Gay Public Officials

Doug.Case @ sdsu.edu 05/05/97 06:00:00 AM Record Type: Record To: Richard Socarides cc: Subject: Vermont Democratic Party Chair is Gay THE BOSTON GLOBE May 4, 1997 (E-MAIL: [email protected])(http://www.boston.com/globe) Vermont Democratic Party chairman says he's gay by Yvonne Daley, Globe Correspondent RUTLAND TOWN, VT--Steve Howard fixed his eye on the political life during a school field trip to the Vermont State House in eighth grade. His political star has risen steadily since, from chairman of the Future Democrats of Vermont at age 16 to the youngest head of a state political party at age 25. Howard won his first political office, state representative from his hometown of Rutland Town, while still a senior at Boston College. Always smiling, always upbeat, the 25-year old seems to exude self-confidence as he spars with challengers and more moderate members of his own party, most recently Governor Howard Dean. But behind the self-assured exterior, Howard says, was a terrified little boy inside him waiting to unmask him. Yesterday, he decided to "disarm that little boy and take away his best weapon against me, the knowledge that I am gay." In publicly discussing his homosexuality, Howard becomes the third openly gay politician in Vermont. The late Representative Ronald Squires (D-Guilford) made his announcement in 1992. Edward Flanagan, Vermont auditor of accounts, acknowledged his homosexuality in August 1995. Howard says Flanagan has been a role model, not just because he went public, but because they both share the same ideals. Both men represent a more liberal wing of the Democratic Party that has challenged Dean and other party leaders for the past two years. Howard made the announcement about his sexuality following a series of confrontations with Dean as well as several embarrassing snafus involving campaign financing. Howard said he is not announcing that he is gay to defuse criticism against him. He said he did not believe his current woes suggest that people were discriminating against him because they suspected he was gay. Rather, he said recent difficulties had increased his belief that he had to be open about his sexuality. In turn, he said the decision to be open had increased his self-confidence. "There's been something really different about this session," he said. "Before I acted self-confident, but I wasn't really. But knowing that I was coming out, I've been feeling truly confident. I'm asserting myself." He said his parents, Mary and James M. Howard, who own a local insurance company, and his sister Lisa, with whom he once ran a kiosk in Faneuil Hall