| 7-19-2004 |
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Schwarzenegger's 'girlie
men' line under fire
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California governor mocks
some Democrats
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a rally Saturday in
Ontario, California.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Democrats aren't amused by
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's use of the mocking term "girlie
men" to
describe some lawmakers, although a spokesman for the governor
said no apology would be forthcoming.
Schwarzenegger dished out the insult at a rally Saturday
as he claimed Democrats were delaying the budget by catering
to special interests. Democrats protested that the remark
was sexist and homophobic.
"If they don't have the guts to come up here in front
of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to
represent those special interests, the unions, the trial
lawyers ... if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie
men," Schwarzenegger said to the cheering crowd at a
mall food court in Ontario.
The governor lifted the term from a long-running "Saturday
Night Live" skit in which two pompous, Schwarzenegger-worshipping
weightlifters repeatedly use it to mock those who don't meet
their standards of physical perfection.
Democrats said Schwarzenegger's remarks were insulting to
women and gays and distracted from budget negotiations. State
Sen. Sheila Kuehl said the governor had resorted to "blatant
homophobia."
"It uses an image that is associated with gay men in
an insulting way, and it was supposed to be an insult. That's
very troubling that he would use such a homophobic way of
trying to put down legislative leadership," said Kuehl,
one of five members of the Legislature's five-member Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus.
Schwarzenegger's criticism of Democrats stems in part from
their support of one bill prohibiting schools from contracting
services with private companies, and another giving workers
authority to sue their employers to enforce labor laws. Each
side accuses the other of caving in to special interests.
At a rally Sunday in Stockton, the governor gave a speech
almost identical to the one he delivered in Ontario but without
the "girlie men" remark. Spokesman Rob Stutzman
said the line was dropped because Schwarzenegger had already
sent the message he wanted to send, not because he regretted
his remarks.
"It's a forceful way of making the point to regular
Californians that legislators are wimps when they let special
interests push them around," Stutzman said. "If
they complain too much about this, I guess they're making
the governor's point."
Assemblyman Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat who is chairman
of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, said
he was glad Schwarzenegger didn't repeat the "girlie
men" remark Sunday, saying it was "as misogynist
as it is anti-gay."
"To disparage a group of law abiding tax paying citizens
is just wrong," Leno said.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Democrat, said that while
he wasn't upset by the remark, his 13-year-old daughter was.
"She's a young girl who knows the governor and really
likes him a lot and didn't find the term to be a positive
term, and finds it to be derogatory," Nunez said. "It
was no question a very, very insensitive comment to make.
I personally am not intimidated or threatened by it, but
I think it really is beneath Gov. Schwarzenegger."
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