Before Elections, Gay Candidates Have Won

From OnTopMag.com:

Months before the general election, voters endorsed two openly gay candidates to elected office.

In Portland, Oregon, the mayoral election was decided in May, when openly gay Sam Adams won a mail-only primary over several opponents. There will be no general election for Adams because he secured the majority vote (59%).

Adams will become the Portland’s first openly gay mayor on January 1st, and the first to run one of the 30 largest cities in the United States.

A first-term city commissioner, Adams was endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a group committed to increasing the number of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender elected officials at all levels of government.

Read more by clicking here.

Attention Denver - The Gays Have Landed

Today, over 350 openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender delegates will descend upon Denver, just four days before the Democratic National Convention is set to get underway. The main topic, of course will be equal rights and anti-discrimination laws.

But the GLBT interest and activism won’t stop there. The Stonewall Democrats, whose conference begins today at the Renaissance Denver Hotel, will also be working around the clock to make the most of the convention by creating strategies to help various candidates of the Democratic Party become elected in state and local races. This will also give states a chance to sharpen their fall election skills.

John Marble, a spokesman for the Stonewall Democrats said, “I think a lot of delegates, especially LGBT delegates, are looking at how they can use the convention effectively. If we do this right, we can really use this as an organizing convention.”

Read more about GLBT involvment at the DNC here at gayagenda.com.

Georgia Rule - Gay House Candidate Disqualified

A judge ordered Keith Gross, a gay candidate for State House District 80, removed from the Nov. 4 ballot in a ruling on July 10. Gross challenged Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta) for District 80, which includes parts of DeKalb County. The ruling came because Gross did not meet Georgia’s minimum two-year residency requirements to run for office in the state. Administrative Law Judge Michael Malihi found that Gross’ answers in the residency hearings “evasive” and “uncorroborated” during his two and half hour on the witness stand. “The court finds (Gross’s) inconsistent testimony coupled with the following facts dispositive in concluding that he does not meet the necessary requirements to establish residency in the state of Georgia,” Malihi wrote in his ruling. Find out more at expressgaynews.com.