Mathews Courts LGBT Voters
By Lyn Jensen
Several times Peter Mathews has challenged the incumbent in the Democratic primary for California’s 37th Congressional District, but this election cycle he believes he’s found the key to victory in June—by asking for support from the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 members of Long Beach’s LGBT community. He’s making gay rights a centerpiece of his 2010 campaign, but not as a single-issue candidate.
About 100 people attended the opening of Mathews’ campaign office at 446 E. Broadway, Long Beach, on December 12, where he spoke primarily on environmental concerns. He also held a holiday fundraiser in Long Beach on December 18.
Mathews, who teaches at Cypress College, is campaigning on a veritable checklist of LGBT issues. He’s for same-sex marriage, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and increased measures to protect gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals from job discrimination. He supports programs for LGBT youth. He’s also a familiar face at the annual Pride Parade in Long Beach, having participated for twelve of the last thirteen years.
Denise Penn, who like Mathews is a member of the Lambda Democratic Club, says Mathews has been extremely supportive of LGBT issues beyond just showing up at meetings. “People say he’s constantly running [for public office] like it’s a bad thing. It’s not,” she says. “Even if he doesn’t win… he creates a forum.”
“My campaign is about equal justice,” he says, explaining his positions on such issues as DADT. “We need to move on that right away, make sure that LGBT people [who] are in the military have every right [when] they’re fighting for this country,” he states.
Mathews tells of a female friend whose brother received a dishonorable discharge for being gay despite having served honorably for years, noting, “He’ll never be able to get the benefits of being in the military.” Mathews notes that Israel is one example of a country where there are no restrictions barring gays from serving in the armed forces.
Of his position on same-sex marriage, he says, “To have a part of our population excluded from equal treatment in the case of marriage, is completely unconstitutional, unethical.” He participated in anti-Proposition 8 demonstrations both before and after last November’s election, when California voters passed Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage.
In contrast the district’s current incumbent, Rep. Laura Richardson, despite being a Democrat, paid to put her name on a Republican slate mailer just before last November’s election. The mailer urges voters to pass Proposition 8. It also rails against “activist” judges, right-wing codespeak that dates to the civil rights era when courts ordered schools to desegregate. Neither did the mailer identify Richardson as a Democrat.
“Paying to be on a Republican mailer,” Mathews wonders, “with the likes of Sarah Palin and John McCain right next to her name?”
“I think she was trying to get as many votes as she could without regard to principle,” he charges.
The Congressmember responded via e-mail with, “[Last election] I participated in five mailings which I authorized the use of my name … any other messages, candidates, or propositions were not provided to me or approved by me.”
Richardson’s base in the 37th Congressional District is centered heavily within the substantial African-American communities in Carson and Compton. How do Mathews’ pro-gay views play with those voters?
In response he describes how, at a debate with Richardson in Compton in 2008, a Christian minister asked both candidates about their position on gay marriage. Richardson responded by saying she would in no way abridge anyone’s civil rights, but she never used the words “gay marriage” or “same-sex marriage.”
Mathews, however, responded with, “I believe in the Christianity of Jesus Christ, of compassion and non-judgment. I believe in total equal rights, that we’re all children of God equally and anyone who loves someone should be able to get married.”
“There was an amazing, it seemed to me, sign of approval, of honesty. I didn’t get any hostility from any of the African-American ministers,” he recalls.
Mathews says he has seen no signs of hostility between the LGBT and African-American communities. He summarizes, “I do believe that there is a way to bridge this gap, to reach out to people in both communities, but especially the African-American community, to accept gay marriage as a human right.” He hopes his campaign will continue to bridge the gap between the communities.