United we stand? The antigay rhetoric in this fall's election battles--most heated in Virginia's statewide races--was driven underground by the events of September 11. But how this newfound civility will play out at the ballot box on November 6 remains an open question. (Election Preview).

The antigay rhetoric in this fall's election battles most heated in Virginia's statewide races was driven underground by the events of September 11. But how this newfound civility will play out at the ballot box on November 6 remains an open question

This summer, in their campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor of Virginia, Republicans Mark Earley and Jay Katzen relied heavily on antigay appeals to conservative voters, portraying the Democratic ticket as overly cozy with supporters of same-sex marriage. "Virginia Values, Not Vermont Values"--a not-so-subtle reference to the only state to legalize same-sex unions--became the GOP rallying cry.

Then came the calamity of September 11 and, two days later, the widely panned statement Jerry Falwell made on The 700 Club--suggesting that the attacks were divine retribution on America for "the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and lesbians [and] the ACLU [and] People for the American Way"--with which host Pat Robertson agreed. Earley and Katzen quickly distanced themselves from Robertson and Falwell, both Virginia residents.

The candidates were just two in a chorus of critics, but since both received campaign donations from Robertson and are running in a state where the religious right holds significant sway, the fact that they spoke up at all is one indication of how much September 11 may have shifted the political landscape in this country.

"Events have pushed that divisive line of argument underground or killed it altogether," says Larry Sabato, director of the center for governmental studies at the University of Virginia and author of Overtime/ The Election 2000 Thriller. "The public campaigns have turned so positive, it's almost scary. The first politician who tries to divide Americans at a time like this will be rebuked at the polls."

Virginians are not alone in grappling with this potentially more tolerant political environment. The best measure of Americans' frame of mind may come in Michigan, where voters in Kalamazoo, Traverse City, and Huntington Woods will weigh in on ballot measures proposing to ban or repeal laws protecting citizens against discrimination based on sexual orientation. These are three out of as many as a dozen gay-related measures that may reach the November ballot, reports the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; cities involved include Houston and Miami Beach, Fla.

"In the contact we have had with voters since September 11, we have found that they are more supportive of gay rights than they were before," says Robert Dempsey, campaign manager for Kalamazoo Against Discrimination, a gay rights group opposing the ballot measure. "They are telling us, `We're all in this together; let's put an end to all our petty differences.'"

Yet Dempsey concedes that the group's organizing efforts have also been handicapped. "We want to be sensitive, so we curtailed our phone banking for about two weeks," he says. "But now voters are focusing on the issues again, and I think they appreciate more than ever the openness of our political process. We expect a good turnout."

On the morning of September 11, volunteers from Traverse City Campaign Against Discrimination were canvassing polling places, where votes were being cast in the mayoral primary. Upon learning of the attacks, "we called off our work," says cochair Bonnie Deigh. "Everyone came back to the office for solidarity's sake. We renewed our dedication to promoting peace and tolerance."

Deigh says it is too early to gauge to what extent voters in the town of 15,000 share those sentiments. "I've lived in this sweet little town for six years now," she says. "It's a kind but naive place, and people are not used to much diversity. Most people still think they don't know the gay people in their midst. They reject the Falwell-Robertson nonsense, but at the same time some may buy the `special rights' argument made by our opponents. The opposition has been good at claiming that gay people are [already] protected here, even though they are not in any way."

Supporters of the antigay measures also contend that September 11's terrible events may actually redound to their favor: Gary Glenn, Michigan director of the American Family Association, an antigay group based in Tupelo, Miss., told the Kalamazoo Gazette, "If anything, I think it's going to make people more sensitive to the attacks on traditional values."

Farther east, gay rights are on the ballot in an indirect way in New Jersey. In the nation's only gubernatorial race besides Virginia's, the Democratic candidate, Jim McGreevey, is a supporter of gay rights. Republican candidate Bret Schundler, though, is on the record against adding sexual orientation to civil rights laws, allowing same-sex parents to adopt, recognizing same-sex domestic partners of state employees, and teaching in public schools "that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle." But the former Jersey City mayor may have damaged his campaign--and his chance to follow through on his antigay appeals--when he suggested in September that the state's police and firefighters were slow to respond to the attack on the World Trade Center across the Hudson River--a false allegation for which he later apologized.

Whatever the outcome in New Jersey and Virginia, any shift from antigay-focused campaigns would be a welcome relief for battle-weary activists. During last year's hard-fought campaign for one of Virginia's seats in the U.S. Senate, George Allen, the Republican nominee, described Democratic incumbent Chuck Robb as the personification of "Vermont values," a not-so-subtle reference to Robb's longtime support for gay rights. Allen, who as governor had already gained a reputation as an antigay activist, swept easily into the Senate. Prior to September 11, Earley and Katzen had both embraced Allen and enlarged upon his antigay theme.

Republican ads on rural Virginia radio stations that started in August featured a man and a woman talking about Mark Warner, the Democratic nominee (and the front-runner) in the gubernatorial race, and Timothy Kaine, the party's pro-gay candidate for lieutenant governor. "One of them wants to legalize gay marriage in Virginia," the man charges. The woman responds: "Wait. Gay marriage in Virginia?" The man says: "Oh, you haven't heard the worst of it. Mark Warner opposed welfare reform and the abolition of parole for violent felons." The ad concludes by announcing, "This message brought to you by the other guys, the ones who share your values--the Republican Party of Virginia." The ad fails to point out that Warner, although supportive of gay rights generally, has publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

Adam Ebbin, an openly gay member of the Democratic Central Committee of Virginia, warns against reading too much into campaigns that still revolve primarily around local issues. "Each candidate now wants to be seen as a unifier, as a moderate," he says. "That just got a lot harder for Mark Earley, whose support from Robertson is now radioactive. But then again, it will be hard for Warner to take advantage of what Earley said before September 11 [in opposition to gay rights]. We are dealing with a whole new political world."

THE RACES AT A GLANCE

FLORIDA

Ballot measure, Miami Beach: Would extend DP benefits to city employees.

MICHIGAN

Ballot measures, Huntington Woods, Kalamazoo, and Traverse City: Would repeal or ban gay-inclusive antidiscrimination laws.

NEW JERSEY

Governor: Bret Schundler campaigns on an antigay platform against gay-rights supporter Jim McGreevey.

TEXAS

Ballot measure, Houston: Would forbid the city from offering domestic-partner benefits to employees.

VIRGINIA

Governor and lieutenant governor: Republican candidates call for "Virginia Values, Not Vermont Values."