Debbie Wasserman Schultz – Defending the Rights of Those Who Oppose Her

Writtem by Jarrett Terrill, South Florida Gay News

Upon learning that two members of the LGBT community were running for the seat in Congress which is currently held by Debbie Wasserman Schultz in District 20, I immediately placed a call to the Wasserman Schultz campaign to figure out what was going on.

As it turns out, Ms. Wasserman Schultz was not nearly as concerned about these potential opponents as I was. She granted me a telephone interview in which she assured me that she has no intention of running against anyone to retain her seat. That’s right; her campaign will be based on her own merit – of which she has plenty.

Wasserman Schultz has received a 100% rating from the HRC on legislative issues and been honored by Equality Florida with their Voice of Equality Award. For those of us who are unimpressed by or skeptical of such ratings and awards, here is a partial list of Wasserman Schultz’s accomplishments on behalf of LGBT persons:

• Wasserman Schultz is a Vice Chair in the Congressional Equality Caucus alongside Ted Deutch, Kathy Castor, Alcee Hastings and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida who are also members of the caucus.
• She served on the “Vote No on 2” campaign in an effort to combat Florida’s insanely anti-gay Amendment 2, which specifically bars gays and lesbians from any kind of legal recognition in their relationships.
• She was an integral “yes” vote in passing the inclusion of LGBT persons in protection from hate crimes. This bill is now signed into United States Law by the President.
• She voted “yes” to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – the law which bars LGBT persons from open service in the military. This law has passed in the House of Representatives and awaits a Senate vote.
• Wasserman Schultz has voted “yes” on ENDA – the workplace non-discrimination act on behalf of LGBT persons and she also specifically voted to stay inclusive of transgender persons in the language of the bill.
• She voted “no” on a discriminatory bill that would ban gay marriage at the federal level for all states in the USA.
• She co-sponsored a House bill, The Early Treatment for HIV Act.  It provides states with the option to provide Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV-positive Americans before they develop AIDS.  Provisions for this bill were included in the House-passed Health Care Reform bill.

 “Fighting for equality is the whole basis of why I decided to run for [office, 18 years] ago,” says Wasserman Schultz, “I was appalled that there were people who wanted to repeal civil rights in Broward County. I’ve always focused on civil rights – it goes to the core of my public service.”

But two LGBT candidates in the 7-person primary for District 20 are trying to earn their stripes by running against her. Transgender Republican Donna Milo and Gay Independent candidate Bob Kunst, have so far announced that they will be running against Schultz in the election. Milo must first pass the Republican Primary against 2 other challengers. Kunst intends to run as a non-party affiliated candidate.

Bob Kunst, who ran a popular boycott on Florida orange juice in the late 70’s to protest Anita Bryant’s anti-gay crusade, seems to have his crosshairs set on Florida’s liberal Democrats this time. He claimed in a brief telephone interview with me that he would be “the only gay man running for US Congress” in this election. This is not true because Steve Pougnet of Palm Springs, CA is openly gay and running against Mary Bono Mack, the Republican stepmother of popular transgender activist Chaz Bono.

“It’s ridiculous,” says Wasserman Schultz of a statement made by one of her challengers in the election. Kunst referenced Wasserman Schultz in a statement he made to me by phone where he described the Obama Administration as “anti-Semitic”. Both Kunst and Wasserman Schultz were supporters of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Primary election, but Wasserman Schultz was able to roll with the changes and later endorsed Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee.

Bob Kunst did not support Barack Obama and now does not even uphold his own original support of Hillary Clinton – referring to both Clinton and Wasserman Schultz as “part of Obama’s anti-Semitic agenda”.

Wasserman Schultz shrugs off the accusations and simply points back to Obama’s record on Jewish American relations. “I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that this administration is anti-Semitic,” she says, “Obama just hosted the first ever Jewish American Heritage Month in the White House.”

“In my experience, elections are about the individual and their record. At the end of the day, this [election] is going to be about Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and I’m proud to have represented my constituents well. I’ve been out there working hard and I’m sure my constituents will see that come election time.”

It’s true – Debbie Wasserman Schultz has an extensive record of not just voting for equality for gays, lesbians and transgendered folks but also for women along with racial and religious minorities. She also has plenty to say about the environment. She looks forward to discussing ways that we can “focus on renewable energy and stop relying on a finite source like oil.”

Debbie Wasserman Schultz attributes the strong opposition to incumbents this year as “an angst about our economy”. She says she’s been doing what she can to remind people of the progress that’s been made but she also points out that we have a road ahead of us as well. “People just want to make sure that we’re focusing on turning the economy around and creating jobs. That’s exactly what the Obama administration is doing… so the numbers are there,” she says referring to the increase of jobs created and decreases in the number of jobs lost.

“I’m out there talking about the progress we’ve made but we still have a ways to go and I think that’s why there’s so much [adversity toward incumbents]. I’m really excited about running on my record and the record of this congress but we still have to recognize that there are things we need to do [going forward] as well.”