State: Reno on tour openly courts gay voters

"I did not register to vote until she decided to run," Moore said as Reno hobnobbed nearby, her dark head bobbing well above the Friday night cocktail crowd at Suncoast Resort Hotel.

"She's for gay rights, and I believe she'll probably be for gay adoption," Moore said. "When she speaks, she means what she says."

Moore and his partner, David Bastoni, were among about 40 people who attended the $150-per-person fundraiser, Reno's first in Pinellas County since she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida.

That she made the stop at the Suncoast Resort, which bills itself as the "world's largest all-gay resort and entertainment complex," suggests she won't hide her liberal views to woo conservative Democrats in the Panhandle and central Florida, and that she'll openly seek gay support.

Reno's leading opponent, Bill McBride of Tampa, also has supported gay-friendly initiatives, and gay activists expect him to stump for their vote as well.

Political analysts and gay activists can't recall leading gubernatorial candidates ever courting gay voters so overtly, especially outside South Florida. Those who attended Reno's fundraiser -- as well as those who waited outside to show their support -- said it's long overdue.

"I've been here for 25 years, and until this time it's been low key," said Georgann McConnell, 45, of Belleair Beach.

She and her partner, Lee LaRosa, nursed Icehouse beer while waiting for Reno, hoping to get her autograph.

"There is a stigma, to this day. I hope it won't hurt her," McConnell said.

Most at the fundraiser said they doubted it would.

"We're a sitcom now," said Richard Harris, 34, of St. Petersburg, who came for a drink but stayed to see Reno. "Once you've got a top-10 sitcom -- Will & Grace -- we're accepted by the masses. I'm pleased it's less of a dirty issue."

Maybe. Some analysts said appearing too friendly with gays could hurt Reno among conservative Democrats in Central and North Florida, especially against Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

"It's dangerous for her," said Verne Kennedy, a pollster in Pensacola. "But if she can't get a crowd, her campaign is not going anywhere anyway. She didn't draw much of a crowd up here" this week.

Others, however, said recent advances by McBride's campaign have forced Reno to pay more attention to her liberal base.

"McBride has picked up some key endorsements, he has some momentum, he's attracting attention, and she is probably having to refocus on the primary instead of the general election," said Lance de Haven Smith, a professor of public administration and policy at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Gay rights also may edge into the fall campaign: This week, entertainer and foster parent Rosie O'Donnell said she will work to overturn Florida's prohibition against allowing homosexuals to adopt.

O'Donnell, who is expected to publicly acknowledge soon that she's a lesbian, sponsored a Dec. 30 fundraiser for Reno in Miami Beach.

Reno said she supports changing the law to allow a judge to determine the fitness of adoptive parents.

McBride said he believes the question will be settled in the courts and won't become an issue in the fall. A Bush spokeswoman said the governor supports the current law.

Friday was day five of Reno's Red Truck Tour, a 15-day jaunt from Panama City to Miami. The tour leaves St. Petersburg this morning for Fort Lauderdale for a scheduled luncheon with Lambda Legal Defense, a gay-rights group. She returns to Central Florida on Sunday with stops in Lakeland and Cypress Gardens.

Reno said she's not worried about how her courtship of gay voters will play with others.

"All communities are important," she said before leaving for Friday's fundraiser. "My position is that all Floridians should be voting, should be participating and should have the opportunity to be heard."

The Suncoast Resort, 3000 34th St. S, opened about three years ago. A sprawling 9 acres, it sports shops, a pool, tennis courts, volleyball and eight bars, including the Lunar dance club, Flamingo show bar, Courtyard Tiki bar and the Suncoast Eagle leather bar.

After the fundraiser, Reno headed to the Palladium Theatre downtown for a short speech before a play entitled The Story of Jerry O, which organizer Andrew Conners described "as a sort of gay My Fair Lady." The play was a benefit for an AIDS-HIV support group, and Reno, who has Parkinson's disease, discussed living with a chronic illness.

Conners said he originally invited Reno to speak at the play, then added the fundraiser later. He said the campaign was amenable when he explained it would be at a gay resort.

Nadine Smith, director of the civil rights group Equality Florida, said Reno and McBride must work to earn the support of homosexual voters, as do the other Democratic candidates, House Minority Leader Lois Frankel and state Sen. Darryl Jones.

"There was a time when just the willingness to meet was considered support," Smith said. "Those days are gone." McBride pitches himself as the sensible alternative to Reno. A decorated Vietnam veteran with close ties to business, McBride contends only he is moderate enough to win enough votes in Central and North Florida to beat Bush. His campaign manager, Robin Rorapaugh, said she doesn't believe courting the gay vote will hurt him, either.

"We're going to be competing for those votes," she said.

Bob Poe, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said the party has no way of knowing what percentage of its members are homosexual, but they are "vocal and visible."

Nationally, exit polls by the Voter News Service found that gays, lesbians and bisexuals accounted for 4 percent to 5 percent of the electorate in the 1998 elections. Of them, 65 percent voted Democratic.

"Overall, gays are more visible in politics, nationally and in Florida," said Nicol Rae, chairman of the political science department at Florida International University in Miami.

"It probably would not be good for Janet Reno's election strategy for gay issues to feature prominently in the fall campaign. But, on the other hand, if she wins the primary, she will be relying on this constituency."

-- Times political editor Adam Smith contributed to this report.

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