Vigil Against N Divides Its Foes

Declaring in quiet song that “we are fighting for our lives,” about 80 gay activists and supporters marched by candlelight in Irvine on Saturday to protest a measure on Tuesday’s city ballot that would strip homosexuals of anti-discrimination protections.

However, the group formally opposing the initiative decided not to take part in the evening vigil for fear of a political backlash, a sign of the high emotions over Measure N that have divided even those on the same side of the issue.

The leaders of Irvine Citizens United, who have sought strenuously to paint Measure N as a fight over human rights, not gay rights, said they were worried that the event might have done more harm than good in the eyes of local voters.

Saturday’s subdued vigil and march through the UC Irvine campus was organized by the Orange County Visibility League, a group of self-described militant gay activists who have often sponsored boisterous demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience and “kiss-ins.”

“I don’t think (the vigil) will help,” James Boone, the only gay member of the Irvine Citizens United’s advisory board, said before the event. “I don’t think these kinds of tactics--marching in the streets and demonstrating and all that--work in Irvine. That’s never been the way we do things here, but (the gay activists) can do what they want.”

As the gay activists prepared for their vigil Saturday, more than 100 Irvine Citizens United volunteers were distributing last-minute campaign literature urging residents to vote “No on Discrimination, No on Measure N.”

The supporters of Measure N also went door to door with literature as each side stepped up its campaigning three days before the election. Between the two groups, an estimated 60,000 pieces of literature were passed out in Irvine on Saturday alone. The door-to-door canvassing is set to continue today.

On Tuesday, Irvine voters will decide whether to repeal a provision in the city’s 15-month old Human Rights Ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in such areas as housing, employment and public services. A yes vote on Measure N would strip the provision from the ordinance, while a no vote would leave the law intact.

Proponents include local conservatives who say the ordinance gives “special protection” to homosexuals and legitimizes what they call an immoral life style. The ordinance, they charge, may lead to affirmative action programs requiring the hiring of homosexuals, contribute to health risks and turn Irvine into “another San Francisco.”

“All we’re trying to do,” said Scott Peotter, a leader of the Irvine Values Coalition, which put the measure on the ballot, “is to take Irvine back to the way it was before this ordinance and reassert the moral values of our community.”

Measure N opponents argue that everyone who lives or works in Irvine is entitled to be free from discrimination. The ordinance grants no special rights, only equal rights, they argue. Removing protections for homosexuals is a threat to all people--gay and non-gay--and will signal a return to an era when people legally could discriminate against certain classes of citizens, they say.

The Measure N balloting will mark the first time that residents anywhere in Southern California have had a direct vote on the sensitive gay rights issue, those involved in the fight say. It occurs against a backdrop of increasingly frequent clashes between local gay activists and conservatives such as the Rev. Louis Sheldon and Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), who are supporting Measure N.

The contest is being watched closely by gay and civil rights leaders around the country, largely because of Orange County’s conservative reputation.

Gay rights measures put to public votes elsewhere around the country in the last decade have produced mixed, and often ambiguous, results. But Robert Bray of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said, “If we can defeat the Dannemeyer forces in Irvine, that’s the beginning of the next wave of progress for us.”

Both sides are cautiously predicting a narrow victory Tuesday. They say the decision will probably come down to which side does a better job of getting out the vote for an election that includes school board races but no city council seats.

Even as opponents of Measure N are guardedly optimistic, Saturday’s vigil in Irvine dramatized the deep divisions within their ranks over how to best fight the ballot initiative.

The Orange County Visibility League, an increasingly virulent voice in local gay rights battles, had virtually no role in the Measure N fight before it organized the weekend vigil.

The league’s leaders maintain that Irvine Citizens United has masked the gay issue for fear of a political backlash.

“In our minds, this is clearly a gay and lesbian versus religious right issue, and we felt we had to do something (through the candlelight vigil) to show that,” said Jeff LeTourneau, a Visibility League leader. He said that members of Irvine Citizens United recently tried to discourage the league from staging the vigil.

Irvine Citizens United, made up largely of non-gays and backed by such elected leaders as Mayor Larry Agran, has raised nearly $50,000 and worked hard to portray the Measure N debate as a broad test of the community’s intolerance of discrimination and support for human rights.

Boone, the advisory board’s gay member, said he fears that the vigil may have thwarted that strategy.

The vigil “has nothing to do with us,” Boone said before the event. “It’s not part of our campaign, and we’re not participating. (The Orange County Visibility League) did this on their own.”

Although Irvine Citizens United leaders worried about a possible confrontation at the vigil between gay activists and religious fundamentalists, none developed. Gay activists--together with some supporters from the religious and pro-choice movements--sang songs, held candles and passed out literature to occasional passers-by in the parking lot at the Irvine Marketplace and on the university campus.

“We wanted to do something a little quieter, a little more low-key this time for Irvine,” said Kevin Farrell, a Visibility League leader.

Still, the Rev. Fred Plumer, a leader of the group formally opposing Measure N, said of the vigil: “This isn’t where I would have preferred the emphasis. There might have been a better way to use our energies.”

“Unfortunately, I think there are still a lot of people who are uncomfortable with the homosexual issue, and I just wish we could have done a better job of making people see the larger issue of discrimination,” Plumer said.

Relying on the conservative vote in Irvine to carry the measure, Irvine Values Coalition officials have targeted registered Republicans--who predominate in the city--for special attention in their mailers.

But that strategy has not set well with local Republicans who assert that they also are strong supporters of civil rights. The battle for Republican votes has centered on U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson’s position on the measure.

Councilman Cameron Cosgrove and local resident Bill Speros, both Republicans, have sent mailers recently urging a no vote and citing Wilson’s support for the Human Rights Ordinance.

But Wilson aides say he has never formally endorsed the ordinance, although he backs the principle of no discrimination against everyone, including homosexuals.