Countywide : Both Sides Take Part in Gay-Rights Talks

Orange County activists on both sides of the gay-rights issue sat down together in Santa Ana on Tuesday for the first time and denounced any use of violence in furthering their respective viewpoints.

Christina Shea, an Irvine homemaker who successfully pushed for the repeal of a sexual-orientation clause from her city’s anti-discrimination law, said she regrets that hostility had existed between fundamentalist Christians and gays during the campaign last November.

“I want to be one of those who helps both sides find a common ground. We can work together in peace,” Shea said.

Stereotypes were broken during the meeting, said Lisa Kaye, a member of the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club, a gay organization.

“It’s good to sit down and talk to each other,” Kaye said. “We became people instead of sides to an issue.”

But there were some viewpoints that were noticeably missing from the meeting, which was held in a conference room at the county Human Relations Commission building.

Among those not invited were the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, leader of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, which vehemently opposes homosexual rights, and Jeff LeTourneau, who heads the Orange County Visibility League, a vocal gay organization.

“For such a meeting to exist, we needed moderate voices, or else emotion will stand in the way,” said gay-civil-rights attorney John J. Duran, who joined with Christian radio talk show host John Stewart in arranging the meeting of more than a dozen representatives from religious and gay organizations.

Over the past year, gays and Christians in the county have literally wrestled over a number of gay civil rights issues.

Fistfights broke out between gays and fundamentalists last September during the county’s first gay pride festival at Santa Ana’s Centennial Park. And last November, Irvine voters narrowly approved Shea’s Measure N, which repealed protections for gays from the city’s broad anti-discrimination law.

Stewart said he became aware of the hostility between gays and some Christian groups after his KKLA show addressed the topic of discrimination against gays in employment and housing.

A flurry of hostile telephone calls from both sides convinced him that a discussion between Christian and gay leaders was needed, Stewart said.

Duran, who represented organizers of the gay pride festival, agreed.

Tuesday’s meeting began tentatively with some fierce disagreement over each side’s viewpoints.

Gay supporters said they do not like having homosexuality referred to as a “lifestyle,” and some of the Christians said they disliked the connotation that fundamentalists are “dumb or stupid.”

In addition to discussing their opposition to the use of violence, the group talked about discrimination against homosexuals in housing and employment.

While unable to agree on a common view, the representatives agreed to continue their dialogue at a second meeting within a month.