Biden's Seattle host says 'gay rights' comments overblown

SEATTLE — Presidential candidate Joe Biden is under fire for comments he made in Seattle about how times have changed for the gay community.

Biden said that, five years ago, people would have let someone get away with "making fun of a gay waiter."

Someone in the crowd said, "Not in Seattle."

The party's host is an activist in Seattle's gay rights community and a big supporter of the former vice president.

He said that when Joe Biden made his comment, no one there took offense.

It was an invitation-only event for some of Seattle's most well-heeled citizens, a fundraiser for Democratic front-runner Joe Biden at the Capitol Hill home of loyal supporter and gay rights activist Roger Nyhus.

Nyhus was asked if Biden's comments felt inappropriate. "No," he said. "I think it's much ado about nothing, to be honest."

KIRO 7 asked Nyhus to weigh in on the controversy. He confirmed news reports that Biden told the crowd that "five years ago, if someone at a business meeting in Seattle 'made fun of a gay waiter' people would just let it go." Some people in the audience "pushed back ... saying 'Not in Seattle!'"

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"What he was saying was: We have come a long way and we still have a long way to go," Nyhus said.

"And a couple of folks in the audience, I think, more in a pleasant way said, 'Not in Seattle, not five years ago.' "

But the national reaction was swift. "Biden catches flak for 'gay waiter comment,'" USA Today said. The LGBTQ nation took Biden to task, too.

Seattle has earned its reputation as a progressive, gay-friendly city. Same-sex marriage was made legal here in 2012.

And by 2014, the time frame Biden mentioned, Seattle had its first openly gay mayor.

But that same year, there were reports the hate crimes were on the rise in the heart of Seattle's gay community.

Nyhus insists that is the point the former vice president was making.

"I heard no one in the room complain about his comments," he said. "In fact, people were thrilled to have him there and speak."

Still, Biden's campaign felt compelled to defend his comments, insisting that all he was saying is that the gay community has made significant progress but that still more needs to be done.

Cox Media Group