National
Could 2010 be ‘Year of the Gay?’
Large number of out candidates running for office
David Cicilline, the gay mayor of Providence, R.I., is seeking a U.S. House seat in this year’s election. (Photo courtesy of Cicilline Committee)
The unprecedented number of LGBT candidates expected to seek political office this November could be setting up 2010 as the “Year of the Gay.”
A number of gay candidates are running for high-profile office this year. In addition to the three openly gay lawmakers in the U.S. House seeking re-election, several non-incumbent gay candidates are running for Congress.
Steve Pougnet, the gay mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., is seeking a House seat and David Cicilline, the gay mayor of Providence, R.I., is also running for Congress. Another gay candidate, Ed Potosnak, is running to represent New Jersey in the U.S. House. All three men are campaigning as Democrats.
Gay candidates are also seeking election to prominent statewide offices. In Massachusetts, Richard Tisei, a state senator, is in contention to become the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. In Connecticut, Kevin Lembo, a health care advocate, is seeking the Democratic nomination to become lieutenant governor.
Additionally, several LGBT people are seeking election or re-election in races at the local level. Notable candidates include Kathy Webb, a lesbian who’s running for re-election to the Arkansas State House; Jolie Justus, a lesbian who’s running for re-election to the Missouri State Senate; and Heather Mizeur, a lesbian who’s running for re-election to the Maryland State House.
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which backs qualified LGBT candidates for political office, has endorsed for the November election 68 candidates for federal and local races. That’s the highest number of candidates the organization has ever endorsed at this point prior to a November election.
Denis Dison, a spokesperson for the organization, projected the Victory Fund will endorse at least 112 candidates by the time the general election arrives. It would be more candidates than the organization has ever endorsed for a general election.
“When people see someone like [lesbian] Annise Parker win election as mayor of Houston, they question their assumptions about what’s possible, and I think that when people see other LGBT candidates succeed, they believe they can they can do it, too,” Dison said.
The potential for the election of so many gay candidates to office could make 2010 a milestone in terms of visibility for LGBT officials. Such a change would echo a political phenomenon from 1992, which became known as the “Year of the Woman.” At the time, Democratic nominee Bill Clinton’s victory was accompanied by the election of four female Democrats to the U.S. Senate.
Three of those women still serve in the Senate today: Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Carol Moseley Braun, a presidential candidate in 2004, was also elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. Never before had four women been elected to the U.S. Senate in one election.
Dan Pinello, a gay government professor at the City University of New York, said the 1992 election’s outcome was the result of greater attention paid to feminist issues such as the Equal Rights Amendment and the Anita Hill hearings on Capitol Hill.
“Maybe the same thing is happening now in the LGBT community, given what’s occurred in the last decade or so around the issue, for example, of relationship recognition,” he said. “So there may be a correlation there in terms of there being events that spark attention to a particular community, and then, a decade or so later, it’s recognized enough to have members of that community be acknowledged publicly through election to public office in substantial numbers.”
Despite this potential for gay wins, Pinello said even if three LGBT non-incumbent candidates were elected to Congress, it wouldn’t yet proportionately reflect the LGBT population if, as some national exit polling data indicates, around 4 percent of American voters self-identify as lesbian or gay.
“Thus, in order to increase the openly lesbian and gay membership of Congress so that it would be comparable to the proportion of the population that is gay, you’d need about 18 more members, or an additional 600 percent,” he said.
Pinello was skeptical, though, whether wins for LGBT candidates seeking office in Congress this November should be considered substantial. He said a greater number of candidates would be necessary to make representation more closely reflect the American public.
“If there were like eight or 10 out there, and 435 total seats in the House, that would be notable,” he said. “That would be a dramatic shift, but I don’t know that anything short of that would be.”
Nonetheless, Pinello said every additional LGBT person elected to office would be a representational win, and called having known LGBT candidates running for office “a substantial statement.”
Noting the lack of LGBT representation in public offices throughout the country, Dison said LGBT people have a “long way to go” toward achieving representation in elected office, even if 2010 brings significant success.
“There are over half a million elected offices in the country and only 470 right now are filled with openly LGBT persons,” he said. “We’re still at the beginning of this effort to have our voices heard in government.”
But Dison said with so many LGBT candidates seeking office, 2010 could bring a surge in LGBT representation and predicted that a majority of Victory Fund-endorsed candidates would be successful in their races.
“Our win rate has fluctuated sort of between 65 and 75 percent over the last five years,” he said. “If that tradition holds, we’ll see roughly 70 percent.”
Michael Mitchell, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, said his organization intends to help LGBT candidates win election at the federal level as part of their overall plan to help Democrats win races this year.
“There are some great gay candidates out there — some who are already in, obviously, some who are running,” he said. “We are in the process of fine tuning our election plan and we’re going to be launching that very, very soon in the next couple weeks.”
Mitchell said he’s planning a coordinated campaign with an online presence intended to engage people across the country, using a model similar to what was used for the election of Parker as Houston mayor.
“We had folks from all across the country calling with Stonewall folks from Texas, and we were responsible for about 10,000 calls in one day,” Mitchell said. “We want to do similar things for the candidates that we are focused on, and I’m sure that some of those LGBT candidates will be included in our races.”
Dison said so many wins for LGBT candidates would benefit LGBT Americans because it would help ensure the community’s voice is heard.
“When people are able to speak from an authentic place as an LGBT person, it really changes the debate in the rooms where the decisions are made on things that affect our lives,” Dison said.
National
Blade reporters reflect on covering Pulse massacre 10 years ago
Orlando stepped up to comfort and support its LGBTQ community
Friday marks 10 years since a gunman killed 49 people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
The massacre, which, at the time was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, left the LGBTQ community in this country and around the world reeling. It also prompted renewed calls for gun control.
The OnePulse Foundation, which Pulse owner Barbara Poma founded after the massacre, raised upwards of $20 million for a memorial that never materialized.
The city of Orlando in 2023 purchased the Pulse property for $2 million. Crews earlier this year demolished the former nightclub. The city of Orlando has pledged $12 million for a permanent memorial that is scheduled to open in 2027.
Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff and International News Editor Michael K. Lavers reported from Orlando in the days after the massacre. Here are their reflections a decade later.
Describe the scene when you arrived in Orlando. Where did you go first?
NAFF: Most mainstream reporters headed for the Pulse nightclub, but it was already roped off with police keeping bystanders at least a full city block away. Instead, I hurried to The Center, Orlando’s LGBTQ community center, downtown. I expected to find it locked down with tight security but instead the doors were flung open and everyone inside was busy at work. No tears, just dedicated staff and volunteers working the phones to secure visas and free plane tickets for relatives of the victims. The director gave me a tour and in the back storage room were pallets and pallets of bottled water stacked to the ceiling. When I asked what all the water was for, he said the city had issued a call for blood donations and the lines to donate were 1,500 deep in 100-degree heat. So The Center drove around to all the sites to deliver water to all those standing in line.
That scene was so inspiring and a testament to the strength and resiliency of the LGBTQ community. We’d seen tragedy before and knew how to respond.
LAVERS: I arrived in Orlando about 14 hours after the massacre took place. The city was shellshocked.
Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy group, and other organizations held a press conference at The Center shortly after my flight from D.C. landed. I drove there from the airport. Terry DeCarlo, who was The Center’s executive director at the time, along with then-Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith and others spoke on behalf of a community that was reeling. The Center at the press conference handed out business cards that read, “You matter.” I had it in my wallet when I drove to a makeshift memorial that was a block from Pulse — the police had cordoned off the area immediately around the nightclub. A local resident who I interviewed told me that she did not know if her friends who were at Pulse when the gunman opened fire survived. Another person with whom I spoke shared a similar story.
A torrential downpour began shortly after I arrived. The storm was an apt metaphor for the raw emotion of that horrific day.
What’s your most prominent memory of covering the Pulse massacre?
NAFF: I was covering a vigil in downtown Orlando when then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s motorcade arrived unannounced. To that point, he had not addressed the LGBTQ angle and seemed to be downplaying the fact that this was an attack on our community. I hurried to the front row as he held an impromptu news conference. To my dismay, he took only three short questions from TV reporters then rushed away. I grabbed his communications director and insisted that Scott take a question from the LGBTQ media. She agreed and told me to wait next to the SUV. When Scott approached, I asked him, “What is your message to LGBTQ Floridians?”
To my surprise, he sputtered, stammered, and broke into tears before telling me, “This was an attack, what else can you say? This was an attack against the gays, an attack against Hispanics, an attack against our country, our nation and it’s disgusting. The biggest thing we do now is ask how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
It was his first public acknowledgment that the LGBTQ community was the target of the attack.
LAVERS: Two moments stand out for me.
The first moment is when then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Orlando on June 16, four days after the massacre. I was one of the reporters who the White House asked to be part of the local press pool. I was about 50 feet away from Obama and Biden when they placed bouquets with 49 flowers — one for each of the victims — at a makeshift memorial between City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. Obama in remarks he made to the press pool mentioned one of the gay victims who had once said, “We cannot be afraid.” The emotions of the last four days simply became too much, and I broke down. Another reporter who was part of the press pool who was standing next to me realized I had broken down. She put her hand on my back to console me.
The second moment came a few weeks later when I was in Puerto Rico to cover the community’s response to the massacre and to interview victims’ relatives. Orlando has a very large Puerto Rican community, and nearly half of those who died at Pulse were of Puerto Rican descent.
I drove to Caguas, a city that is roughly 20 miles south of San Juan, the island’s capital, on July 7, and interviewed Aida Velázquez in her small apartment. Her son, Frankie “Jimmy” de Jesús, died at Pulse. Aida talked about her son, and she showed me pictures of him. Jimmy also danced Jíbaro, a Puerto Rican folk dance. The interview took place less than a month after the massacre — Jimmy’s funeral took place in Caguas less than two weeks earlier.
I sat in my car after the interview and sobbed uncontrollably for nearly five minutes. Nothing can possibly prepare you for interviewing a mother who had just lost her child in the most horrific way possible.
How did the local community respond and what about their response gave you hope or inspiration?
NAFF: In addition to the staff at The Center working to assist victims and their families, everyday Orlando residents stepped up to help however they could. At the downtown vigils, straight mothers and fathers carried signs offering hugs to anyone who needed them. I encountered a group of young teenage males who approached a group of law enforcement officers and appeared to perform for them. When they finished, I asked what they were doing and they told me that they were straight friends who lived in Orlando and wanted to do something to help so they composed an uplifting rap song and walked around performing it for anyone who needed cheering up.
LAVERS: The way that Orlando rallied around the LGBTQ community was simply inspiring.
Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, at a memorial service that took place at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center on June 13 said his organization was “united as Americans when it comes to standing with the LGBT community and their rights to live freely and to practice their lives here.” This comment underscored the outpouring of support that Orlando showed its LGBTQ community after Pulse. It was also a call for the better angels among us to reject hate in all of its forms.
What surprised you most about the experience?
NAFF: I was most surprised — and moved — after talking to Rev. Debreita Taylor of Oasis Fellowship Ministries, an LGBTQ-affirming ministry.
“My message is love. Period. Love. Period. There’s nothing in the word of God that faith leaders can go to that teaches hate,” she told me. “Have faith and believe that evil and hate can be eradicated one person at a time. How do you treat someone? How do you embrace someone who treats you wrong? We all bleed, laugh, hope and have great victories and major defeats. And so, you know me, even if you don’t know my name — I’m you.”
LAVERS: It admittedly took me quite a while to fully process what I experienced in Orlando — I was focused on doing my job as a reporter, which was to cover the story, and, most importantly, show the human impact of what had happened. I suppose one surprising aspect of the time I spent in Orlando was that I found myself feeling more defiant against those who seek to destroy our community. They want us to live in fear, and I refuse to give them that satisfaction.
What, if anything, changed as a result of Pulse?
NAFF: In the immediate aftermath of the attack, queer spaces began rethinking their approach to security, which has served us well in the years since. Sadly, just a year later, Pulse was bumped to the No. 2 deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people. Americans and their politicians never learn from these largely preventable tragedies. The carnage continues.
LAVERS: Gun violence remains a shameful scourge in this country. Our community remains vulnerable to violence and discrimination. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other politicians here in Washington, around the country, and overseas continue to use our community to advance an anti-equality agenda. The carnage continues, as my colleague correctly notes, but our community remains strong and defiant. That gives me hope.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
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