GOP Leader Says Dannemeyer’s Gay-Sex Wording ‘Obscene’

A state Republican official said Thursday that he censored a party resolution offered by Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) because he considered its graphic descriptions of homosexual acts to be “obscene.”

Dannemeyer’s resolution, which was written for the state GOP’s convention this weekend in Anaheim, quoted studies on “favorite sexual activities of the average homosexual.”

The resolution calls on the Republican Party to oppose “any effort to make sexual preference or orientation a protected civil right, essentially giving it minority status,” said Brett Barbre, an aide to Dannemeyer.

The resolution is one of at least six anti-gay measures to be considered at the convention, most of which have already been dismissed by the party several times.

The chairman of the convention’s resolutions committee, Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), described Dannemeyer’s resolution Thursday as “unparliamentary language.”

McClintock said he removed the descriptions of sex “because the rules prohibit the use of language in a motion or debate that is obscene. (Obscenity) is a judgment call, but in this case there was no doubt,” he said.

Barbre said Dannemeyer, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, has not decided whether to appeal McClintock’s action when the resolution is considered at the convention Saturday.

“The reason the language is in there is that the state party is being asked . . . to accept their (gay) life style into the party and we feel that before we accept that life style, people should know exactly what the life style is all about,” Barbre said.

The language in the resolution is similar to a commentary that Dannemeyer read into the Congressional Record in June, offending some representatives who ordered it deleted.

Frank Ricchiazzi of Laguna Beach, chairman of the GOP’s Log Cabin Club, a gay-oriented Republican organization, said the anti-gay resolutions have been offered repeatedly by “extreme wackos” and “self-righteous ayatollah individuals” who are opposed by the mainstream of the party.

Ricchiazzi said that to some degree, he was sorry the language was deleted from Dannemeyer’s resolution because “the delegates could see the kind of person who claims to be a Republican.”

The other anti-gay resolutions at the convention include one offered by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), aimed at the Log Cabin Club, that has already been voted down three times at previous party conventions. The resolution would deny recognition to any Republican club organized on the basis of sexual preference.

“We just don’t think that the party should be recognizing groups based on their bedroom practices,” Ferguson said.

McClintock said about 35 resolutions have been submitted to the convention so far and another 15 to 20 are expected to be offered during the weekend. He said only about a quarter are expected to be passed by committees and reach the floor.

Among the other resolutions, McClintock said the state party will consider for the first time President Bush’s call for a 27th Amendment to the Constitution, making it illegal to burn the flag.

Other issues include abortion, gun control, crime victims, AIDS, the death penalty, water conservation, support for Poland, schools and a high-speed train.