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G.W. Bush Says Anti-Gay Policies “Not Personal”

When openly-gay Texas Representative Glen Maxey (D-Austin) was asked about Texas Governor and presidential hopeful George W. Bush’s stance on gay issues during a recent interview, he recounted a conversation he had with Bush this past April.

Bush allegedly congratulated Maxey’s work in expanding a children’s health-insurance program, and then told Maxey, “Glen, I value you as a person. I value you as a human being. And I want you to know that what I say publicly about gay people does not pertain to you personally.”

Maxey told his interviewer, “And of course, my rejoinder to that was when you say a gay person is not fit to be a parent, you’re talking about me.” Maxey was referring to Bush’s public statements that “children ought to be adopted in families with a woman and a man who are married.”

Bush campaign spokesman Scott McClellan disagreed with Maxey’s description of the April 14 conversation, saying “The governor simply congratulated him on the children’s health-insurance program. That was the extent of the conversation. It’s baffling if he (Maxey) was offended by something that supposedly happened four months ago that he’s just now bringing up now.”

Maxey explained that he brought it up only when directly asked about Bush’s views during a recent interview. He said that he told a colleague, Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) about the conversation immediately after it happened. Dukes has commented, “I think in this particular case, when he saw Glen Maxey, he felt bad about his public statements. I think in a way this was his apology. It just kind of got messed up.”

Sources:

Nando Times and AP - August 19, 1999

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