Ward 8 candidate Sheila Bunn earned GLAA’s top rating
On Wednesday, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA) of Washington, D.C. released its ratings for candidates running in the April 28 special elections for the Ward 4 and Ward 8 seats on the D.C. Council, with few standouts amid the crowded field in each race.
Topping the list of overall ratings was Ward 8 D.C. Council candidate Sheila Bunn, a Democrat who previously served as the deputy chief of staff to former Mayor Vincent Gray (D) and to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D). Bunn earned a +9 on a scale of -10 to +10. The next two highest-rated candidates were Ward 4 Council candidates Dwayne Toliver and Edwin Powell, who received a rating of +7 and +6.5, respectively.
A nonpartisan political civil rights organization that lobbies on behalf of pro-LGBT legislation GLAA’s ratings are determined based on a candidates’ political history, their advocacy, and their responses to a LGBT-issue related questionnaire. The questionnaire is largely based on GLAA’s policy brief, Building on Victory, which outlines the organization’s priorities. All candidates are urged to read the policy brief prior to responding to GLAA’s questionnaire. Points are awarded for being in agreement with GLAA, the substance of answers explaining the candidates’ position, a candidates’ prior record on LGBT rights, and a championship point for demonstrating leadership in fighting for a priority of the LGBT community. Of all 25 candidates running in the special elections, not a single one was able to earn the championship point.
Seven of 12 candidates for Ward 4 and five of 13 candidates for Ward 8 did not return GLAA’s questionnaire, which was previously mailed to candidates, nor did they provide any information on their support of pro-LGBT policies. As a result, those five candidates were awarded a rating of zero. Of the 13 candidates who did respond, most agreed with the bulk of GLAA’s positions. However, they were not awarded points for substance.
In Ward 4, presumptive favorite Brandon Todd, who previously served as Mayor Muriel Bowser’s constituent services director during her time as a councilmember, earned a +5.5 for what GLAA referred to as a “solid questionnaire,” but demonstrated little in way of a record of support for LGBT issues. Acquanetta Anderson (+3) and Renee Bowser (+2.5) also received similar evaluations. All five candidates who returned questionnaires in that race are Democrats.
In Ward 8, there was a steeper drop-off after Bunn, with Democrats Marion C. Barry, the son of the former mayor, and “S.S.” Sandra Seegers both earning +4.5 for agreeing with GLAA’s positions on most issues but demonstrating little in the way of a record on those issues. Bowser-endorsed Democrat LaRuby May was next, with a rating of +4, followed by Democrat Eugene Kinlow and Independent Keita Vanterpool, who both earned +3.5. Democrat Stuart Anderson earned +3 and Jauhar Abraham earned +2.
According to a news release from GLAA, most candidates hedged on their answer to whether they would support the “Death with Dignity Act of 2015,” a bill sponsored by Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) that would essentially allow people with terminal illnesses to engage in physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia by taking controlled medication to end their lives. Many candidates said they would want proper safeguards or would defer to their constituents on whether to support the bill, with Powell and Barry giving the most substantial explanations.
While GLAA does not endorse candidates in partisan elections, this is not the last candidates will hear of the rating, as some candidates choose to campaign on their rating as evidence of their support for LGBT rights, particularly in front of groups like the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s top LGBT partisan political organization, which will offer its own endorsement of candidates later this month.
For more information on GLAA, or to read candidates’ responses to the GLAA questionnaire, visit glaa.org.
Cracker Barrel has removed the "Pride" section of its website, which once highlighted the chain's sponsorship of the Nashville Pride Parade. Visitors are now redirected to a "Culture and Belonging" page.
The company insists the change was part of routine site updates, not a reaction to backlash from right-wing conservatives.
"In connection with the Company's brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing out-of-date content," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Misha Brown, a 37-year-old influencer, actor, and host of the Wondery podcast The Big Flop, revealed in a TikTok video on July 17 that he had received an apology from his former high school bully -- 20 years after graduation -- after the bully's 15-year-old son came out as gay.
"Hey man, I just felt like I needed to tell you that I'm sorry I was a damn jerk in school," the message read. "Really, I'm sorry. But I've been following what you've done lately and it's really cool. I'm proud of you. You're like really helping people. The reason I wanted to tell you all this is I've got a son now. He's 15, and he told me he's gay. Man, all I thought about when he told me that was how I hope people are nicer to him than I was to you. It makes me proud to be his dad. And hopefully that makes up for something."
Third Way, a centrist think tank tied to the Democratic Party's pro-corporate shift of the 1990s, has issued a memo listing 45 "profoundly alienating" words it says Democrats should avoid.
Marketed as advice on how to "speak plainly," the list is framed as a way to keep moderates and swing voters from viewing the party as elitist or out of touch.
In its summary of its recommendations, Third Way argues Democrats have fallen into a trap of using activist-approved language to court advocacy groups.
"These activists and advocates may take on noble causes, but in doing so they often demand compliance with their preferred messages; that is how ‘birthing person' became a stand-in for mother or mom," the memo states. The term was originally meant to acknowledge that some transgender men and nonbinary people can become pregnant.
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