Pell, for Gay Nominee, Says Daughter Is Lesbian : Congress: Senator makes disclosure in citing his reasons to vote for appointment of Roberta Achtenberg to HUD post.

Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) caused a stir in the Senate on Friday when he told his colleagues that he has a personal reason for supporting the nomination of gay rights activist Roberta Achtenberg to a senior post in the Clinton Administration: His own daughter is a lesbian.

“My daughter, Julia, is president of the Rhode Island Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights,” he told the Senate. “I would not want to see her barred from a government job merely because of her orientation.”

Although Pell’s daughter has made no secret of her sexuality, it was not generally known on Capitol Hill that she, like Achtenberg, is a gay rights activist.

The revelation appeared to surprise the few lawmakers who were in the Senate chamber when Pell arrived to speak. Sen. Donald W. Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, took the floor after Pell to thank him for his candor and support.

“We can’t entertain the notion that people ought to be denied service in our government (because) . . . of some test that one or another person might apply, based on their personal orientation or values,” Riegle said.

The Senate is set to vote Monday on Achtenberg’s nomination as assistant secretary for fair housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. While her confirmation seems assured, it has generated fierce opposition from conservative Republicans who argued that Achtenberg’s record of activism on behalf of gay rights should disqualify her from serving in the federal government.

Led by arch-conservative Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), the opponents assailed Achtenberg, a 42-year-old San Francisco city supervisor, as a “militant extremist” who openly promoted what Helms described as an “immoral” lifestyle.

The Republicans took particular umbrage at Achtenberg’s efforts, as a city supervisor, to persuade Bay Area organizations to withhold charitable contributions from the Boy Scouts of America because of its policy banning homosexuals.

Achtenberg’s defenders denounced the criticisms as camouflage for homophobia as the Senate, which, for the first time, is grappling with the issue of homosexual rights--both as they pertain to Achtenberg’s confirmation and to the controversial debate over lifting the ban on gays in the military.

The Senate Armed Services Committee, which is holding hearings on the ban, was similarly startled last week when Marine Col. Fred Peck disclosed that his son Scott is gay.

But while Peck made the admission in the course of arguing against gays in the military, Pell used it to press the case for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“I believe we should strive to let simple standards of fairness and equal treatment be our guide in examining all nominees that come before us,” the senator said. “I know I would want my daughter to be treated fairly if she were the nominee before us today.”