Gordon Smith: Discrimination against gays and lesbians is okay

Back in the days when it was socially acceptable to deny work and housing to certain ethnic or racial groups, immigrants and Americans were forced to deal with politicians who turned their backs on the plight of people who simply wanted to live and work and build a life for themselves and their families.

Fast forward to the mid-1990s. Enter Republican Gordon Smith.

In 1996 during a very heated and intense run for the U.S. Senate against Ron Wyden, Smith came clean on his position allowing for discrimination against gays and lesbians:

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gordon Smith said Friday that he believes it is okay in some circumstances to discriminate against homosexuals.

At a news conference at his campaign headquarters, Smith was asked whether it was all right for a landlord to refuse to rent an apartment to a gay person simply because the person is gay.

"There may be circumstances where someone for religious reasons would not want to "rent to a gay person" and I would not want to compel them to do so", Smith said.

The fact that someone running for office to represent all Oregonians (and yes, we have gays and lesbians in Oregon [PDF - see page 5]) would hold these views is astonishing, especially after all we've been through as a society.

Apparently for Gordon Smith in the nineties, not all men and women were created equal.

It's entirely possible that Gordon Smith no longer holds the view that it's perfectly acceptable to discriminate against individuals based solely on their sexual orientation. Last week, I put in a call to Lindsay Gilbride, spokesperson for the Smith campaign. I also sent her two emails, asking for clarification on Smith's current position on this matter.

Neither my call or my emails were returned/answered.

So for now, this is what we have on the record: Gordon Smith thinks it is okay to deny you housing if you're gay.