Dornan Gets Criticism for Not Delivering : Gays, Opponent Say He Should Have Given Promised AIDS Donation

Gay activists and the Democratic nominee in the 38th Congressional District strongly criticized Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) Tuesday for saying publicly several times that he had donated his latest congressional pay raise to AIDS hospices when he had not.

Dornan repeated the statement at a community forum in his district Sunday but acknowledged through a spokesman on Monday that he had not yet donated the money--about $12,000. He said that he had planned to personally present a check in June to Mother Teresa for AIDS hospices in New York but that she had become ill and his meeting with her was canceled.

“First he said that he was going to give the money to a hospice in New York, but he didn’t,” said Drew Barras, a board member of the Election Committee, County of Orange (ECCO), a bipartisan gay rights political action group. “So why doesn’t he give it to groups in Orange County? We have plenty of people who need the money here.”

ECCO has contributed small amounts to Dornan’s opponents in past elections but has not taken a position in his current reelection bid in the 38th District.

Democrat Jerry Yudelson, who said Tuesday that he has raised more than $150,000 in his uphill bid to unseat Dornan, called his opponent hypocritical for not delivering on his promise to donate his pay raise to AIDS hospices while opposing federal funding for AIDS-related programs.

Yudelson also said Dornan’s conduct “demonstrates the condescension with which he views the voters.”

Even if Dornan carries through with his personal donation, it will be virtually meaningless, added Yudelson, as long as Dornan refuses to vote in Congress for “sustained government action to help alleviate the greatest public health crisis of our time.”

Eric Rosenthal, a lobbyist for the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign Fund, a bipartisan political action committee, said Tuesday that Dornan has opposed most major AIDS research and gay anti-discrimination legislation. He acknowledged, however, that Dornan co-sponsored a bill to create a national commission on AIDS. That legislation has been merged with an omnibus bill dealing with AIDS research funding, testing and privacy that Dornan is not co-sponsoring, Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal’s group contributed $5,000, the maximum allowed by law, to the campaign of Richard Robinson, Dornan’s Democratic opponent in the 38th District in 1986.

Dornan could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Considered Insensitive

Dornan’s wife, Sallie, publicly disclosed Sunday that one of her brothers was dying of AIDS. She confirmed Monday that members of the Log Cabin Club of Orange County helped her try to find him during a two-month period earlier this year. She said her brother, who is 48, apparently went into hiding earlier this year when he learned that he had contracted the AIDS virus. He had been ailing for about two years, she said.

The club is a Republican organization of gay and civil rights activists based in Laguna Beach. Many gay-rights activists accuse Rep. Dornan of being insensitive to the plight of gays and other minorities, and his appearances in his home district are often the focus of demonstrations and loud protests.

The club’s bylaws require it to support Republican candidates, but a club official said Tuesday that the group has stayed neutral in Dornan’s campaigns because he was found to be “unacceptable.”

The revelation that Sallie Dornan had asked local gay activists to help her search for her brother followed an incident Sunday in which she quarreled with gay rights activist Jeff LeTourneau during a Town Forum meeting in Garden Grove.

She later apologized to LeTourneau and explained that she grew angry because “my brother is dying.” Rep. Dornan said later that while he had known that his brother-in-law was gay, he had not known that he had AIDS.

Yudelson predicted that the current controversy surrounding Dornan will have little effect politically.

A Little More Human

“It reminds people about how controversial he is,” Yudelson said, “and that he can’t even carry off a public forum without generating a huge brouhaha. . . . He’s also bashing gays, which makes you wonder what Dornan learned from having a gay brother-in-law. But it also has a positive effect for him--it adds human interest. It’s a tragedy that makes him a little more human.”

Barbara Hogan, secretary of the Orange County-based Mothers of AIDS Patients, said the group counseling organization is drafting a letter to Sallie Dornan inviting her to attend the group’s weekly sessions. “We want her to know that this group is available and that it’s not just for mothers,” Hogan said. “We all share the anger she feels.”