08/30/2002
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Views on gays at issue in 11th
Runoff candidate claims opponent is too supportive
BRYAN LONG
ATLANTA, Georgia -- A little more than a week before the Sept. 10 runoff election, one of the Republican candidates for the 11th Congressional District seat has declared a holy war.
One of of his attacks, however, is leaving his opponent more puzzled than defensive.
Cecil Staton has set out to capture faith-based voters in the mostly rural district by promoting himself as a Baptist �minister and a man of faith.�
He also has labeled his opponent, state Sen. Phil Gingrey, as a supporter of homosexuals who opposes the posting of the Ten Command- ments in schools and favors laws extending special protection to gays.
That's perplexing to Gingrey, who became a target of gays' wrath as the chief sponsor in the recent legislative session of the unsuccesful �Defense of Scouting� bill. It would have prohibited schools and governments from denying use of their facilities to the Boy Scouts of America. Some localities elsewhere in the country enacted such prohibitions after the Scouts won a court fight to prevent gays from becoming members or serving as adult leaders.
�I think it's ironic that the gay community thought I was the bigot of the year and yet this minister that's running against me is trying to tag me with 'pro-homosexual,' � Gingrey said.
At the same time, he said he is anything but anti-gay, despite his legislation. �The bottom line is that I'm not a homophobe. I don't hate anybody.�
Some gay rights groups are also scratching their heads over Staton's attack.
�Honestly, I think it's laughable,� Allen Thornell, executive director of Georgia Equality, the state's largest gay political group, said of Staton's charge. �Gingrey has gone out of his way to show that he is anti-gay.�
Project Vote Smart, an independent voter education group, has issued a news release saying Staton is misrepresenting Gingrey's position on gays and other issues in �a blatant attempt to deceive citizens.�
Asked about the apparent inconsistency, Staton said, �We stand by what we said because Vote Smart isn't the only source. One can look at Gingrey's record.�
Staton's own record on the gay issue is unclear. In 1997, Staton led a group that broke away from a Macon church in the Southern Baptist Convention to start a church that joined the Alliance of Baptists. The alliance affirms gay members and has ordained many gay and lesbian ministers.
William Merrell, vice president for Southern Baptist Convention relations, said the Alliance of Baptists is considered to be the most liberal of Baptist denominations.
�Most of the people I know who left the Southern Baptist Convention for the Alliance of Baptists despise Southern Baptists,� Merrell said. �Anyone who has left the convention in protest is being disingenuous to say they are friendly to Southern Baptists.�
Staton, who moved from Macon to Rome this summer to run for Congress, refused this week to say where he now attends church.
�I don't want my church affiliation to be an issue in this campaign,� he said. �I'm not going to politicize my choice of where to go to church.�
Highland Hills Baptist Church in Macon said Johnson is an active member there.
The church is affiliated with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a moderate denomination that opposes the �purposeful� hiring of gay missionaries and staffers.
Rumors of Staton's transformation from a temperate Christian to a fundamentalist conservative have circulated in Republican newsletters and Web sites for weeks.
To quash the rumors, Staton sent supporters an e-mail message: �I will never vote for the liberal agenda. I have never voted for or supported the liberal agenda and those who push and peddle it.�