Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette
	Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, greeted members of the audience after giving a speech to National Stonewall Democrats holding their national convention at the University of Pittsburgh yesterday.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told a group of gay and lesbian political activists yesterday that he wanted to "work side by side" with them to fight discrimination and wrest control of Congress from the Republicans.

Mr. Dean said their priorities should include unseating U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., whom he called "one of the most mean-spirited and corrupt politicians in Washington."

"And that says something," added Mr. Dean, a 2004 presidential candidate and former Vermont governor, who delivered the keynote address to the convention of National Stonewall Democrats. The three-day gathering on the University of Pittsburgh campus, held to provide members with political training, concludes today.

The group has gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members and takes its name from the Stonewall Inn, a New York bar police raided in 1969 for serving gay patrons. The ensuing violence fueled the gay-rights movement.

Virginia Davis, spokeswoman for the Santorum campaign, said Mr. Dean's comments reflect "what Bob Casey and the Democratic Party have become known for -- negative attacks and offering no solutions." Mr. Casey, the state treasurer, is challenging Mr. Santorum in the November election.

Mr. Dean said the Stonewall Democrats have made the Democratic Party "stronger, more inclusive, more courageous, more tenacious."

He asked their help in reclaiming the House and Senate from Republicans, saying the GOP has masked its failures by dividing America with attacks on gays, immigrants and other minority groups. He cited the support President Bush and GOP congressional leaders have given to a constitutional amendment that would prevent states from recognizing same-sex marriages.

The Constitution was written to guarantee basic rights to all Americans, not deny them to some, said Mr. Dean, who as Vermont governor signed a landmark bill giving gay couples nearly all of the benefits of marriage.

The GOP touts "family values," he said, while Democrats "value all families."

"We are the party of small government and personal liberty," he said.

Mr. Dean also faulted President Bush and congressional Republicans for issues ranging from the "Iraq mess" to the soaring cost of gasoline.

"Everything he said was absolutely true, correct, accurate," said Marty B. O'Malley, a Forest Hills councilman and supporter of the Thomas Merton Center whose vest sported dozens of buttons lampooning Mr. Santorum.

Ms. Davis, however, said Mr. Dean was off the mark. She said Democrats in the past had stalled an energy bill to decrease America's reliance on foreign oil and asserted that Mr. Santorum, unlike his critics, had sought solutions to important issues.

Mr. Dean didn't say how he believed Mr. Santorum was "corrupt." Ms. Davis said he may have been "throwing terms around" in an effort to link Mr. Santorum to ethics scandals involving other Republican officials.

Yesterday wasn't the first time Mr. Dean swatted Mr. Santorum. In Pittsburgh during his presidential campaign, Mr. Dean sarcastically referred to Mr. Santorum as "nice, inclusive" after the Associated Press quoted the senator as comparing homosexuality to bigamy, incest, adultery and polygamy.

Mr. Dean said DNC operatives had been instructed to work with the gay community and trained to discuss gay-rights issues with straight voters.

He told the Stonewall group, "We need you to reach out to the straight community."

Jeremy Burnworth, a member of the Stonewall Democrats, said he was pleased Mr. Dean had recognized the group as a political force.

"We're thousands of people. He has a chance to utilize that."