeen discussion of family members having various types of benefits thatmight be helpful and I’m certainly willing to consider those.
OITM: Would you have signed H.502, the so-called“repeal and replace” bill that passed Vermont’s House ofRepresentatives?
Douglas: I think there is a lot of sensitivityabout what that [H.502] did. Some say it is a repeal bill and focus onthat part of it, others say no it is an expansion of what we had. Idon’t want to get bogged down in semantics. I’m not going tosuggest repealing the law but I am willing to consider recognition ofother relationships. I guess I don’t want to be trapped into theanswer of whether that was the right vehicle or not.
OITM: Thecurrent civil union law has a reciprocal beneficiaries section forspinster aunts, mothers and sons, etc., yet no one has registered forthis. Would that lead you to conclude that there isn’t a demand forexpansion of the law?
Douglas: It may well. I’m just sayingthat I’m not going to rule exploring the possibility of other typesof recognition. I’m not proposing any but I’m not going to rulethem out.
OITM: The proponents of H.502 are civil union opponents.Do you see H.502 an attempt to undermine the civil union law?
Douglas: I don’t know. I saw it, at the time, as a wayto accommodate those who wanted to undermine the civil union law. Somewould argue that the new House majority was achieved, in part, becauseof the [civil union] law and I think the [House] leadership felt theyhad an obligation to provide a forum for that discussion. But what theirobjective was on an individual basis, I don’t know. I talked withRep. Peg Flory [R-Pittsford] more recently and I think she feels thatthe [Judiciary] committee might look at other issues in the comingsession.
OITM: Legislation has been introduced that would permitJustices of the Peace to refuse to perform civil unions. What is yourposition on that bill (S.55)?
Douglas: I guess I wonder if it isconstitutional based on the Supreme Court’s decision. We have anobligation to adhere to the Baker decision and extend the benefits ofmarriage to gay couples. There was a question at the time about TownClerks declining to issue a license, and I think the advice the AttorneyGeneral gave was that they ought not to decline. A public official needsto treat all residents of the state equally so I don’t know if itwould be constitutional. So I guess my reaction would be to ask my legalcounsel how to react to it. If it appears to violate the Baker decision,then that ought to settle the debate.
OITM: Earlier thisyear, you criticized the political tactics of Rev. David Sterzbach, ananti gay activist. While you were critical of his attacks on Republicanlawmakers you did not condemn his attacks on Vermont’s gaycommunity. Why?
Douglas: I’ve never met Mr. Sterzbach anddon’t know about all of his activities. What I saw was attacks onpeople of good will in the legislature and that is what I was focusingon. I guess I hadn’t heard his attacks otherwise. I think mostVermonters want to move on and I think that most Vermonters don’tlike the tactics that he has employed.
OITM: State Rep.Nancy Sheltra introduced a bill [H. 259] prohibiting the“promotion” of homosexuality in Vermont’s public schools. AsGovernor, would you support that bill?
Douglas: I think Iheard [former] Education Commissioner [David Wolk] say that we don’twant to promote any particular matters of sexual orientation in schoolsand that ought to be the policy statewide. I certainly agree with that.I don’t see the need for the legislation.
OITM: What is yourposition of the adoption of children by gay men and lesbians?
Douglas: I really believe that a father and mother are thebest environment for a child but that’s not possible in every caseand I believe that the best interest of the child ought to be thecontrolling standard. There is no question that a gay household can be avery loving experience for a youngster and I certainly wouldn’t moveto change the law (permitting gay adoption).
OITM: What is yourposition on the medical use of marijuana by people living withHIV/AIDS?
Douglas: I yield to Dr. [Gov.] Dean’s inclination onthat. I’m not persuaded that we ought to do it. I don’t pretendto be an expert on the topic but many physicians and law enforcementofficials believe we ought not to open that door so I’d like to seeif there are alternatives that we can pursue. I certainly know peoplewho had HIV, cancer and other very painful and debilitating diseases andI obviously want to find a way to accommodate their suffering. ButI’m not persuaded that a drug that has been illegal for so longought to be permitted. I might be persuaded but I guess I’m not atthis point.
OITM: As Governor would you maintain a relationship withVermont’s gay and lesbian community through an officialliaison?
Douglas: I hadn’t thought about that. I guess thequestion is broader about liaisons to other communities ororganizations. I guess I don’t know the answer to that rightnow.
OITM: What is your position on the existence ofVermont’s Human Rights Commission? In the past, there have beenlegislative attempts to eliminate it.
Douglas: Idon’t know. We’re coming into a time now where budgets are verytight and tough decisions are going to have to be made. I certainly wantto make sure that all civil rights laws are enforced. Whether that is inthe context of a separate commission I think is something that we candebate. In tough budgetary times I don’t want to be tieddefinitively. I certainly respect all that the commission hasdone.
OITM: Many civil union opponents contend that civil unionsare just marriage by another name yet, as a married heterosexual, youreceive 1,049 federal benefits that gay and lesbian couples donot.
Douglas: I didn’t know that. But even if we called itmarriage here the feds wouldn’t necessarily be obligated to go alongwould they?
OITM: Probably not, in light of the federal Defense ofMarriage Act (DOMA). Would you support an amendment to Vermont’sConstitution defining marriage as a union between one man and onewoman?
Douglas: I’m certainly not going to propose that. Wehave the shortest constitution in the country in terms of its length. Itis very basic. It is the fundamental law of our state. We ought not toamend it lightly by putting in more detail than is customary. Secondly,I don’t want to see the state bogged down in another debate on atopic that was amply debated two years ago. So I don’t see theusefulness of doing it.
OITM: Do you have any final message to thereaders of OITM?
Douglas: I guess I come back to what I said at thebeginning. We have some serious issues confronting our state,principally the result of the weak economy, and I want all Vermonters towork together to solve these problems. It doesn’t matter what theirsexual orientation is. I want people to bring their talent and abilitiesto the table and work to improve our state. It is going to takeeverybody’s effort. My goal as a Governor is to bring Vermonterstogether to talk about matters that unite us and not to get bogged downin a debate over issues that divide us.
