Seymour Opposes State Gay Rights Bill : Politics: The U.S. senator announces his stance on measure that would ban job discrimination against homosexuals. Both opponents and supporters of the measure accuse him of caving in to pressure from the GOP’s right wing.

Republican Sen. John Seymour, mounting an election campaign under heavy fire from party conservatives angered at his moderate social positions, announced Saturday that he opposes a pending state gay rights bill that has inspired internal GOP warfare.

Both opponents and supporters of Assembly Bill 101, which passed the Legislature earlier this month and is awaiting action by Gov. Pete Wilson, accused Seymour of bowing to pressure from conservatives who are attempting to kill the measure.

The bill would ban employment discrimination against homosexuals. While Wilson has not signaled his position on it, the state Republican Party two weeks ago went on record against the measure, calling it “anti-family” and an “insult to legitimate minorities.”

Seymour, appointed to the U.S. Senate in January by Wilson and generally perceived to support gay rights, said in a statement faxed to reporters that the legislation “raises more questions than it answers, and promotes yet another flood of litigation and lawsuits that will further stifle job creation.”

“I share the revulsion and outrage of the vast majority of Californians when I see instances of violent hate crimes and ‘gay-bashing,’ ” he added. “That cannot and should not be tolerated.”

But Seymour insisted that anti-discrimination laws already on the books protect homosexuals, a stance disputed by members of the gay community. Aides said Seymour reached his decision late Friday and had called Wilson to alert him.

The senator’s announcement, made public after two weeks in which he refused to take a position on the measure, was released as Seymour attended a Republican leaders’ conference in Dallas. He was not available for questions Saturday, but he nonetheless drew fire from both sides of the debate over gay rights, which has partly defined the fractures in the state GOP between moderates and conservatives.

An opponent of the bill, the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, accused Seymour of taking the position to co-opt the strongly anti-homosexual candidacy of U.S. Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), who is challenging Seymour in next June’s Senate primary.

“Sen. Seymour has seen the light and felt the heat that has come upon the governor’s office,” said Sheldon, a Dannemeyer supporter. “Seymour has got his hand up in the air and he’s seeing how the breeze is blowing.”

Gay Republicans, who have supported Seymour and considered him an ally, said they were surprised by his announcement.

“I’m afraid he’s buckled under to this fundamentalist, right-wing Dannemeyer crowd, and I think that’s very unfortunate,” said John Ruble, chairman of the state’s gay GOP Log Cabin Clubs.

Frank Ricchiazzi, executive director of the Log Cabin Clubs’ political fund-raising arm, said he did not believe Seymour was reacting to political pressure. But he disputed Seymour’s contention that existing laws protect homosexuals from discrimination.

The move by Seymour ran counter to earlier reports that he was prepared to support an anti-discrimination bill protecting homosexuals. Seymour’s spokesman, Jeff Weir, said it was possible Seymour spoke favorably about a gay protection bill, but that his support was “generic” and not directed specifically at AB 101.

While certain to inspire continued catcalls from Dannemeyer, Seymour’s stand may give him some political cover. If Wilson signs the measure, Sheldon and fellow conservatives have vowed to mount a June referendum to overturn it.

Since Seymour--Wilson’s appointee and ideological ally--will be on that ballot, he stood to be the focus of conservative anger about gay rights and the even hotter political issue of taxes.

Whatever action Wilson ultimately takes on the bill, the preemptive move by Seymour will have served to distance the two men, theoretically weakening the ability of conservatives to launch anti-Wilson attacks on Seymour.

Seymour spokesman Weir said Saturday that the senator’s decision “may very well take an issue from Dannemeyer that he was going to exploit.” But, he added, it was unlikely that it would either inspire conservatives to vote for Seymour or liberals to abandon him.

“The right wing of conservatives in the party seems to have more than one reason to vote for someone other than Seymour,” Weir said. “His constituency is the moderates, not the wing nuts on the right or on the left.”

Dannemeyer, campaigning in Fresno on Saturday, was not immediately available for comment. But his campaign manager, Maureen Werft, said Seymour continues to be vulnerable on the issue of taxes, which in the past he has voted to raise.