Davis Assails Group Opposed to Gays

State Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) Monday accused a religious group of being “un-American” for asking that Davis and other candidates in the 1986 U.S. Senate race refuse support from homosexual groups.

It was the first major exchange in what could be a messy issue for Republicans in the Senate race. Davis has already been criticized by some conservatives for supporting legislation to prevent job discrimination against homosexuals.

Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston, the man Davis and the other Republicans hope to replace, has long been a supporter of gay rights.

The letter that drew Davis’ fire was sent out by the American Coalition for Traditional Values, which lists among its directors such television evangelists as Jerry Falwell, Rex Humbard and Jimmy Swaggert.

The letter, which was signed by the group’s chairman, the Rev. Tim LaHaye, accused homosexuals of spreading the disease AIDS in their bathhouses and assailed homosexuals for violating “traditional family values.”

In a response mailed to the group Monday, Davis charged, “Among other things, your request that I and other candidates for the U.S. Senate ‘not accept contributions from individuals who expressly identify themselves as homosexuals’ is downright un-American.

“Dr. LaHaye, I can only interpret your letter as an attempt to deprive some of our citizens of one of our most fundamental and cherished rights--the right to participate in the electoral process.

“All law-abiding Americans have the right to support the candidate of their choice and no person or organization has the right to deprive them of this most basic freedom.”

Two years ago, Davis surprised conservatives and liberals when he voted for legislation that would have barred employers from refusing a job to a homosexual if that person were otherwise qualified for the job. The bill was vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Davis, who has told the Republican Party it has to welcome more diversity if it is to become a majority party, said in an interview Monday, “There are many gay people who support Republican economic and defense policies. Their participation in the process is broader than anything to do with their sexual orientation.”

Davis said the job discrimination bill “has been a problem for me ever since I voted for it. I’m sure I will never be allowed by some people to forget that I voted my conscience.”

The bill has been reintroduced in the Legislature, and Davis said, “I will vote (for it) again and again . . . . I support the closing of the baths--I would support closing heterosexual baths used for assignations, because they are a health hazard. . . . But I am against anyone otherwise qualified for a job being discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation.”

As for the religious group’s request that he refuse the support of homosexuals, Davis said: “Which group will be next? Where is this going to stop? Will people of different religious orientations be the next groups facing disenfranchisement?”

Davis recalled that he often clashed with homosexual rights groups when he was chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 to 1978.

Dodge City

“They didn’t like me sending my men into their bars (to look for prostitutes). But I was the marshal of Dodge City, and you had to obey the law.

“What I’m saying today is not inconsistent. Any law-abiding citizen should be allowed to give money to political candidates.”

In his letter to the American Coalition for Traditional Values, Davis also said, “By even suggesting the abridgement of anyone’s constitutional rights, you lost whatever presumptuous claim you may have had to speak for traditional values. . . . Dr. LaHaye, you do not speak for traditional values and you certainly do not speak for conservatives. . . .

“I close this letter by asking you to read two short documents with which you may not be familiar: the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.”

Attempts to reach LaHaye failed. Phone calls to the El Cajon and Washington offices of the American Coalition for Traditional Values were not answered.

Statement Issued

Republican Assemblyman Robert Naylor of Menlo Park, who also has formally entered the Senate race, issued a one-paragraph statement in response to the LaHaye letter. Naylor said he continues to oppose the bill barring job discrimination against homosexuals but added that homosexuals have “a right to participate in the democratic political process. “

Attempts to reach another Republican Senate hopeful, Rep. Bobbi Fiedler of Northridge, were unsuccessful. Along with Davis and Cranston, Fiedler was attacked in the LaHaye letter for “voting for homosexual rights as a member of Congress.”

One Republican who is exploring a run for the Senate has accepted the religious group’s request. He is Rep. William Dannemeyer of Fullerton.

In a recent telephone interview, Dannemeyer said, “I think the major issue in the letter from Dr. LaHaye is health and safety. Historically, homosexuality has been a moral issue, and it still is. But the AIDS epidemic has added a new dimension, namely a serious threat to the heterosexual world.”