BRO says Smith is no Ted Kennedy

Basic Rights Oregon issued a response to U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith's new campaign ad, which touts the work he did on hate crimes legislation to protect gays and lesbians.

The Beaver State gay rights advocacy group was incensed after Smith’s latest ad, released Friday, portrayed him as a defender of gay civil rights for co-sponsoromg the Matthew Shepard Bill, which called for tougher sentences for hate crimes. Smith talked about working with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to co-sponsor the bill.

“One Democrat, one Republican, fighting together for the Matthew Shepard Bill,” the ad says. “Tough sentences for those who commit crimes of hate. In honor of one young man, in honor of one strong belief.”

BRO Executive Director Jeana Frazzini was quick to say that whereas Kennedy always held strong beliefs in equality, Smith only held strong beliefs in re-election.

“Senator Ted Kennedy has spent his career working to ensure equality under the law for all Americans,” Frazzini said. “But Gordon Smith flip-flops on the issues, trotting out his support only when his campaign is in trouble, and he thinks it will score him a few extra votes in Portland and Eugene. Gordon Smith is no Ted Kennedy.”

Smith spokeswoman Lindsay Gilbride pointed out that Smith was honored for his work by the Matthew Sheppard foundation.

But Frazzini was not impressed and referred critically to Smith’s failure to get federal hate crime legislation passed, his failure to get federal nondiscrimination legislation passed, and his support for excluding gays and lesbians from the benefits equivalent of marriage.

"Gordon Smith was a poster child for 2004's Measure 36, a constitutional amendment that made gay Oregonians second class citizens under the law by denying committed couples the security and dignity of marriage," Frazzini said. “It's one thing to have a different opinion about marriage. But Gordon Smith actively led the charge in a hateful campaign that put real Oregonians in harms way by denying them basic human rights. I cannot emphasize this enough: Gordon Smith is not a friend to this community."

Gilbride said Smith had been a friend to gays and lesbians in the senate, including working with Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Kennedy to author legislation to prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, as well as expand health care benefits to civil partners of federal workers.

"Senator Smith is among the Senate's strongest proponents of gay rights but opposes changes in the current definition of marriage," Gilbride said.