Roberta Achtenberg, a lesbian Jewish politician from San Francisco who is no stranger to political battles, is now facing fierce opposition from conservative forces over her nomination for a top federal housing post.
As part of an effort to “increase Bill Clinton’s misery index,” conservative Republican senators have threatened a lengthy floor fight over the president’s nomination of Achtenberg as assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
If confirmed, Achtenberg, a civil rights lawyer, would become the highest-ranking openly gay official in the executive branch.
The 42-year old Achtenberg, who was elected in 1990 to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was considered at that time a “triple minority” candidate as a Jew, woman and lesbian.
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), who has put a hold on Achtenberg’s nomination, has demanded a full floor debate on the nomination as his price for letting the nomination move forward.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs voted 14-4 last week to recommend Achtenberg’s confirmation by the full Senate.
Among his other objections, Helms is incensed by Achtenberg’s attempts as a San Francisco supervisor to pressure the Boy Scouts of America into admitting openly gay scouts and scoutmasters and to grant health benefits to gay and lesbian partners of city employees.
Helms told The Washington Times that he opposed Achtenberg “because she’s a damned lesbian.” He added: “If you want to call me a bigot, fine.”
Achtenberg recalled that during her unsuccessful campaign two years earlier for the state assembly, she received a lot of hate mail.
“In the litany of names I was called, they always included the word ‘Jew’: ‘Communist Jew,’ ‘queer Jew,’ ‘Jew bitch’ — they never left ‘Jew’ out.”
She is a member of the gay-oriented Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco and has described herself as a staunch supporter of Israel. Achtenberg has a 7-year old son, Benjamin, whom she is raising with her partner, Municipal Judge Mary Morgan.
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