| GOP candidate rails against marriage equality as husband lobbies for pro-gay media giant
by
PageOneQ

The husband of a self-described "pro-traditional
marriage" Republican candidate has made more than $500,000 by lobbying for
a corporate leader in gay media programming, PageOneQ has learned.
Jill Holtzman Vogel, a candidate for State Senate in
Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, launched an advertising
campaign Thursday touting her position as a "strong voice for pro-family"
legislation. Holtzman Vogel's
husband, Alex, is a high-profile D.C. lobbyist and a key advisor to his wife's
campaign.
While his wife runs a campaign with strong anti-gay
messaging, Alex Vogel continues to serve as a lobbyist for LGBT-friendly Viacom,
which broadcasts shows denounced by conservatives, such as Queer as Folk, The L Word, TransGeneration, and the cartoon Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay
Couple In All The World.
Filings at the US Senate's US
Lobby Registration & Reporting Disclosure Page reveal that Vogel's
firm has been paid $510,000
in the last 3 years for its work lobbying on behalf of the media giant. Six months after hiring the firm,
Viacom officially
launched the LOGO network, which so-called "pro-family" groups
immediately condemned.
The station began broadcasting on June
30, 2005 in 18 million homes. Last December, Time Warner Cable and MTV Networks
announced a joint program to expand the distribution of LOGO.
Responding to the launch of LOGO, Dr. Janice Crouse of
Concerned Women for America's Beverly LaHaye Institute said, "Gay activism, solidly established in our
schools, is now spreading right into the nation's living rooms… LOGO is an
assault on our children's innocence."
According to Robert Knight of conservative Concerned Women
For America's Culture and Family Institute,
"Viacom's dalliances with the homosexual lifestyle, both on subscription
cable and network television, have always been ‘in your face.' Viewers should
be given a cut-off switch to prevent this from pouring into their homes and
polluting the minds of their children."
In 2006 Viacom received a 100 percent rating in the Human Rights
Campaign Equality Index. A cadre of benefits is extended to LGBT staff,
including the ability to designate same-sex partners to receive benefits.
Additionally, the company insurance plan covers medical, dental and vision for
same-sex partners and short-term disability payments following gender
reassignment surgery. All employees of Viacom are required to attend diversity
training on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
In a bitterly contested primary race, Holtzman Vogel beat
social conservative Mark Tate.
Since then, she has tried to win back social conservative voters, many
of who are concerned with what the candidate calls the "homosexual
lifestyle." In her general election campaign, Holtzman Vogel has said she
will "be a strong voice in advancing pro-life
issues and traditional marriage."
Vogel has sought and received the support of Virginia's
"family values" community, including the Virginia Conservative Action PAC (VCAP), and
the organization's president Robin DeJarnette. Vogel is also supported by
anti-marriage equality activist Laurie
Letourneau. While a resident of Massachusetts, Letourneau founded Mass
Voices for Traditional Marriage. Following the events in Massachusetts leading
to where lesbian and gay couples can be married, Letourneau left the state,
telling the Worcester Telegram that Massachusetts "is a cesspool. It's pathetic, we have
an ineffective church and a bunch of wimps in the legislature."
Letourneau filed a complaint against Tate in the primary
campaign that led to Tate's indictment on 11 felony counts, nine for perjury and
two for election fraud. The indictments, reported the Associated Press, came
three weeks to the day before the primary election day. The charges were later
dropped, raising questions as to whether or not Letourneau's actions were made
at the behest of the Holtzman Vogel campaign.
Messages left at two of Jill Holtzman Vogel campaign offices
and for Alex Vogel Thursday morning have not been returned to PageOneQ.
Developing…
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Originally published on Friday November 2, 2007.
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