On the same day he delivered a speech at San Diego Pride’s 30th anniversary Spirit of Stonewall Rally, Mayor Dick Murphy also informed his advisory board to the GLBT community that he would not be taking a position on the highly controversial Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA).

“I do know that the timing really bothered many of the people that I spoke to,” said Dale Kelly Bankhead, co-chair of San Diegans Against Marriage Discrimination. “I think it was perhaps not a good choice on the part of the mayor to deliver the bad news on the most important weekend of the year to the LGBT community.”

At the rally, Murphy introduced his advisory board and presented a proclamation from his office honoring San Diego Pride, a service he has performed every year since taking office.

Earlier that day, members of the advisory board had received a long-awaited letter stating his position on the FMA.

In the letter dated July 27, Murphy said: “After hearing what others also had to say and much thought, I wanted you to know that I am taking no position on the Federal Marriage Amendment – neither in support or opposition. I understand your views on this amendment. Please know that my decision in no way diminishes my respect and appreciation for the LGBT community.”

“He promised he would get back to us, and then the Friday of Pride we get this letter,” said Linda Barufaldi, a member of the advisory board who has been with her partner for 31 years. “I thought the timing was bad, insensitive, and that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, and that’s exactly what he was doing, nothing.”

In the letter, Murphy defended his record on GLBT issues saying, “Over the last three years, we have partnered to advocate for positive change in the City to address fairness and promote understanding of issues important to the LGBT community. We can count among our accomplishments: amending the City’s Human Dignity Ordinance to protect our transgendered [sic] community, modifying the City’s pension program so gay and lesbian City employees and their partners have the same retirement benefit options as married spouses, supporting the San Diego LGBT Community Center, and appointing 23 members of the LGBT community to City boards and commissions.”

At the board’s April 24 meeting with Murphy, members of the board reportedly addressed the FMA and the need for him to take a stand on the issue, explaining the financial impact of not being able to be married as well as outlining reasons that liberals and conservatives across the country have come out against the amendment.

“It was clear to me that he was not going to support [the FMA],” said local attorney Todd Stevens, chair of the advisory board. “I never felt that he was going to support it, but this outcome was a possibility. We hoped he would oppose it, but this taking no position was definitely on the table.”

Stevens added: “It’s his position. I personally think that the Mayor is with the LGBT community with many issues. I don’t know why the letter that I received did not express why he was taking no position.”

The Gay & Lesbian Times tried to contact Murphy a week prior to the publication of this article for a comment on his position, but despite requesting an interview via two phone messages, a phone conversation with his press secretary, Colleen Rudy, and an email to his chief of staff, John Kern, Murphy has yet to respond to questions about his stance on the FMA.

Murphy also failed to return calls for comment on the FMA and the same-sex marriage issue for articles appearing in the Gay & Lesbian Times in May and July.

“Most of the people who are in favor of the amendment are mean spirited and I don’t think Dick Murphy is mean spirited,” Barufaldi said. “He said he was very moved by what we had said and I thought as a jurist, he would be against it. An amendment to the Constitution for something like this is just wrong. I didn’t expect him to say gay marriage is fabulous and therefore I am against the amendment, but I expected him to come out against the amendment and say that this wasn’t a good use of the Constitution.”

The FMA and marriage equality are not issues that are going to be addressed by City Hall – marriage licenses are handled by the County of San Diego – but voters across the nation are looking to their leaders for a stance one way or another on these issues.

“The mayor is out of step with the majority of San Diegans on this issue,” Bankhead said. “There was a recent KPBS Competitive Edge Poll done that asks people’s position on amending the Constitution in this way, and 51 percent of all San Diegans were opposed; and that’s likely to be much, much higher within the city limits, so it’s unfortunate that the mayor isn’t in tune with the rest of the city.”

In the GLBT community, seen as a swing vote in the mayoral race, Murphy’s stance on the FMA has had an effect on his image. The membership of GLBT Vote 2004, an organization that had endorsed Murphy, is circulating a petition to reconsider their endorsement of Murphy.

“I am grateful for the mayor giving the LGBT community a place at the table and I hope to continue to have that place at the table in the future, should the mayor be reelected,” Barufaldi said “I guess it reminds me a little of what [Deputy Mayor, then Councilmember] Toni Atkins said after the Boy Scout vote on the council. She said to me ‘I can still work with these people, but I have a different feeling about it now,’ and I guess that is how I feel. I could certainly still work with the mayor and I hope to do so in the future, but I definitely have a different feel about it now.”