DL Flashback: How Cathy Cloutier Literally Abandoned Gay Rights Supporters. Not Once, But TWICE

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on September 30, 2020

Before the hors d’oeuvres and the main course of the meal, we begin with an amuse bouche from the bouche of Cathy Cloutier.  More precisely, her website:

Common sense. That’s what drives my decision making in Dover. Not political party demands. Not fear. Not distracting noise from Washington, D.C.

Simply, does my “yes” or “no” vote for a bill make life even better for those of us living in Brandywine Hundred – and all Delawareans?

Remember the standard that Cathy has set for herself as we move through a look at her record on gay rights.

Today’s hors d’oeuvre  is from April 15, 2011.  It prepares the palate nicely for the main course to follow.  Be sure to read the comments thread.  It’s a keeper.

Did you enjoy?  You may have noted some seemingly out-of-context remarks about ‘the gays’.  The context is the meat of this article.  Originally posted on April 26, 2011. Reposted in its entirety:

Why Gay Rights Supporters Should Oppose Senators Cloutier and Connor in 2012

Three years. In Cathy Cloutier ‘Have A Great Day’ time, we’re talking 1095 not-so-great days, give or take.

Senator Dori Connor and Senator Cathy Cloutier cost gays three years of equal rights, free of discrimination. How is it, you may ask, that two senators who have sought and received endorsements from gay rights groups ended up denying gays the basic rights that Connor and Cloutier claimed to support?

Here’s how. On March 24, 2005, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed HS1/HB 36 (Oberle), which would have “prohibit(ed) discrimination against persons on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance and grants Superior Court exclusive criminal jurisdiction over violations of equal accommodations, fair housing and employment discrimination…”.

On April 13, 2005, President Pro-Tempore Thurman Adams placed the bill in his own Senate Executive Committee. By placing the bill there, Adams made clear his intent to make sure that this bill would never see the light of day. At least not while he was around. And there it languished until 2006. The bill had enough votes to pass, but it was going nowhere as long as it was in the Senate Executive Committee.

It was in this context that several senators got together to  form a coalition to petition the bill out of committee. A majority of all senators, 11 out of 21, was required to get the bill out of committee. The official format to do so was and is a petition with sufficient signatories. By spring of 2006, 11 senators had given their verbal pledge to petition the bill out of committee. Two of those senators were Dori Connor and Cathy Cloutier. All that remained was the seemingly pro-forma matter of signing the petition. The 11 senators had agreed to meet immediately after the Senate broke for party caucus on that fateful day so that all 11 could sign it in the presence of the others, neat and simple. With 11 signatures, it was possible that the bill would become law by the end of the day. It was right there.

Nine senators showed up. Two disappeared, Senator Dori Connor and  Senator Cathy Cloutier. Supporters of the bill desperately scoured Legislative Hall to find them. They were nowhere to be found. By breaking their word to their fellow senators and to the gay rights community, Dori Connor and Cathy Cloutier killed an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation for the remainder of Thurman Adams’ reign as President Pro-Tem. When the Senate reconvened that day, a ring of strange ( well, unfamiliar and strange) people circled Cathy Cloutier’s desk. They  prevented other senators from speaking to her. To this day, neither she nor Dori Connor have ever publicly explained their abandonment of the gay community.  (Note From El Som: In 2020, Cloutier has still never explained her disappearance.)

Yet, to this day, Senators Connor and Cloutier portray themselves as gay rights supporters. They seek support from gay rights organizations. And, they’ve received support in the past.

The only act that they can cite to support this is that, in 2009, when Sen. Adams died and the successor to HS1/HB 36 was finally voted on, they voted yes. The point that must be made is that there were enough votes in the State Senate to pass this bill in 2006, not to mention 2009. The only impact that Connor and Cloutier have had on the cause of gay rights has been to deny supporters the right to be free from discrimination based on sexual orientation from 2006 to 2009. And, had Adams not passed away, they still might be waiting thanks to the Houdini pulled by Connor and Cloutier in 2006.

Which brings us to 2011. With bipartisan support from both chambers of the Delaware General Assembly, and with the strong endorsement of Gov. Jack Markell, Senator Dave Sokola introduces SB 30, which would legalize civil unions in Delaware.

(An aside, but an important one): Check out the sponsors on both HS1/HB36 and SB 30. Nowhere will you find the names of Cloutier or Connor. Now, I’ve said in the past that being a sponsor isn’t really important as long as you support the bill. But alleged gay rights supporters Cloutier and Connor effectively killed the anti-discrimination legislation in 2006, and, in 2011…, (end of aside).

In April of 2011, neither Dori Connor nor Cathy Cloutier even bothered to show up to vote on SB 30. The vote was by no means a sure thing at that point, and SB 30 could well have been defeated. Both have barely plausible excuses, made all the less plausible by their history of not showing up when it comes to equal rights for gays. Sen. Connor’s excuse was that she was staying with her mother, who had had a fall. She was offered both care for her mother and a ride to and from Dover, but she demurred.

Cloutier missed session to bury her father. How DARE I even question this reason? Well, here’s why it smells real funny to me. Her father died in January. (You will recall that Cloutier also missed the session challenging DeLuca’s Pro-Tem position because she was caring for her father in December.) The Senate schedule for the entire session was already posted by January. All senators knew then which days they’d be in session and which days they’d be off. So did Cathy Cloutier. On the very day that Sen. Sokola announced that SB 30 would be on the agenda, Sen. Cloutier got up AFTERWARDS and announced that she would not be present. Why? She had to bury her father. Here’s the rub: Her father was not buried on the day of the vote (Thursday), he was buried the day after (Friday). All it would’ve taken for Cloutier to be present was an early morning flight from Philly to Boston, of which there are plenty. As a State Senator, all it would have taken was for Cloutier to make sure the burial was scheduled during a time that did not conflict with session. Her surrogates, who called Al’s show last week, argued that she didn’t have any say in the matter. A state senator, who is about my age (aka, no spring chicken), has no influence within the family as to when a burial will take place? A burial taking place three months after the passing? Really? And she doesn’t show up because it would inconvenience her travel plans?

Hey, look, I know I can’t win here. Sen. Liane Sorenson called Al’s show last week to tell me I should be ashamed of myself, and that the only reason I’m critical of Cloutier is b/c she’s my senator. Because, as you loyal readers know, I’m never critical of anyone but Cathy Cloutier, right? Her surrogates tried to portray her as the victim of some vicious unwarranted criticism. I’m sorry, but Cathy has effectively been playing the victim for her entire political career.

Well, I’m really gonna piss ’em off now. Cathy Cloutier has been a public official for something like 15 years. I’m sorry that Phil passed away far too soon, and pretty much everyone I know is sorry that Phil passed away too soon. But it’s time somebody pointed out that the sole reason that Cathy Cloutier holds elective office is precisely because Phil passed away too soon. Yes, she got her position the same way that Dori Connor and Nancy Cook did. But I doubt that anybody, even their detractors,  would argue that Cook and Connor did not demonstrate the capacity to serve effectively as senators. I ask all those who know and like Cathy Cloutier (and I know it sounds hard to believe, but I really like her as a person, she’s hard not to like) to honestly ask yourselves whether, absent the fact that she inherited political office, would you seriously even consider her as a potential elected official? A nice lady who wants you to have a great day, yes, with issues not unlike issues that every other family faces at one time or another, but an elected official?

In other words, is there no statute of limitations for seeking reelection by making people feel sorry for you? I mean, Phil’s got his own bleeping statue at the library. Get over it already.

Which brings me back to gay rights supporters. Did you know that Cathy Cloutier has an A-Plus ranking from the National Rifle Association? Do you know how she got that rating? She always votes the NRA position, and, in fact, would never dare to go against what they tell her to do. Maybe she’s a true NRA believer, maybe she’s not, but never let it be said that Cathy doesn’t identify powerful supporters and cozy up to them. Why then, in Yahweh’s name, should you buy any bullshit story she feeds you now? Unlike the NRA, she screwed you, as did Dori Connor. TWICE! Faking empathy is no substitute for being there when people are depending on you, and they weren’t.

It’s a cliche, but it’s true. Actions speak louder than words. By dint of their actions and inaction, Senators Dori Connor and Cathy Cloutier have demonstrated their unworthiness for support from the equal rights community. Hold them accountable.

Some key postscripts.  Mitch Crane confirmed at the time that Cloutier was indeed offered transportation to enable her to easily make it to her father’s funeral on Friday:

Representatives of the Gill Foundation were present in Leg Hall the day before the Senate vote on SB 30. They did tell Cathy Cloutier that they would arrange for transportation for her and for Dori Connor so that they could vote the next day. Dori had already travelled to Pennsylvania to be with her mother, but this offer was communicated to her.
It is also correct that as of the day before the vote, Equality Delaware did not have 11 firm votes for SB 30. With Connor and Cloutier indicating they would not be on the floor for the vote, SB 30 had only 10 firm votes, and there was great pressure on 2 of those 10 from the opposition. It was later that afternoon that Senators DeLuca and then McBride said they would vote for the Bill. I was present when Deluca said ” You only have 10 votes. I will be the 11th”. Neither Cloutier nor Connor knew of these commitments until the actual votes were cast. Though Senator Marshall voted for the bill, he never indicated to any of the bill’s supporters that he would be a “yes”.

Dori Connor was defeated (slaughtered, really) by Nicole Poore in 2012.

Now, let’s return to the top of the article and quote Cloutier’s own words:

Common sense. That’s what drives my decision making in Dover. Not political party demands. Not fear. Not distracting noise from Washington, D.C.

Simply, does my “yes” or “no” vote for a bill make life even better for those of us living in Brandywine Hundred – and all Delawareans?

By her own standard, if her cowardice on these votes was not due to (electoral) fear, it was because she had determined that supporting gay rights would not have made life ‘even better for those of us living in Brandywine Hundred–and all Delawareans’.

Shouldn’t that disqualify her from serving the diverse residents of SD 5? I think so.  What do you think?

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  1. La Somnambula says:

    You go El Som! Cathy is a nice person but you can’t have it both ways. You have to stand for something.

  2. Mitch Crane says:

    I want to reaffirm what I am quoted as saying above. As to President Pro-Tem DeLuca, he did tell us that he knew we had only 10 votes and that he would be the 11th, but he also placed a caveat on that statement: “If you tell anyone I am voting ‘yes”, you will not have that vote”. There was no way Dori Connor and Cathy Cloutier knew we had DeLuca’s vote. Senator Marshall refused to tell anyone we knew of how he was going to vote. That said Connor went to Pennsylvania and Cloutier to Massachusetts knowing the bill would likely be defeated. The Gill Foundation did offer to provide transportation (air for Cloutier and helicopter for Connor).

    Cathy called me numerous times earlier this year in an attempt to get an endorsement from the Delaware Stonewall PAC. She made some rather bizarre representations. I find that she is likeable because she has a need to be liked. She will say to your face what she thinks you want to hear. She has offered support the support was not asked for, and then voted the other way went the time came.

    Kyle Evans Gay is not just a suitable replacement for Cathy Cloutier, she is a great candidate and person. I also believe that, unlike her opponent, Kyle will actually be the Prime Sponsor of bills and will also fight for what she believes in.