"It's bizarre that I've gotten such a warm reception from the governor and his administration when many gays were giving me a hard time," Duffy said. "I think they are uncomfortable with my being both gay and Republican."
Steve Tierney, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, admits that there has been a backlash to Duffy's status as an openly gay Republican. In fact, he says, some of the people trying to block Duffy's appointment were gay.
"I'm happy the Governor appointed an openly gay man to the position," Tierney said. "But it's true that the Republican party has generally been unresponsive to gay and lesbian concerns."
Tierney is also skeptical of Weld's growing reputation as a gay rights champion in New England.
"That's what the gay Republicans are telling you," he said. "As far as I know, [Weld's] appointment of Michael is the only thing he has done in that regard."
But gay-rights leaders are far from unanimous in attributing the bulk of the opposition to Duffy's appointment to other gays. LaFontaine attributes most of the resistance to civil rights activists, who he says were shocked that a gay man might be named chair of MCAD.
"There is a big tradition of gay people being left in the back of the bus in the civil rights movement because they aren't as involved in those issues," he says. "But Mike is extremely well qualified. I'm convinced that if a Black man with Mike's same qualifications had been appointed as chair, there would have been no opposition."
Stolen Rugs
All political issues aside, some of the toughest questions Duffy has had to face have been fired at him by the Harvard police.
During his time as a Kennedy School student, Duffy and his roommate were charged with stealing a rug from the Business School library. Although he apologized for his actions and says they planned to return the rug at the end of the year to complete the prank, some opponents say the incident blemishes his record.
"It was a stupid prank," Duffy said. "I wish I hadn't done it. But I'm not really sure how relevant the incident is to my position now."