Feeling his pain: as Congress debates the Clinton scandal, activists try to argue how the president's proclivities will hurt progress on gay issues.

As Congress debates the Clinton scandal, activists try to gauge how the president's proclivities will hurt progress on gay issues

When Congress finally reviews independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report, the nation's attention will turn to Barney Frank. The openly gay Massachusetts Democrat, known for his sharp wit and fierce partisan jousting, is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which could conduct impeachment proceedings as early as October. In one of the great twists of the nine-month-old sex scandal, Frank will play a critical role in determining the president's fate.

In 1990 Frank survived his own sex scandal involving a young male prostitute who had launched an escort service out of Frank's Washington, D.C., apartment. Now the furor over Clinton's affair has made gay men and lesbians in politics suddenly less controversial. "The irony of my being in Provincetown while reading about one of the great heterosexual scandals of our time was not lost on me," says Frank, who was vacationing in the Massachusetts gay mecca when the president admitted on national television to having had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and then lying about it. "While the president's behavior may indicate a character flaw, I don't think it raises to the level of an impeachable offense--not even close."

Frank may be among the president's most stalwart Democratic supporters, a dwindling band. House minority leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) both have signaled that they would not rule out impeachment proceedings, depending on Starr's report.

The fallout from the scandal could further damage the prospects of a range of gay-related issues, from the nomination of gay philanthropist James Hormel as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

"The scandal surrounding the president affects his ability to get work done on any issue," says David Smith, communications director for the gay lobbying group Human Rights Campaign. "The White House does not seem to be dealing with the latest events very effectively at all." Moreover, Smith points out, Washington's current scandal-obsessed climate makes it all but impossible to generate press coverage for gay causes--or any other. "The news cycles are dominated by Monica madness, malting it hard for us to draw attention to the unfairness of Hormel's treatment in the Senate," he says. "Without some sense of public outrage, we don't have much of a chance of changing anyone's mind."

But Richard Socarides, the White House liaison to gay men and lesbians and special assistant to the president, says the Administration has shown a remarkable ability to operate in the midst of political crisis. "This stuff has been around since January, and we will continue to push an aggressive agenda on everything from ENDA to hate-crimes legislation," he says. "There is a small group of people who work on these issues at the White House, and I don't think any of us is distracted." For instance, White House staffers arranged a series of meetings in September between Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (and other senior administration officials) and GOP senators to lobby for Hormel's nomination, Socarides says. Frank agrees: "I see the scandal as irrelevant to these issues. It doesn't hurt or help Hormel or ENDA. Members of Congress are already locked in on one side or the other."

However, the biggest obstacle to gay causes may be the November election. Democrats, traditionally more sympathetic to gay causes, were once thought to have a chance to win back control of the House this year. Now this appears little more than a pipe dream. "Whether gay issues go forward depends mostly on the Republicans," says Hastings Wyman, editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Southern Political Report and a columnist for QSyndicate. "If gay activists did not accept that before, they better get used to it now."

Still, Wyman and other pundits express puzzlement at the continued support Clinton enjoys in opinion polls. More than 60% of voters approve of Clinton's job performance, according to a variety of surveys. "There is some kind of rapport going directly from Clinton to voters, leaving out the talking heads in between," Wyman says. "The public has developed enormous tolerance for what politicians do in their private sphere. In the long run that could be good for gay people in politics."

Gay activists have been among Clinton's most loyal supporters since 1992, but some have expressed dismay that he would allow his behavior to jeopardize their shared political goals as well as the goals of other interest groups. Torie Osborn, a former executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, considers Clinton a sex addict. While she says she is sympathetic toward his problems, she still considers his actions tantamount to betrayal. "While few of us are likely to judge a man harshly for his private morality, he has to take responsibility for his effect on a public agenda. He allowed his personal problems to hurt our cause."

But for gay activists at least, the sex scandal will not obscure Clinton's accomplishments. "History will always connect Clinton with the gay and lesbian movement," Osborn says. "He has stood up for us when others would not. No matter what happens, we can't forget what he has done for us." And Clinton can only hope that Frank and other gay and lesbian leaders will return the favor.