Beshear Wins Election Despite Fletcher's
Anti-Gay Attacks

The final hours before Kentucky's gubernatorial election tell a story. Facing a deficit of as much as 20 points in the polls, Ernie Fletcher and his supporters attacked Steve Beshear's fair-minded statements. They pulled out the trump card: "Steve Beshear wants to turn Kentucky into another San Francisco," crooned Pat Boone in an automated phone call, paid for by the Kentucky Republican Party.

The group African Americans for Morality & Justice ran a radio advertisement questioning Beshear over his endorsement by C-FAIR, the Louisville-based political action committee of the Fairness Campaign. It is still unclear who created and paid for a set of automated calls that called Beshear "publicly committed to same-gender relationships," and directed listeners to the Fairness Campaign website.

Beshear received C-FAIR's endorsement because he opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity – a position shared by a majority of Kentucky voters. The anti-fairness industry has made its bread and butter off the myth that supporting basic fairness is political suicide. Today we have evidence to bust that myth.

Kentuckians believe in treating our neighbors right, because that's what neighbors do. The anti-fairness industry's stereotypical specter of gay people is losing its power to frighten, because our visibility is raising our value as people, not political tools.

Wes Wright has been the legislative liaison for the Kentucky Fairness Alliance for the past two legislative sessions. He has often talked about elected officials telling him, "I'm with you in my heart" – followed by concerns that taking a pro-fairness stand would bring consequences at election time.

The 2007 governor's election should give a jolt of courage to those "with-you-in-my-heart" lawmakers. When the time comes to consider fairness: in the workplace, in schools, in every corner of Kentucky, standing up for what's right doesn't mean losing your seat.