Atlanta, GA and Campbell, CA Add Openly Gay Asian Americans to Political Posts
December 2, 2009
Gay Chinese Americans have made headlines in Georgia and California this week as Alex Wan and Evan Low were elected to high ranking political posts. Wan, the first Asian American and openly gay man elected to District 6 of the Atlanta City Council, now sits on the so-called “gay seat” which has been occupied by a gay person for the past 12 years, but never by a gay Asian person.
Evan Low, 26, also made history with his election as the nation’s youngest openly gay and youngest Asian American mayor. In addition to his newly acquired duties as mayor, Low works full time as senior district representative to Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Sunnyvale, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in public administration from San Jose State University.
Low is very committed to the city of Campbell. “For me, it’s about making a difference in the community I live in,” he said. “Campbell is my home.”
Related Posts:The Votes Are In! Two African-American Gay Candidates Win on Election Day
November 6, 2009
Despite the setback in Maine for LGBT equality, there were wins for the majority of the 79 LGBT candidates who were running for public office around the country. Notably, two African-American candidates―Charles Pugh and Jass Stewart―were among that group of newly elected officials.
Charles Pugh went from being a former FOX2 television journalist to the first openly gay president-elect of the Detroit City Council. The Detroit News reported:
A trio of first-time candidates topped the council ticket. Former broadcaster Charles Pugh, whose mother was murdered when he was a child, will become council president in January. He was followed by former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown, whose firing led to the fall of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and former council aide Saunteel Jenkins.
Pugh, who also got the most votes in the primary, came into his victory speech playing “Victory” by Yolanda Adams.
“We are No. 1,” said Pugh. “The change we have been waiting for is finally here. This change has been long overdue.”
Pugh also alluded to recent scandals involving the foreclosure of his Brush Park condo, saying: “You stick by the people you believe in no matter what. Thank you Detroit for always having my back.”
And support is what he had. Pugh received about 88,704 votes—nearly 10 percent of the vote overall. However, there was a concern from others that Pugh being openly gay might hurt his chance on winning. In an interview with The Michigan Messenger, Pugh said the following:
For those people who thought it would be an issue, they were short sighted. They did not see that Detroiters already knew my sexuality and were willing to accept it and say, “You know what? You’re welcome here. We love you. Now let’s get to work to fix our collective problems.
He went on to say in the same interview, that his win sent a clear message:
There has been a fear in the past by people in the LGBT community to stay in the closet for safety sake. So they won’t be fired, kicked out of the family, kicked out of the church. But this is a strong and clear message that that’s not required. That you can be who you are and be accepted into Detroit’s family if you step up with class and dignity and a willingness to help make our city a better place.
History was also made in Brockton, Massachusetts. Jass Stewart, 38, became the first African-
American person and the first openly gay member of the city council in its 128 year history. The Enterprise News reported that Stewart, who ran for mayor of the city in the past and lost, was happy, yet subdued when he learned that he had won.
Stewart stood among the crowd at Progressions Lounge on Montello Street, accepting the well-wishes of supporters like Madden who came in moments after the results were confirmed.
“I heard I won, but I haven’t seen the numbers,” said Stewart, a 38-year-old openly gay black man, subdued on a night when celebration was clearly in order.
He had made it to the City Council with 5,920 votes or 15.6 percent.
The gathering of some 25 people cheered, congratulating the man who twice ran and lost the mayor’s race and finally made it to City Hall as a councilor-at-large.
GLAAD congratulates Pugh and Stewart!
Related Posts:Transgender Mayoral Candidate to Sue Twitter over Defamatory Fake Account
August 27, 2009
A transgender woman currently running for Mayor in Nampa, Idaho is planning to sue the social networking site Twitter for allowing a false account posted in her name to remain accessible for weeks after requesting that they take it down.
Melissa Sue Robinson, who entered the mayoral race in June, told KTRV she was shocked to find a link under her name to a Twitter account titled “WomanWithAPenis.” This same account was also reported to have sent lewd tweets to a Michigan reporter. Robinson recounted:
I checked Google and I saw something very lewd, very malicious, just downright nasty with my name on it… I e-mailed Twitter and called them and did the same thing with Google and asked them to remove it and that was [a] month ago and they haven’t removed it.
As of Wednesday, Aug 26th however, the false account had been removed in the aftermath of the incident’s national publicity.
Citing KTRV’s primary coverage (which improperly hyphenates the term transgender), The Advocate.com reported that Robinson plans to file suit for defamation of character and violation of privacy. Digital Media Wire explained that Robinson hopes the court will order Twitter to identify the offending account holder so that she can launch a personal suit against him/her.
The Advocate reported, “A self-described progressive, her [campaign platform] plans include the passage of an LGBT rights ordinance, transportation improvements, and the development of the downtown area.”
It is unfortunate that for the time being her energy will have to be diverted from promoting these priorities. Robinson reflected to KTRV, “If you’re just a transgender person living your life out, you’re working hard doing things to help society, people shouldn’t be malicious against you.”
This is not the first time Robinson has encountered difficulties during a political campaign. As a 2003 candidate for Mayor in Lansing, Michigan, Robinson battled a Michigan law that compelled her to include her given name alongside her preferred name on the ballot. ClickOnDetroit.com chronicled her 2003 debate with the City over the law, which discriminated against transgender candidates.
Robinson has also petitioned the City of Lansing to adopt a transgender-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance and lobbied the State of Michigan to extend existing anti-discrimination laws to cover transgender individuals. Coincidentally, The Associated Press reported Wednesday on a bill before Michigan’s House Judiciary Committee, which would do just that. However, The AP added that “similar legislation introduced in Michigan in recent years has not advanced.”
GLAAD will continue to keep you updated of media surrounding Robinson’s case.
Related Posts:Jennifer Gale, Austinite Transgender Leader, Found Dead
December 19, 2008
A memorial to Jennifer Gale at City Hall in Austin.
The people of Austin awoke to a shock on Wednesday when they heard that former marine and perennial mayoral candidate Jennifer Gale, had died early that morning.
According to Austin EMS Director Ernie Rodriquez, Jennifer, 44, died from cardiac arrest. EMS employees said that the cold might have been a contributing factor to her death, although they are not certain. Jennifer’s body was found outside the First English Lutheran Church near the Austin campus. Jennifer had been occasionally homeless, although so far reports are not indicating if she was recently homeless.
KVUE-TV reported that Fire officials received a call around 7:30 am and spent 30-45 minutes performing CPR.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Jennifer was known as “a quirky Austin personality”. Jennifer ran for mayor several times, and had already filed paperwork for the upcoming 2009 race. She had also previously run for city council, governor, and school board in Dallas and Austin.
On Friday Equality Texas released a press statement calling on the state to review the non-discrimination policies for shelters to insure that transgender people can safely use homeless shelters throughout the city. Texas Civil Rights Review reported on the statement, saying that had Jennifer been able to find proper shelter her death might have been avoided.
Austin Mayor Bruce Todd was quoted as saying:
“Jennifer was a constant presence at various public hearings, forums and meetings in Austin and displayed a great love for and interest in our city. Her well-known catchphrase was ‘Keep Austin, Austin.’ While Jennifer no longer is here to physically trumpet that slogan, her personification of that expression will never be forgotten.”
In 2007 Jennifer’s platform for Dallas mayor was the only one calling for legal recognition of gay and lesbian unions and to extend publicly subsidized health benefits to Dallas residents.
We’ll keep readers updated as we find out more about Jennifer and how people are honoring her legacy.
