The duo, who have been at the center of a running battle with lesbian councilwoman colleague Jovanka Beckles offered an olive branch this week in the form of a proclamation calling on the city to recognize and celebrate October as LGBT History Month. The two have condoned the nasty, obscene and downright ugly attacks on Beckles’ sexual orientation by Richmond residents who disrupted many City Council meetings. [...] Chevron’s association with candidates linked to antigay incidents that are easily accessible on YouTube is not good for business. Whether Bates’ and Boozé’s kinder, gentler approach to the gay community is genuine, directed from political advisers or borne of sheer necessity, a lot of people weren’t buying what they were selling Tuesday. Instead of all the rigamarole and hype around a public proclamation, Beckles said a simple apology for fostering an atmosphere that invited the rhetoric of hate speech into the chambers would have been a good place to start.