Long Beach Councilman Censured Over Comments on Gays, Lesbians : Government: Douglas S. Drummond apologizes for remarks he made at a conservative forum but rejects calls for his resignation.

The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to censure Councilman Douglas S. Drummond for “highly inflammatory and prejudicial” statements he made about gays and lesbians during a recent public forum.

Drummond, who said last week that he had done nothing wrong, apologized Tuesday for his “insensitive and intemperate” statements and voted for his own censure--an official disapproval that carries no concrete penalties. The councilman rejected calls for his resignation.

“I’ve been termed bigoted and prejudiced. I’m not by any means,” Drummond, 56, said. “I stand responsible for what I did, and I believe, as a result, that I should be censured.”

The councilman made the controversial statements Sept. 21 before the Long Beach chapter of the conservative Eagle Forum of California. During a talk on family values, Drummond said he was not worried about gay activity because thousands of homosexuals are dying of AIDS, and gays and lesbians do not reproduce. He also said he supported Cuba’s policy of quarantining people with the deadly disease. Drummond also said it is pitiful that gays and lesbians are allowed to adopt children.

Tape recordings and transcripts of Drummond’s comments were anonymously distributed to city officials and a local business leader who is gay.

Councilman Alan S. Lowenthal, a strong advocate of gay and lesbian rights, pressed for the censure at Tuesday’s council meeting.

He said Drummond’s statements would promote hate crime and were “bigoted, inconsistent with city policies (and) state policies regarding anti-discrimination.”

Leaders of gay and civil rights groups also called for Drummond’s resignation and censure.

“Hatred, bigotry and homophobia will not be tolerated” from an elected city official, said Paul Self, president of the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club.

But several people spoke in Drummond’s defense.

“If some people don’t like the truth, then tough,” said Gene Snyder, a Long Beach resident who attended the Eagle Forum event.

The councilman appeared to have the support last week of some city leaders, who speculated that his comments had been taken out of context. But that changed after more officials listened to the recording of Drummond’s comments.

“I heard the tapes. It was pretty serious,” said Mayor Ernie Kell, who voted for censure.

After Drummond apologized, he said that he still thinks AIDS patients should have been quarantined in the 1980s, when the disease was starting to spread.

Self, the Lambda president, said his group will consider running a candidate against Drummond when the councilman seeks reelection in April.

Drummond, a Republican and a retired police commander, has developed a reputation as one of Long Beach’s most conservative council members. The councilman angered some conservatives earlier this year when he voted to approve a “statement on family,” recognizing non-traditional families such as unmarried or gay and lesbian couples. The symbolic statement carried no specific benefits for non-traditional families.

But Drummond led the opposition once a specific proposal surfaced. The council voted 5 to 3 in June against extending family health benefits to city employees in non-traditional relationships.