State Sen. Knight Laments Gay Son’s Commentary

State Sen. William “Pete” Knight said Thursday that a newspaper commentary by his gay son attacking Knight for trying to ban same-sex marriages was unfair and mischaracterized their relationship.

But opponents of the senator’s marriage initiative--headed for the March ballot--say the piece is proof that Knight is motivated by resentment over his family experience.

“It’s clear that Pete Knight is simply taking his antipathy to our [gay and lesbian] community--based on his own personal experience or angst--and turning it into a vendetta of epic proportions,” said Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), one of two lesbian members of the Legislature.

In the commentary, published in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times, David Knight said his father’s ballot measure would “legislate discriminatory restrictions” on homosexuals and represents an effort to advance his political career.

Detailing a painful estrangement, he said that when he told his father he was gay three years ago, the news ended their relationship. “I can’t begin to explain the hurt that has come from this rejection,” he wrote.

Knight, a conservative Republican from Palmdale, declined to be interviewed. But in a brief statement, he said he regrets that his son “felt he needed to force a private, family matter into the public forum.”

“Although I don’t believe he was fair in describing the true nature of our relationship, that is a subject which should remain between the two of us,” Knight said. “I care deeply about my son.”

A former fighter pilot first elected to the Legislature in 1992, Knight sought for years to pass a law denying recognition in California of same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Rebuffed repeatedly in the Legislature, he turned to the initiative process. His measure, officially labeled the “definition of marriage” initiative, would mandate that California only recognize marriages between a man and a woman.

In 1996, Knight publicly acknowledged that his son is gay and that his younger brother had died of AIDS. He made the disclosure shortly before a San Francisco newspaper published a story revealing that David Knight, a cabinetmaker and, like his father, a former fighter pilot, is a homosexual.

At the time, Sen. Knight told The Times that the news was “hard to deal with.” He added, however, that “if it’s one of your children, you accept it. . . . It’s his life.”

David Knight, 39, says his father has not accepted it.

“My father’s idea of family values is very different from mine,” he wrote. “He insists his are right and mine are wrong. I’m deeply sorry that my father feels that he can no longer be a part of my life.”

David Knight also calls the senator’s sponsorship of the initiative “a blind, uncaring, uninformed, knee-jerk reaction . . . [that] serves his political career.”

Aides to Knight took issue with that assessment, saying that the senator does not harbor political ambitions beyond winning reelection to a final term in the state senate next year.

“He’ll turn 70 this year,” said chief of staff Andy Pugno, “and he has no plans or political aspirations beyond that. So characterizing this as a vehicle for political gain is wrong.”

David Knight, who lives in Baltimore, declined to comment Thursday. At the “No on Knight” office in San Francisco, campaign manager Mike Marshall praised the senator’s son, saying his commentary helps people understand the man behind the ballot measure.

“It makes it clear that this initiative is not about defending marriage, but about denigrating and demeaning gays and lesbians,” Marshall said.

In Sacramento, supporters of the ballot measure disagreed: “The initiative is 14 simple words that do not condemn anyone,” said Rob Stutzman, manager of the initiative campaign. “It does not seek to restrict the relationships people choose.”

Supporters of the Knight initiative have raised almost $3.9 million, much of it from the Mormon Church, Catholic archbishops and Orange County savings and loan heir Howard Ahmanson. Opponents, endorsed by Vice President Al Gore and his Democratic rival Sen. Bill Bradley, have collected $867,000.

A former mayor of Palmdale, Knight spent 32 years in the Air Force and set the world speed record of 4,520 mph in a fixed-wing aircraft, the X-15. He flew 253 combat missions over Vietnam.

His son David flew jets for the Air Force in the Gulf War, and said his father was proud of his accomplishments at one time.

“His love for and pride in me, I assume, was because I was his son,” he wrote. “I am the same son today.”