Anti-Gay Remark by Ferguson Stirs Up Controversy : Politics: Candidate for state 31st District Senate seat says he did not know the term was offensive. Tuesday’s special election is predicted to be close.

As he was picketed by a gay rights group Saturday in Anaheim in the final days of his campaign for a state Senate seat, Assemblyman Gil Ferguson called the protesters “faggots” and later said he did not realize the word was derogatory.

“I don’t care about them,” Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) told reporters at the event. “I’m a retired Marine. A couple of faggots out there aren’t going to scare me.”

Ferguson made the comment at the Power Community Church where he was appearing with Rev. Louis B. Sheldon, a leading proponent of anti-gay measures on ballots in several California cities last November.

In two subsequent interviews, when he was told the remark had been criticized, Ferguson said he would not “back down” from the comment.

“I have learned since this morning that they have style manuals about etiquette and what you’re supposed to call people,” Ferguson said. “I could have called them sodomites.”

He added that he did not mean harm because, “I didn’t even know that faggot was a derogatory term . . . that’s what I’ve always heard them called. I know that people don’t call them queers any more. I won’t call them gay, though. I don’t think there’s anything gay about it. It’s depressing.”

Ferguson, 66, is running in a special election Tuesday to replace former state Sen. William Campbell, who resigned in December. The heavily Republican district straddles the boundary between Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Ferguson’s comment was quickly attacked Saturday by several of his opponents.

Republican Ron Isles, a Brea city councilman, said it was an “unfortunate comment.” He added: “When we get political parties that try to press one morality over another, I think that’s divisive. Political parties should represent all of the people.”

Democrat Janice Graham gasped and said: “That’s awful. They’ll (gays) work to defeat him.”

And Republican Gary Miller, a city councilman in Diamond Bar, said: “I might think (gays) are wrong, but to try to publicly demean them by using words like faggots or queers. I think Mr. Ferguson should have stopped and thought about that. Maybe it’s shellshock.”

The remaining Republican candidate in the race, Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier), was unavailable for comment.

Frank Ricchiazzi, head of Orange County’s Log Cabin Club, a gay Republican group, said Ferguson has recently become more outspoken on anti-gay issues.

Last year, Ferguson wrote a resolution at the state Republican convention calling on the party to ban clubs based on sexual orientation. The measure was rejected by state Republican leaders, including U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson and Gov. George Deukmejian.

“That’s Ferguson,” Ricchiazzi said. “This is the kind of insensitivity we have seen.”

Greg Haskins, executive director of the Orange County Republican Party, declined to comment on Ferguson’s remark. He said it was not within the party’s role to determine whether it was appropriate.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), who is a supporter of Ferguson and an outspoken critic of homosexuality, stopped short of criticizing Ferguson, but said the congressman does not believe in using such inflammatory language.

“Whether it’s using a word like faggot or calling Gil and Mr. Dannemeyer a bigot, those are pejorative terms that just inflame the issue,” said Brett Barbre, a spokesman for Dannemeyer. “Mr. Dannemeyer doesn’t use pejoratives but he still strongly supports Gil.”

Ferguson’s bid for the state Senate seat has been hampered by his inability to raise money. But he is counting on a strong showing by the conservative Republican voters in south Orange County who have elected him to three terms in the Assembly.

If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote Tuesday--as political experts predict--a runoff election will be held April 10 between the top vote-getters in each party. The 31st Senate District stretches from West Covina and Whittier on the north to Laguna Niguel on the south.

Political experts expect a close race among the four Republican candidates.

At first, the conventional political wisdom was that Assemblyman Hill, who had climbed the political ranks and gained the right endorsements, was best-positioned to claim Campbell’s seat.

The prospects brightened for Hill, the best-financed candidate, when Gov. Deukmejian scheduled the election for Tuesday, making the campaign one of the shortest ever in California.

But Sacramento is now watching this race closely because, in the politics of 1990, conventional wisdom is getting a thorough review.

Two independently wealthy Republican candidates--Isles and Miller--are expected to spend a combined total of almost $1 million of their own money. In their campaigns, they have been focusing on two of the thorniest issues to confront state-level officeholders of late: ethics and abortion.

Isles and Miller have both campaigned hard on an anti-incumbency theme, telling voters that Sacramento is so plagued with corruption that they should elect a new Legislature.

Polls have shown that the public is receptive to such a message in the wake of a series of corruption scandals, including an FBI investigation in Sacramento that resulted in the conviction Friday of state Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier) on seven counts of extortion, racketeering and money laundering.

Hill has been most heavily attacked because he is still a target in that same FBI investigation. But Ferguson complained that “they tar the brush over and it gets on my name, too.”

Abortion may also play a significant role in the outcome Tuesday.

The pro-choice movement, which was a major factor in two recent legislative races, has been working on behalf of Isles, the only pro-choice Republican in the race. Pro-choice groups from Orange and Los Angeles counties endorsed Isles, believing that a Democratic victory is unlikely in the 31st District.

As a result, Isles is using the same formula that Assemblywoman Tricia Hunter (R-San Marcos) employed in her victory last October by appealing to Democratic voters to cross party lines and cast their votes on the single issue of abortion.

“In a low turnout race, a candidate who is pro-abortion and Republican . . . can pick up enough Democratic votes on that single issue . . . to tip the scales,” said Ferguson. “The potential is strong” for a repeat of the Hunter race, he said.

Since the candidates are relying almost entirely on direct mail, the campaign has been almost invisible, making it harder to predict the outcome.

Sources said a poll done recently by state Republicans found the four GOP candidates bunched in a tight pack, with Isles and Miller holding a slight edge over Ferguson and Hill. However, the poll also showed there was a large bloc of undecided voters, sources said.

There are three Democrats in the race and one American Independent Party candidate.

The Democrats are Graham, of Laguna Hills; Bradley John McFadden, of West Covina, and Thomas M. Whaling, of El Toro. The American Independent candidate, who will represent his party in the runoff if no one gets more than 50% of the vote Tuesday, is Robert Lewis, of Rowland Heights.