Friends in high places.

The Democrats are offering a full assortment of pro-gay presidential candidates for 2000--take your pick

Five years ago gay and lesbian activists were at war with the White House. Stung by President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" compromise, which they considered a betrayal, activists including David Mixner lashed out at the president on national television and even were arrested outside the White House for participating in civil disobedience actions. But today, some prominent activists are so content with the direction of the Democratic Party that they find all of the major potential Democratic presidential candidates worthy of serious consideration.

"We're in the fortunate position of having a number of very good candidates going after the gay vote," says Mixner, who raised more than $3 million for Clinton's 1992 campaign. "As a community we need to meet with every candidate, negotiate about what they can deliver, and then strategize about how to best meet our goals by getting behind the best candidate."

With antigay religious conservatives on the offensive in the GOP, the Democratic Party appears to be heading in the opposite direction, incorporating gay and lesbian voters as a regular part of its constituency outreach. In May, for instance, the Democratic National Committee announced a plan to increase the number of gay and lesbian delegates to the Democratic convention in 2000. And although President Clinton has waffled on several major gay-related issues--such as supporting the antigay Defense of Marriage Act--the White House has made a series of small gestures aimed at appealing to gay voters, who are overwhelmingly Democratic. In the latest such overture, which came May 28, Clinton signed an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in federal civilian employment.

Vice President Al Gore, the obvious front-runner for the presidential nomination in 2000, is not the only Democratic White House aspirant aggressively courting gay voters. House minority leader Dick Gephardt, who has close ties to Mixner, and Massachusetts senator John Kerry, among others, have made gay men and lesbians a focus of their outreach efforts. For instance, when Kerry was quoted as criticizing gay parents in a wire report in May, he immediately released a statement touting his record on gay rights.

"With President Clinton enjoying widespread popularity, an excellent economy, and with gay activists under siege from the right wing, it would be a very difficult time to break ranks with the party," says William Schneider, a political analyst for CNN. "There is also a growing recognition that even though the president didn't handle `don't ask, don't tell' very well, he has made gestures to the community at some political expense."

But Brian Bond, a former Democratic National Committee official who is executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based group that helps elect gay and lesbian candidates, warns against complacency: "Like a lot of Americans, gay men and lesbians have benefited from the good economy. But there's still a lot of progress to be made on a lot of issues. We have to make it clear that it would be a terrible mistake for the Democratic establishment to take our vote for granted."

Still, gay activists are sufficiently content that they express little enthusiasm for the potential protest candidacy of Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone, a fiery populist who has promised to move the party closer to its liberal roots.

"Wellstone's candidacy is an intriguing idea, and Jesse Jackson's candidacy in 1988 certainly helped gays and lesbians," says Mandy Carter, field program consultant for the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum, referring to the insurgent Democratic bids. "But frankly, the party has recognized our interests to the point where we may no longer need a candidate for the sake of protest. We are in the mainstream."

Instead, Carter says, gay activists should concentrate on building support for the eventual Democratic nominee. "The more we can demonstrate a substantial contribution to the Democratic base, the more willing candidates will be to work on our issues," she says. "By working ever more closely with labor, environmental, and civil rights groups, we can really increase our impact on the political process."

Not everyone is as sanguine as Carter. On June 4, between 100 and 200 supporters and friends of Steve Michael, founder of the Washington, D.C., chapter of ACT UP, who died of AIDS complications May 25, held an open-coffin funeral for him in front of the White House to protest the Administration's AIDS policies. They and other activists say Clinton's efforts on AIDS have been inadequate. "President Clinton promised to make AIDS a number one priority," says Bill Dobbs, a longtime AIDS activist who lobbied gay political groups to demand more of Clinton during the 1992 campaign. "We have to remember that we can't be bought off with symbolic gestures and patronage rather than substance. The party has still to deliver on AIDS prevention, research, and service."

But Bond says it would be a mistake to apply single-issue litmus tests to the candidates. "It is not in our interest to move the Democratic Party too far to the left in the same way the right wing has moved the Republican Party too far to the right," he says. "It would only bring us a loser. To achieve our piece of the American dream, we have to be mature enough [to realize] that we can't get everything we want right away. Everything worth fighting for takes time."

A closer look at who's vying for the Democratic nomination

Dick Gephardt

The House minority leader from Missouri, who has close ties to gay activist David Mixner, has played a crucial role in winning increase in AIDS funding.

John Kerry

The senator from Massachusetts this year helped win Senate confirmation of Fred Hochberg, a gay philanthropist, to serve as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Bob Kerry

Despite making an antigay joke during the 1992 campaign, the senator from Nebraska boasts an excellent voting record on gay and AIDS issues.

Paul Wellstone

The senator from Minnesota has championed the nomination of James Hormel. In a 1993 interview with The Advocate, Wellstone said, "It's time for gay rights--you can just fell it."

Jesse Jackson 

In 1988 the civil rights leader blazed trails by courting gay voters, Jackson estimated that gays accounted for nearly 50% of his support among whites during the 1988 campaign.

Al Gore

In 1997 Gore praised the sitcom Ellen, saying that because of it, "millions of Americans were forced to look at sexual orientation in a more open light."