By KAREN OCAMB and CHRIS CRAIN
Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson apologized this week for using a Spanish-language slur for gay people, even as he suggested it smacked of politics that news of his “maricón” moment is surfacing now, more than a year later.
The New Mexico governor used the term as part of a joke instigated by talk show host Don Imus during a March 29, 2006, segment of his “Imus in the Morning” syndicated radio program, simulcast on MSNBC.
Almost exactly one year before Imus was to lose his show for using a slur to describe the Rutger’s women’s basketball team, the shock jock used the Spanish word “maricón” in an on-air exchange with Richardson.
“Bernard on the staff here has been claiming you’re not really Hispanic so-- that you're just claiming that for some sort of advantage or something,” Imus said to Richardson, tongue clearly in cheek. “You can just answer this yes or no and this will answer that question. Would you agree that Bernard is a maricón?”
Without missing a beat, Richardson replied in Spanish, “Yo creo que Bernardo, sí — es un maricón si él piensa que yo no soy hispano. [General laughter] Was that good enough or what? [General laughter]”
“That’s good enough for me,” Imus replied.
Most gay Latinos interviewed for this story agreed with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation that the word “maricón” means “faggot” in Spanish. So, translated to English, Richardson had replied: "I believe that Bernard, yes – he’s a faggot if he thinks that I am not Hispanic."
One year later, news of Richardson’s “maricón” moment comes as he has relied on his strong record on gay rights to reach out to gay Democrats for money, support and votes in his presidential campaign.
Sixteen months ago, Richardson’s Imus appearance flew under the media radar, and the Democrat has never publicly acknowledged or apologized for using the word. That has bothered Denver, Colo.-based Christopher Hubble, a member of the spiritual activist group Soulforce and a blogger.
Hubble was listening to the Imus show that morning, and afterward alerted Shana Naomi Krochmal, then GLAAD’s media strategist for the Southwest region.
“I was shocked that an elected official would think he could use a derogatory epithet simply because he is speaking Spanish and is perhaps assuming we don’t understand what he is saying,” Hubble wrote later in an email describing his reaction at the time.
Krochmal told Hubble she would pass the email along to Monica Taher and Carlos Macias, GLAAD’s “excellent Spanish-language media advocates.” Taher would say later in an interview for this story that another GLAAD employee decided instead to go to Equality New Mexico with the information.
“The statewide organization [in New Mexico] asked us not to contact [Richardson] because that would jeopardize the domestic partnership bill that the governor was supporting and working on at that time,” Taher said.
Alexis Blizman, executive director of Equality New Mexico (EQNM), acknowledged that she asked GLAAD not to “go after” Richardson because of his strong gay rights record, but said the domestic partnership bill was not under consideration at the time.
Blizman said that Richardson called her shortly after the Imus interview to apologize for using the word.
“First of all, it’s not like he just said it out of the blue. Don Imus baited him,” Blizman said. “The governor, unfortunately, took the bait and responded by repeating the word. It was a joking little ramp up, and unfortunately he didn’t think about it before he said it.
“But he realized as soon as he said it that he was wrong, and he felt very badly about it,” Blizman continued. “The governor actually called me personally to apologize and give his explanation. He was very clear about [saying], ‘I did not mean to use that term or to hurt people.’
“I did explain to him that the translation is often considered ‘faggot’ – that it’s not a word that should ever be used, that it was insulting and it was hurtful,” she added.
Asked if she thought Richardson would have taken the bait if Imus had used the “N-word,” Blizman said, “Probably not. Part of my conversation with him — he’s from a different generation and you know, that’s still not the best answer, but he’d never heard it translated as that, as ‘faggot.’ He said ‘effeminate’ — which, I obviously pointed out, was also not appropriate. And he agreed and he apologized.
Blitzman argued that Richardson’s use of the term should be considered in the context of his record on LGBT rights, which include passage of statewide workplace protections and hate crime legislation, as well as domestic partner benefits for state employees.
“But the reality is,” Blizman continued, “there are people out there who use these terms with all sorts of malice and intending to…[be] harmful to our community. I didn’t feel, in spite of the fact that we certainly agreed that it was a mistake, that it was worth really going after him when he’s been so good on our issues and when he clearly did not mean it with any malice.”
EQNM lobbyist Linda Siegle, who has known Richardson for 20 years, added that Richardson has a number of gay and lesbian appointees, including one cabinet secretary.
Blizman drafted a statement at the time supporting Richardson, but she never released it, neither GLAAD nor EQNM ever returned to the issue, and Richardson never made public his personal apology to Blizman.
The governor had an opportunity to do so, almost exactly one year after the Imus appearance, when he was the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Campaign’s black-tie dinner in Los Angeles on March 27. He used the occasion to blast conservative columnist Ann Coulter, who was embroiled in a controversy of her own for jokingly calling presidential candidate John Edwards a “faggot.”
“This country is tired of the politics of hatred and division,” Richardson said then. “What we need in this country is someone who can bring us together. And we are fed up, we are fed up with Karl Rove’s machinations, and Ann Coulter’s ignorant epithets. Actually, we’re fed up with Ann Coulter, period!”
Richardson’s comments echoed those of Democratic Party leader Howard Dean, who called Coulter’s use of “faggot,” even in an attempt at humor as “out of bounds.”
“There is no place in political discourse for this kind of hate-filled and bigoted comments,” Dean said then.
A slur revisited
News of Richardson’s March 2006 appearance on the Imus show surfaced shortly after that HRC event. Imus had lost his job for calling the Rutgers women “nappy-headed hos,” and GLAAD had made headlines challenging “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Isaiah Washington for using the word “faggot” in an on-set dust-up with another actor and again in front of the media after the Golden Globes.
GLAAD was also more aggressively challenging the use of “maricón” in Spanish-language media.
The memory of Richardson’s Imus appearance stuck with Hubble, who decided to try raising it again when former Washington Blade editor Chris Crain’s wrote approvingly of the Democrat’s gay rights record on his Citizen Crain blog.
Hubble warned Crain by email about the “maricón” skeleton in Richardson’s closet.
“I would have thought that Governor Richardson might see the reasonableness of holding himself to a higher standard of decorum and consider apologizing,” Hubble wrote then.
Hubble also asked a friend to inform Media Matters for America about the Imus appearance, and although Media Matters located an MSNBC clip of the exchange between Richardson and Imus and posted it online, the watchdog group took no additional action.
Now, asked about using the word more than a year later, Richardson issued a statement that apologizes while at the same time questioning why the issue had come up so long after the fact.
“I would never knowingly say or do anything to hurt the GLBT community — a community that I have worked hard for and supported my entire career,” the statement says.
“In the Spanish I grew up speaking, the term means simply ‘gay,’ not positive or negative. It has been brought to my attention that the word also has a hurtful or derogatory connotation, which was never my intent. If I offended anybody, I’m sorry.”
Richardson also asked that his “maricón” moment be considered in context of a longer gay rights record.
“My record on GLBT issues speaks for itself. I have certainly done more to help and support the GLBT community than any other presidential candidate, and more than most other politicians. The timing of this smacks of politics — it comes as I am gaining momentum and moving up in the polls.”
Indeed, Richardson recently received a bump in press coverage when second-quarter fundraising reports showed him in a strong fourth position among the eight Democratic presidential candidates. He reported raising $7 million during the period, just $2 million behind Edwards. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama reported raising $32.5 million from 258,000 contributors, and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton raised $27 million.
Despite Richardson’s suspicions, however, the story’s timing is not the result of political shenanigans. Hubble, who identifies himself as a “queer independent,” said his complaint was never politically motivated, and he has not picked a presidential candidate. No one connected with this article has been contacted by a Richardson rival.
The meaning of 'maricón'
As for Richardson’s understanding of “maricon,” which varied from “effeminate” in his personal apology to Blizman to “simply gay” in his statement this week, one online Spanish dictionary confirms both definitions, while making clear they are both derogatory.
A loose translation of the three definitions for “maricón” in www.diccionarios.com are: (1) a man who has gestures and attitudes that are considered those of women; (2) a man who feels sexual attraction towards other men; (3) a person who has bad intentions and fights with others to annoy, bother and damage them — akin to what English-speaking gays might refer to as a “bitchy queen.”
All three definitions are prefaced with the slug “mal. desp.,” identifying the word as offensive and disparaging.
In GLAAD’s scrutiny of Spanish-language media, the gay media watchdog has also been clear that “maricón” is the equivalent of “faggot.” In one press release, Taher referred to “maricón” as a “derogatory slur” that is “vulgar, defamatory and unacceptable.”
California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, the state’s highest ranking elected Latino, agrees. Asked last week at an Access Now for Gay & Lesbian Equality (ANGLE) event in his honor what he thought about Richardson’s use of the word “maricon,” Nunez said it was “unfortunate.”
“It’s not a word that anybody ought to be using in a negative reference,” said Nunez, who is supporting Clinton in the Democratic primary. “I think Governor Richardson maybe misspoke, but it’s certainly something that he should clarify because there are too many people in our communities throughout this country that are offended by that type of language. I being one of them.
“Obviously, I consider him a good person, a responsible governor, a good public servant. It’s not fitting of a Bill Richardson,” Nunez said.
GLAAD Executive Director Neil Giuliano echoed that view, and said if the Imus incident happened today, after the controversies involving Coulter and Washington, his organization would handle it differently.
“Given today’s heightened awareness, and especially given [Richardson] is now a candidate for a national office, unlike in 2006, if such [a thing] happened today with the governor or any other candidate, we would consult with the local/statewide LGBT leadership, as we always prefer to do, but would not fully cede the management and handling of the issue as we did in this incident,” Giuliano said.
“And we would demand an apology,” he added.
Two prominent gays who have praised Richardson on gay issues had differing reactions to news of the governor’s Imus slip.
West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Prang, who is on the Richardson for President Steering Committee, said he was “disappointed” in Richardson’s “unfortunate” use of the word “maricón,” while also noting he was “baited” by Imus. Overall, however, Prang was willing to look beyond the slur.
“While I do not condone the governor’s poor choice of words on the Imus show, it is important to weigh them in context with his overall support and advocacy for the LGBT community, which is considerable,” Prang said. “[He] has apologized, and I accept his explanation. Clearly, his consistent and strong actions in support for the LGBT community demonstrate that he is the best candidate for the LGBT community in the Democratic primary.”
John A. Perez, a gay labor leader and longtime member of the Democratic National Committee, has not yet endorsed anyone in the party’s presidential primary but sat next to Prang on the stage in Los Angeles when Richardson officially announced his candidacy earlier this year. He was less forgiving.
“It’s incredibly upsetting, and I guess, more than upsetting, it’s disappointing that somebody who has had as good a track record on LGBT issues as Bill Richardson would feel comfortable succumbing to any pressure from anybody to use a word that is as inflammatory as that,” Perez said.
“It’s instructive of where we are still in this country that if a candidate was asked to use a derogatory term on the basis of race, they would never do it. That somebody, regardless of the level of prodding, would stoop to using that word — makes me question their judgment as they deal with issues that are so important to our community.
“The other issue that’s further upsetting about this is — in the LGBT community we struggle with the issue of race,” Perez continued. “Not only can [Richardson] be seen to give permission to people to use the word, but it can also reinforce in other people’s minds the sense of a greater degree of intolerance in the Latino community, a sense of a greater degree of homophobia.
“When you have the national presence of somebody like Bill Richardson making a comment like this, it serves to divide communities, not just individuals.”
Karen Ocamb is the news editor for IN Los Angeles magazine. Chris Crain, the former editor of the Washington Blade, edits Gay News Watch.
Click here for a complete Gay News Watch summary about the U.S. presidential race.
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