Comments on: Gay incumbents face opposition in ANC races

By: Barrie Daneker

Barrie Daneker — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:17:12 +0000

@kenny williams– I would hope that you would read the article again. Many have inferred that the word oppostion refers to Mr. Fournier…In fact it does not! the sentence prior refers to oppostion (voters who were against gay marriage). In no way was it a reflect on Mr. Fournier. I would hope that people would be more careful no to infer something that was not said!

Personally, it’s just another ploy of Mr. Fournier, OurMcMillan, and the McMillan Park Committee’s support of their canidate Mr. Fournier.

By: Kenny Williams

Kenny Williams — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:32:18 +0000

The implication made by Mr. Daneker that “some of the same sex marriage opponents may be seeking to oust him in the ANC race” is incorrect and dishonest. His only opposition in the SMD 5C07 race is Mr. James Fournier.
Mr. Fournier is supportive of all Bloomingdale residents, regardless of their sexuality. More importantly, he is a strong supporter of same sex marriage equality in the District of Columbia. Since my spouse and I of 17 years moved to Bloomingdale from Logan Circle 5 years ago, Mr. Fournier has been one of the most helpful and welcoming neighbors.

While I am disappointed in Mr. Daneker’s inference, I am really disturbed by the Washington Blade’s willingness to post and print such erroneous information without a simple fact check by the editorial staff. Did anyone even attempt to reach Mr. Fournier before printing or reporting this misinformation?

As out, gay men my family has read the Blade since the early 1990′s. We did so because of it’s honest, unbiased and accurate representation of the facts. Sadly, your publication missed the boat this time.

By: Logan Durham

Logan Durham — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:07:10 +0000

As a gay resident of ANC 5C07, and someone who recently took advantage of DC’s new marriage law, I have observed the Bloomingdale neighborhood continuing to become a close-knit community that celebrates the diversity of all residents. The vibe and feed-back I continue to get is that sexuality doesn’t matter in the race for Commissioner. However, honesty is very important, and the truth is James Fournier has no bias against the LGBT community. I have known James since moving to this neighborhood over 3 years ago and he has made it clear to all in word and deed that he is supportive of gay people and is NOT against same-sex marriage as Barrie Daneker seems to suggest. This race in 5C07 has nothing to do with the same-sex marriage law as both canidates are in support. We just need a Commissioner who actually does work closely with constituents, solicits their views, and is available to their constituents.

By: James Fournier

James Fournier — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 03:18:44 +0000

I have never been contacted by anyone from the Blade for comment on any story – ever.

Second, I wholly support gay marriage, which the Blade would have known had it bothered to contact me. Third, I grew up in Northern California and lived in Berkeley, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, D.C. and probably have more gay friend than straight ones and have been to my several gay unions over the years – another fact that would have been pointed out had the Blade bothered to contact me. The Blade also would have known this if it had bothered to read the brief biography posted on my website. Mr. Chibarro inaccurately refers to my website, yet manages not to cite it, not to quote it, and fails to even present the website address.

There is not much of a connection between ones sexuality and whether you are a decent ANC Commissioner (or if there is it escapes me). The issues that people actually care about in SMD 5C07 are listed on my website at http://www.jamesjfournier.com and certainly are not limited to the issues referenced in Mr. Chibbaro’s piece.

Commissioner Daneker’s comments reflect a transparently desperate effort for public sympathy three weeks prior to an election after four years of grandstanding and failing to grasp the fundamentals of what it means to be a good ANC Commissioner.

James Fournier

By: Rob Chasteen

Rob Chasteen — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:48:34 +0000

I feel our story needs to be told. My husband and I got married in March when DC passed the same sex marriage and next month for adoption day we finalize our adoption on 2 of our kids that we have been foster parents for. We are still waiting to finalize 2 more but we feel couples like us who want kids need to know that DC has over 2,000 kids looking for homes and if we get our story out maybe other people will see this and want to adopt kids in dc.