Upon becoming the first to declare his candidacy for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination last year, Howard Dean was tagged a long shot in the race. Though the former Vermont governor is well-known within the national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community for having signed that state's civil unions bill into law, political observers have said he lacks the name recognition and the cash flow of his rivals, the majority of whom have had long careers as federal elected officials. But a recent American Research Group poll of voters in New Hampshire, the site of the nation's first presidential primary in January 2004, indicates that Dean's early entry into the race may be paying off.

The poll showed U.S. Senator John Kerry at 23 percent and Dean at 22 percent. With the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent, the two candidates are in a statistical dead heat. Other candidates trailed farther behind: U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt garnered 15 percent; U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman took 12 percent; U.S. Sen. John Edwards had 3 percent; U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun each took 1 percent; while Al Sharpton and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich mustered none of the vote. Twenty percent of voters were undecided.

At a March 26 rally at Boston's JFK Library, Dean, who has boosted his recognition with his antiwar stance, expressed mixed reaction to the poll. "I think we've done very well, but I don't think one poll makes a campaign," he told Bay Windows. "I think [Kerry is] still probably ahead. But clearly the campaign's caught on and we're raising some serious money and we're making a lot of progress. I think in the end what Democrats want is somebody who will stand up for Democratic Party principals."

Given his strong support for civil unions, which created a parallel structure to marriage for same-sex couples in Vermont, it's not surprising that Dean counts GLBT civil rights among those Democratic Party principals. So what gay rights planks would Dean like to add to the 2004 party platform? "Well, as you know, Vermont's the only state in the country where actually everybody really is equal under the law," he replies. "I think that would be a good one. I don't think we have the right to tell other states that they have to enact civil unions, but I believe that the federal government should recognize civil unions. And I believe 'Don't ask Don't tell,' is a failed policy. There are many gay and lesbian people serving in the United States military already, Dean adds, "and to prevent them from saying that they are is insane.

"I was astonished that the federal government fired six Arabic language specialists at a time when we desperately need Arabic language specialists for homeland security and protection, because they happen to be gay," says Dean. "Last time I looked, gay and lesbian people can serve this country as well as anybody else and they do, because there are lots of gay and lesbian people who serve in our armed forces. So I don't have any use for 'Don't ask Don't tell,' I think it's silly. But I do think it's fair to hold people to a standard [and] that is, there will be no sexual harassment or sexual impropriety. But that's the same standard for heterosexual people as well. That's fair. But I think the standards have to be equal."

Also a given is his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the long-stalled federal bill to protect gay and lesbian people from workplace discrimination and the Local Law Enforcement Act, which would allow federal assistance to investigate anti-gay crimes. "Of course I support all that, we have all that sort of thing in Vermont," says Dean. "Look, I believe in equal rights under the law, period. And that means equal rights for everybody under the law. So anything along those lines is something that I support."

Dean, however, does not support gay marriage, as he believes the concept of marriage is a religious issue. As he recently told the Advocate magazine, "the issue for me is not marriage but equal rights under the law. If the Catholic Church doesn't want to marry gay people, I think that's the Catholic Church's right."

The Republican response

Nonetheless, he expects that Republicans will use gay marriage as wedge issue to divide Democrats in the 2004 election, as they did during the 1996 election campaign, which resulted in the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA), a federal law banning the recognition of same-sex marriage. "They'll talk to us about gay marriage and claim that I support gay marriage," Dean predicts. But he makes clear the distinction between Vermont civil unions and same-sex marriage, though he firmly believes civil unions accomplished the Vermont Supreme Court's mandate that gay couples be allowed all the legal recognitions of marriage offered under Vermont state law. "What we did - that's why civil unions, I thought, were so smart - what they did was say, look, marriage is for churches and temples and synagogues to decide on their own. The state is not going to force people to have gay marriage or force churches to perform gay marriages. But civil unions are equal rights under the law, ... Equal rights under the law or equal protection under the law is actually described in the [Vermont] Supreme Court ruling and this country was founded on that. And that means equal rights for everybody under the law, not just the people you work with or the people you're friends with, but everybody."

Though he was lauded by the national GLBT community for his stance on civil unions, Dean has drawn criticism from some gay and lesbian people in his home state for not supporting full marriage rights for gays. Critics say the civil unions law created a "separate but equal" structure that is not recognized in other states, nor does it provide federal benefits to same-sex couples. Dean agrees with his critics on those points, but says, "I believe that the federal government ought to recognize civil unions. There's no reason not to. It's equal rights under the law. Why shouldn't gay people have the same tax laws apply to them as everybody else?"

While he is clear in his support for equal legal protections for gay and lesbian couples, Dean is less clear about how he would secure those rights as president. "Well, first of all I don't think it's any of the federal government's business to tell states what their marriage laws should be," he says. "So I don't insist that every state has its own civil unions bill. But I do insist that everybody has equal rights under the law and each state needs to find out how to do that for themselves. And I do believe that if a state allows civil unions the federal government ought to recognize that."

Getting elected

With a crowded field of candidates - many of whom also have strong records of support for GLBT issues - it remains to be seen if Dean will line up the majority of the gay vote. Locally, Dean is faced with winning over a gay community with strong ties to Kerry, a leading supporter of gay rights in the U.S. Senate. While she's enthused about Dean's candidacy because she believes his social liberalism will help swing the pool of Democratic candidates leftward, local political activist Nina Selvaggio says the choice between Dean and Kerry will be difficult. "I think it's hard because for folks here, the natural inclination is to go with our senator, Kerry, because people have relationships with him and there's a foundation to build off of. So I've heard lots of talk about Kerry, but I've also heard lots of talk about Dean. I think there's going to be lots of natural tension over who to support." Selvaggio is not yet committed to any candidate.

Dean's electability is also an issue, says Gary Daffin, another local activist, though he understands the enthusiasm within the gay community for Dean's candidacy. Though he says it's far too early in the race for him to commit to a candidate, Daffin says he's more inclined to support Kerry. "John Kerry is more electable and has more experience," Daffin observes. "He has a lot more foreign policy experience ... and that means a lot more right now."

But at least one local gay Democrat has lined up behind Dean. Somerville resident Dorie Clark, who served as press secretary for failed Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich, is heading to Vermont to be Dean's deputy press secretary.

While gay rights are an important part of his platform, the fiscally conservative Dean says his first orders of business as president would be balancing the budget, restoring the country's rightful place of respect in the world community and providing health insurance for every American. And he is confident that his nomination for president would unite a Democratic Party - a party Dean believes is too far to the right - that has been divided over whether to embrace traditional liberal causes or more moderate ideals.

"I think people want to beat George Bush so badly that whoever the nominee is, they will unify around that person's candidacy," says Dean. "What this president is doing in terms of the economy, in terms of our foreign policy, in terms of healthcare, in terms of the environment, is real tragic in many ways. So the democrats will be very, very hungry for change here. And I think the future of the country depends on it."

Laura Kiritsy is the Associate Editor at Bay Windows. Her e-mail address is lkiritsy@baywindows.com.

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