Gay lawmaker disavows record of voting against gay rights
State Sen. Roy Ashburn, who earlier this year acknowledged that he is gay, has strongly disavowed his record of voting against gay rights in the Legislature.
“I am sincerely sorry for the votes I cast and the actions I took that harmed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” he said in an online opinion piece published this week.
The Bakersfield Republican, who is serving his final year in the Senate, argues in the essay on gaypolitics.com that it is “time for fair-minded Republicans to speak up” for such rights.
“I am no longer willing, nor able, to remain silent in the face of unequal and hurtful treatment of my community,” he wrote.
In 2005, Ashburn organized and spoke at a rally against legislation allowing same-sex marriage in California and voted against the bill. In 2009, he opposed a measure creating an annual Harvey Milk Day, in honor of the slain gay-rights leader.
“All this was done because I was afraid — terrified, really — that somehow I would be revealed as gay,” wrote Ashburn, who is 56 and divorced.
On the day he announced he was gay on a Bakersfield radio show, Ashburn said his votes “reflect the wishes of the people in my district.” But he has since become more outspoken in favor of gay rights. In May, he went to the Senate floor to speak against the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for the armed forces.
He said that as a gay Republican, “I am somewhat of a novelty in politics.” But he now embraces that bully pulpit to battle for gay rights.
“How can it possibly be that there is a partisan political divide over equal rights in America?” he said in the article.
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