Reed tries to clarify position, Norwood tries to clarify vote in fight for gays

By Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gay voters were again the center of the Atlanta mayoral campaign Wednesday as Kasim Reed pressed to clarify his position on issues important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Reed tried to defend his 11-year record of fighting for gay rights during his tenure in the General Assembly while fending off claims from Mary Norwood’s camp that he opposes gay marriage.

Flanked by gay supporters – while a group of blue-clad Norwood supporters listened on the sidelines -- Reed read a laundry list of what he has done to support gay rights, including sponsoring hate crime legislation, passing mandatory HIV testing for inmates, opposing the ban on adoptions for gay and lesbian couples, and voting against the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

“On every issue that ever came before me in the House and the Senate, I stood shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT community,” Reed said at a news conference in the parking lot of the Outwrite Bookstore in Midtown. “Look at my work. Not words and rhetoric. I have repeatedly done the right thing. My record is being distorted right now. They are trying to paint me with a brush based on one issue.”

That one issue that Reed and Norwood differ on is marriage equality. Norwood supports gay marriage. Reed has been on the record saying he favors civil unions, but for religious reasons he says he can’t take the issue further to gay marriage.

“It is an important issue because it is an indicator on who is going to lead on LGBT issues and who is going to support the status quo,” Norwood campaign manager Roman Levit said. “That is why we have so much support in the LGBT community.”

Just days before the runoff election Tuesday, the gay vote is becoming a battleground. An estimated 15 percent of all Atlantans are members of the LGBT community, and gay men and lesbians are believed to represent at least 10 percent of the city's registered voters.

On Wednesday, Reed pushed back, with supporter Lisa Borders, on Norwood’s record on gay issues, pointing out that as a council member, Norwood did not vote on a key bill concerning the LGBT community. Borders said that on March 20, 2006, Norwood didn’t vote on a bill that would have included domestic partners as beneficiaries for city workers. The bill passed 11-0, but two council members – Norwood and the bill's sponsor, Anne Fauver– did not vote.

“If you are present and you are available, you are required to vote,” Borders said. “Mary did not ask me for permission to leave. I did not excuse her. If you don’t vote, you have no voice. If she was so passionate and fervent about [LGBT] issues, she should have voted.”

Borders added that Norwood could have called for a revote to get her tally on the record.

Before a town hall meeting Monday night, Norwood acknowledged that she missed the vote, but she noted that the bill was part of the council’s “consent agenda,” which contains items voted on in bulk with no discussion.

“As a member of the General Assembly, Senator Reed should understand that,” Norwood said Monday.

“A 3-year old vote – that the sponsor, Anne Fauver, didn’t even vote on -  is not going to cover up Kasim’s lack of support for full equality for all Atlantans,” Levit said. “The real issue [is] Mary Norwood supports marriage equality and Kasim doesn’t. This is another example of a desperate campaign that is grasping at straws to mislead Atlanta’s voters.”