Few hushed moments marked the visit of Harold E. Ford, Jr. to a divided gay political audience in Manhattan on Wednesday evening. One such instance came toward the end of his half-hour presentation, when the potential U.S. senate candidate from New York was asked what he thought of Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court decision that decriminalized sodomy.
“Tell me what that decision is, sir, I’m sorry,” said the former Tennessee congressman and University of Michigan Law School graduate. “I just don’t know the decision.”
Attendees gasped in unison at his unfamiliarity, whereas at most other times, interruptions and crowd infighting greeted his first appearance before the local Stonewall Democrats chapter, an influential political club. Ford’s attempt to press the reset button with 200 members of New York’s gay community ended, literally, with a piercing pop from a confetti cannon fired by activists into the room at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center in the West Village.
Prior to the blowout, Ford, who is considering a challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the Democratic primary, fielded multiple questions about his mixed record on gay rights, especially his two votes in 2004 and 2006 for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have enshrined a gay marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution. He also was grilled about his recent conversion to support marriage equality, which he announced last month after expressing interest in the senate seat.
Ford, who said he officially made New York home last year, directly addressed the concerns about his 10-year record as a Tennessee congressman in his seven-minute introductory speech.
“While serving in Congress, my record on a variety of issues, social issues, in a lot of ways reflected what I knew then, people I represented in the state in which I was from, and frankly the influences that those around me, particularly my constituents, had on me,” he said.
“I’m not ashamed to say that throughout my time in Congress, there were issues that I evolved on, I matured on,” said Ford. “I listened to information on each side, sometimes changed my mind about issues.”
At times, Ford seemed to be testing a talking point: marriage equality support means a lot coming from someone who once opposed it.
“I would hope that you would at least accept the fact that the reason the numbers and support for marriage equality continues to go up is because people like me change our minds,” he said.
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