<< Politics
8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 20-26, 2016
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TV ads with gay Wiener supporter cause uproar by Matthew S. Bajko
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elevision ads featuring a gay supporter of San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener who attacked Supervisor Jane Kim’s record on homelessness and housing have sparked an uproar in their race for a state Senate seat. Early last week the political action committee of Equal-
ity California, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, released a 31-second ad that shows Gary McCoy walking through a homeless tent encampment. Last fall McCoy, who was the campaign manager for Wiener’s 2014 re-election to his District 8 seat on the board, went public with his battles against meth addiction that left him homeless.
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In the ad McCoy states that Kim, who represents District 6 at City Hall, “supports tents on the streets” and “opposes funding housing programs for the homeless.” He also says that parents “need to know their kids aren’t going to step on a syringe.” He later states, “Jane Kim is denying the neighborhoods their safety and she’s denying the homeless hope.” Kim’s campaign had ignored the ad by EQCA, which has made electing Wiener, a gay man, to the District 11 Senate seat a top priority, until Sunday, when it released its own 31-second spot in response. In it a male narrator intones that Wiener is a “corporate candidate” backed by Chevron and “Republicans wanting to overturn rent control.” The narrator also claims that McCoy, whose image from the EQCA ad is shown, “was paid by Scott Wiener” and that “nothing he says is true.” Within minutes of Kim’s campaign posting its ad to Facebook a backlash had ensued. Friends of McCoy criticized Kim for personally attacking him, and even some supporters of Kim said the ad went to far and asked that it be taken down. The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, which is backing Wiener in the race, called on Kim to apologize. On Monday EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview that the group had approached McCoy to ask him to appear in the ad and that he was not paid for doing so. He said Kim’s response to the McCoy ad “was a new low for her campaign.” In a statement his campaign issued, Wiener called Kim’s attack on McCoy “beyond unacceptable” and compared it to Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump attacking the parents of Army Captain Humayun Kahn, who was killed in Iraq. “Jane Kim is showing her true colors by bullying a formerly homeless, HIV-positive, recovering addict who has turned his life around,” stated Wiener. Kim’s campaign manager, Christopher Vasquez, told the B.A.R. in an emailed response that, “As a gay man myself, I find it outrageous that EQCA would use money to attack an ally rather than fight for muchneeded protections for our LGBTQ citizens in more conservative parts of the state (or LGBT homeless residents here in San Francisco).” And he criticized Wiener’s support of the local ballot measure Proposition Q, which would amend the police code to direct the police to clear out tent encampments after 24 hours notice. It also would require the city to provide alternative housing or shelter with social services to those living in the tents. “Scott Wiener supports taking shelter from those who have no other options while Jane Kim has steadfastly pushed for humane solutions that would offer housing and supportive services,” wrote Vasquez. He said the campaign put out its own ad to correct Kim’s record in response to EQCA’s “misleading” and “deeply personal” attack against her. “Our campaign simply put up an ad correcting the record, not personally attacking the messenger, and noting that the person making these false attacks had been paid by Scott Wiener (which he does not dispute),” wrote Vasquez. “We’re setting the record straight in the face of attacks paid for by Chevron, big Pharma and big landlords. Once again the truth outrages Scott Wiener.” As for McCoy, he told the B.A.R. late Monday that he was “stunned, to be honest with you,” when he first saw Kim’s ad. He said he was expect-
Courtesy Facebook
State Senate candidate Jane Kim posted this ad rebuttal to her Facebook page, accusing Gary McCoy of being untruthful in an ad for state Senate candidate Scott Wiener.
ing her campaign to clarify her positions on homeless issues but was unprepared for the personal attacks. “I was stunned to see her flat out call me a liar,” said McCoy, who serves on the city’s shelter monitoring committee. “She didn’t refute anything in the ad I said she did; she just called me a liar.”
AHF mailer against Wiener called homophobic
Another advertisement, this time a mailer paid for by the Los Angelesbased AIDS Healthcare Foundation that attacks Wiener, has also roiled the Senate campaign in recent days. The mailed flier accuses Wiener of being “in the pocket” of pornographers due to his opposing Proposition 60, the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, which AHF put on the ballot and would require actors to use condoms in all scenes that involve intercourse. Opponents of the measure say it will do nothing to protect the health of performers, as the industry will go underground or move out of state. Wiener and his supporters not only charge that the hit piece is homophobic, they also contend AHF has violated state campaign finance laws that prohibit nonprofits from campaigning for or against a candidate for political office. “The offensive mailer did more than cross the boundaries of good taste; it appears to have violated both IRS and campaign finance laws,” stated EQCA, the Alice club, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the Robert F. Kennedy Democratic Club, and gay state Senator Mark Leno, who has endorsed Wiener to succeed him, in a statement they co-signed and issued late Monday. In a statement released over the weekend by Wiener’s campaign, James Loduca, who is a senior vice president at SFAF but was identified as an HIV activist, called AHF President Michael Weinstein “a bully and fraud who demonizes and slut-shames gay men while his organization AHF pockets millions.” AHF is currently suing Wiener and the city over zoning laws that they claim were adopted solely to block it from relocating its pharmacy to a Castro Street storefront. AHF and the supervisor have also long been at odds over PrEP, which the agency opposes being used on a widespread basis to prevent HIV while Wiener not only supports PrEP as a main part of the city’s plan to end HIV transmissions but is personally taking the once-a-day pill. Tuesday morning Wiener told the B.A.R. his campaign is looking into filing a complaint with the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission against AHF. He said AHF’s goal is to elect Kim to the Senate because he claimed she supports Prop 60 and also backs AHF’s Prop 61, which it
Cynthia Laird
AIDS Healthcare Foundation sent out this mailer targeting Scott Wiener.
says will lower drug prices in the state though opponents say it will only increase drug costs for veterans. “He clearly does not want me in the Senate and, at the same time, Jane Kim is all on board with his agenda,” Wiener said of Weinstein. “Michael Weinstein is trying to help get her elected, and that is what this is about.” In response to the B.A.R.’s request for comment, Weinstein through a spokesman simply stated, “The truth hurts.” Vasquez told the B.A.R. that Kim in fact does not support Prop 60 and that Wiener’s claim that she does is based on a typo he made in an exchange on Twitter with a person who thought the AHF mailer had been put out by Kim’s campaign. “I want to be very clear that Jane is against Prop 60 and has been for months. I made a silly mistake in my haste to respond but that’s all it was,” Vasquez wrote in an emailed reply. “But the fact that Scott would choose to seize on a Twitter typo shows how desperately he and his campaign are grasping at straws in order to divert attention from the fact that he is running a campaign that is totally devoid of any real substance.” As for Kim’s support of Prop 61, Vasquez noted that she “does so standing with” the California Nurses Association and moderate lawmakers like Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). “If you follow the money, you will see that Scott is supported by Big Pharma money in his campaign, so it is no wonder he has chosen to oppose a measure that would take on their greed and price-gouging,” wrote Vasquez. “Frankly, given the many serious issues facing this city, I’d recommend Scott spend less time on Twitter and more time coming up with solutions that work for everyone and not just his special interest backers.”t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on Kim and Wiener’s support from top Dems in their Senate race.
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