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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 27th, 2008
“Tim Bee has demonstrated his toughness and his compassion, his ability to lead while at the same time listening to others. These are skills few people in public life have. We need Tim Bee working for us in Congress.” — Jim Kolbe (left), the gay former U.S. Congressman for the district Tim Bee is running in and the campaign’s “Honorary Chairman.”
Tim Bee was the sixteenth vote in the Arizona Senate’s shameless vote to put the anti-marriage amendment on the ballot yet again. Bee is running for the congressional seat that Kolbe once held. Kolbe voted for DOMA in 1996, a vote that led to his outing. I have heard him speak passionately against Prop 107 in 2006.
So what does Kolbe have to say about this? Is he ducking back into the closet again?
[Hat tip: Tucson Observer]
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Patrick ONeill
June 28th, 2008
Dispicable that Kolbe would support Tim BeeGot – just shows how twisted you can become once you become Republican
homer
June 28th, 2008
I wrote Bee a fairly nice email a couple of days ago asking him to explain why he was voting for the issue. Of course he couldn’t be bothered to respond.
He doesn’t have a chance in hell in getting Giffords seat.
Timothy Kincaid
June 28th, 2008
When did Kolbe make that statement of support? If this was a statement made after the vote, then this is a legitimate complaint.
But if this quote is old then this is nothing but a slur, and a cheap one at that, by the Tuscon Observer.
Pulling a quote out of context of dragging a statement of support from the past and pretending it relates to a current situation is something that should be below the Observer’s dignity.
werdna
June 28th, 2008
I don’t think the Observer was suggesting that it was recent quote–it appears on Bee’s website so it was probably from quite a while ago. Nevertheless it’s not simply a matter of the recent vote, Bee was a sponsor of the resolution to put the amendment on the ballot! If he was offended by Bee’s support for the resolution, Kolbe has had plenty of time to retract his endorsement but he hasn’t.
Bee seems to have been trying to get away with a very strange balancing act. He sponsored the resolution but also tried to keep it from coming up for a vote. That way he could claim to have sponsored something that would please the bigots but wouldn’t have to deal with having allowed a stupid and divisive measure onto the ballot. The bigots didn’t seem to be satisfied with his attempt to finesse the issue. Bummer for him and a bummer for the state of Arizona.
Kolbe could easily retract his support for Bee now but do you think he will? Remember Kolbe voted for DOMA when he was in Congress and even after coming out he’s never been a big advocate of same-sex marriage.
Jim Burroway
June 28th, 2008
Kolbe made that statement, I believe, when he decided to become Bee’s honorary chairman. Bee had already signed on as a co-sponsor of an earlier resolution to put an anti-marriage amendment on the ballot when Kolbe made the statement.
I think there comes a time when a man has to choose. Is it politics, or is it about another slam against gay people? Bee’s actions have been all about politics. As werdna says, he’s been trying to thread the needle and play it both ways. So is Kolbe. And frankly, I’m tired of coddling politicians who do that, whether they are gay or straight.
I’m calling on Kolbe to decide whether he’s a man or a politician. We already know what Bee has decided. If Bee cannot stand up to CAP, what makes us think he can stand up to anyone in Washington?
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