"You Can't Sneak Around"

For presidential aspirants, fund-raising events are usually a safe way to win friends and get press coverage. But when Walter Mondale appeared at a dinner in Manhattan last week, there were political risks. Reason: the occasion was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a political action committee dedicated to advancing the cause of gay rights.

Appearing at such a function would have been unthinkable for a national candidate not long ago, and even today gay rights is a subject so highly charged that most politicians would prefer to stay in the closet on the issue. "Sure we weighed the pros and cons," a Mondale aide says. "But you can't sneak around on any issue any more."

Mondale got his biggest applause when he quoted official Democratic Party positions opposing discrimination based on "sex or sexual orientation." Said he: "Questions of personal conduct that do not threaten the peace and order of society cannot rightfully be decided by society." He scrupulously avoided using the words gay and homosexual.

Mondale's office has received only a few disapproving telephone calls over his appearance. However, it could come back to haunt him when his presidential campaign begins in earnest. But some political analysts think Mondale made a smart move. Says a staffer at the Democratic National Committee: "Mondale has been in the doldrums. But after a gutsy move like this, people in political circles may start talking about him."

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts addressed a similar gathering in California in April, and Senator Alan Cranston of California, who also has presidential ambitions, is scheduled to appear before such a group in Philadelphia. As more politicians make these appearances, it seems likely that the risks of seeking such support will be reduced.

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