Suspicious timing in Richmond councilmen’s about-face on gays
By Chip Johnson
Published 3:21 pm, Thursday, October 30, 2014
Who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks?
Richmond City Councilmen Nathaniel Bates, who is running for mayor, and Corky Boozé, who is running for re-election, have apparently undergone a miraculous, simultaneous conversion — and just in the nick of time.
The duo, who have been at the center of a running battle with lesbian councilwoman colleague Jovanka Beckles offered an olive branch this week in the form of a proclamation calling on the city to recognize and celebrate October as LGBT History Month.
Considering Boozé’s and Bates’ recent history on the subject of homosexuality, it was a jaw-dropping moment Tuesday night in the chambers of the Richmond City Council.
The two have condoned the nasty, obscene and downright ugly attacks on Beckles’ sexual orientation by Richmond residents who disrupted many City Council meetings. But now they’re Renaissance Men.
The proclamation was prompted by a request from a citizen, Bates said in a phone interview Thursday.
“I'm not antigay,” Bates said. “I have a problem with Ms. Beckles, not the gay community.”
But the hypocrisy of the moment was not lost on anyone in the room.
“I've never seen a conversion like that in my life,” Beckles said. “I was shocked when I saw it on the agenda and then thought, 'What are they up to?’”
During the presentation, Bates and Boozé invited Beckles and Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus, who is gay, to come up to the podium and stand with them.
Both declined.
“When they asked me to come stand with them, I was dumbstruck,” Beckles said. “Nobody was going up there.”
You can’t blame Beckles or Magnus for being a little suspicious, especially when you consider the timing of the harmonic convergence — a week before a city election.
It’s probably a good thing they didn’t accept the invitation because the photo recording the event could have been turned into a glossy mailer and shipped to every voter in town by next week.
It’s not that difficult for a candidate like Bates to accomplish that. He has access to a $3 million political campaign fund, thanks to Chevron, which has pumped money like oil into the Richmond election.
But Chevron’s association with candidates linked to antigay incidents that are easily accessible on YouTube is not good for business.
Chevron donates, sponsors and supports gay pride events and gay employee associations and networks all over the world. In March, Business Insider named it one of the nation’s most progressive companies — and it’s an image Chevron has cultivated and wants to continue.
It’s no wonder the corporation no longer politically supports Boozé.
Whether Bates’ and Boozé’s kinder, gentler approach to the gay community is genuine, directed from political advisers or borne of sheer necessity, a lot of people weren’t buying what they were selling Tuesday.
“I think they were trying to resurrect their public image,” said Councilman Tom Butt, who is running for mayor against Bates. “It was pretty transparent, but it made a good show.”
For Beckles, it was an empty, disingenuous gesture intended to provide an opportunity to restore their reputations with the gay community and their supporters.
Instead of all the rigamarole and hype around a public proclamation, Beckles said a simple apology for fostering an atmosphere that invited the rhetoric of hate speech into the chambers would have been a good place to start.
Chip Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns run Tuesday and Friday. E-mail: chjohnson@sfchronicle.com