Openly Gay Dean Staffer Harassed at Gephardt Event

[RogueTrooper]

http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002041.html

Yesterday, an openly gay Dean for America staffer who attended an event for Congressman Dick Gephardt in Iowa (as is common practice among campaigns) was pushed and grabbed by Gephardt staffers, one of whom derided him as a "faggot."

In response, Dean for America campaign manager Joe Trippi wrote a letter to Gephardt for President campaign manager Steve Murphy, calling upon him to find the staffer responsible for this egregious behavior and fire him.

Governor Dean, who signed the nation's first civil unions law in Vermont, is a strong supporter of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Congressman Gephardt has also spoken out against anti-gay harassment.

Joe Trippi's letter is below.
October 28, 2003
Steve Murphy, Campaign Manager
Gephardt For President
P.O. Box 34607
Washington, DC 20043
Dear Steve:

I would like to raise with you a very troubling episode which occurred on the campaign trail today.

At one of Congressman Gephardt's events in Iowa this afternoon, members of your staff - including your Iowa state director -- accosted a Dean for America staffer who was recording Gephardt's remarks. The Dean staffer was pushed and grabbed, and a member of Congressman Gephardt's staff went so far as to call the Dean staffer a "faggot."

You and I have known each other for quite some time, and we both have a long history with Dick Gephardt. This behavior from a campaign staff member is beyond the pale.
Democrats, including Congressman Gephardt, are fighting this sort of bigotry in the hearts and minds of Americans, as well as in our laws. The fact that the Congressman's own staff member would use a slur like this goes directly against the values and goals of our Party.

I urge you to find the staff member responsible and fire him, and send a strong signal to the rest of your staff that behavior of this kind will not be tolerated in a campaign for the Presidency. I trust you'll do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Joe Trippi
We are not impressed

[Speck Tater]

1. It's interesting that the Yahoo version of the story

...completely omitted the fact that the Dean staffer was gay, or that he was called a "faggot".

[meegbear]

7. I noticed that too ...

You would think they would have included that if it was true. Hmmmmmm ....

[Cha]

10. It's true! You just don't like to face facts when it

comes to the Dean Campaign!

[Speck Tater]

17. I'd sooner trust the Dean blog than Yahoo.

I've caught them in too many right-slanted distortions to really trust them.

[RogueTrooper]

11. Do you have a link to the story

The blog links to this story. The story is about the making of the complaint rather than the nature of the complaint. The flat out denial, made by the Gephardt campaign, is propbably what forced Dean for America to up the ante and post the story on the blog. The blog entry also contained a description of the nature of the complaint: Frank homophobia.

[JaneQPublic]

2. I can't imagine Gep would condone that action from his staff

His daughter is a lesbian, and he is a very proud and outspoken member of of the national organization Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

[alphafemale]

6. If that's the case then I'm certain he'll have no trouble firing anyone...

who did this.

If it is found to be true, of course.

[Shylock]

3. so?

yawn. who cares about staffers. what happened to the good old days of tossing hecklers and spies into the streets with a few good body blows thrown in for good measure?

[Padraig18]

9. Are you from Chicago, too?

You sure sound like it; we like our politics with that 'frontier justice' edge. :evilgrin:

[ShaneGR]

4. Ouch, everyone knows Gephardt is not homophobeic

His daughter is gay.

Hopefully they can settle this quietly, fire the staffer and move on.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

5. I'd Like to See Corroboration

But if this is true, the staffer should be fired immediately (and frankly have charges pressed against him for assault & battery), of course.

DTH

[BrewCrew]

8. true or not?

Wow. Things are really getting testy in Iowa between Dean and Gephardt. Now their staffs are fighting each other? Anyway. Given the fact that he has a lesbian daughter and he recently named gay activist David Mixner a National Co-chair, if this is found to be true. I am sure Congressman Gephardt would fire that staffer.

politics is a dirty game

[Selwynn]

12. What is the point of this?

As a person with no ill feelings to either Dean or Gephardt, what is the point of this thread? Are you implying something negative about Gephardt because he had a staffer that allegedly acted inappropriately?

So what - if it is true he will fire the staffer, no question about that. What does it have to do with Gephardt? NOTHING. Anyone can hire a person who later acts inappropriately. Tomorrow, one of my employees might murder a guy. Last year, one of my employees was arrested for child abuse. What does that have to do with me? Did I know about it before hand? No. And I'm not legally allowed to ask those kinds of questions anyway.

If one of my employees did slander someone, or act inappropriately, I would fire him/her on the spot. But just because it happens doesn't mean I condone it.

Now, if the allegations were confirmed true and Gephardt said "I support the guy and don't think he did anything wrong" or passively refused to fire him or issue any kind of statement, then that would be the time for criticism of him.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

14. Good points - Good question.

talk about flamebait.

[RogueTrooper]

15. I was curious about people's opinions

I have been coming to DU for over 2 and half years. Where else would I post this article?

[arcos]

20. You are overreacting...

as other people, I read this story on Yahoo, and there was no mention whatsoever that is was homophobia. Thanks to this thread, I know now.

I don't think the intention was to imply something negative about Gephardt since it clearly states that Gephardt has an excellent record on gay issues.

[LuminousX]

13. I'm curious

As I am when I hear such things, how did the Gephardt staffer know the sexual orientation of the Dean staffer?

[maxanne]

19. a guess

There are Dean shirts with the pink triangle on them. If this is true, the gay staffer may well have been wearing one of those shirts.

Again - disclaimer - this is a guess, it is only a guess.

[Rowdyboy]

16. Candidates are responsible for the words and actions of their staffers

They need to respond appropriately. I don't think Gephart sanctions this, but he has a responsibility to take appropriate action, find out who is responsible and fire that person.

[MercutioATC]

18. Responsibility to take action? Yes. Responsibility for the comment? No.

Gephardt is obviously not a homophobe and cannot be held responsible for every comment made by a member of his staff. Since it's been brought to his attention, however, he does have a responsibility to act on that information.