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.
Roman Catholic priests will continue to be permitted to offer blessings to individuals in same-sex relationships under Pope Leo XIV, maintaining a policy approved by his predecessor, Pope Francis, that has drawn criticism from conservative Catholics.
The continuation of the policy was confirmed on July 3 by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, in an interview with the Rome-based daily Il Messaggero. The Vatican did not issue an official statement, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
Void, a Chicago-based Italian eatery, marked Pride Month with a pop-up parody targeting Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain that has long been criticized for its past support of anti-LGBTQ initiatives and organizations.
"Chick-feel-Gay" appeared for one day only, on June 22, at a storefront at 2937 N. Milwaukee Street, in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood.
The menu featured chef and co-owner Dani Kaplan's version of the famous Chick-fil-A fried chicken sandwich, along with waffle fries, dipping sauces, and chicken nuggets.
I first saw Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain in 2005, at a three-screen, not-for-profit cinema in suburban Washington state. I went with my then-boyfriend, and for the next two hours and fourteen minutes, I wept silently next to him.
At 16, I came into political consciousness as the second Bush administration fought to maintain a conservative bulwark against progress by endorsing a constitutional amendment defining marriage in strictly heterosexual terms. While I was out, I felt righteously angry that others felt I should hide who I knew myself to be.
Twenty years after the film's release, Brokeback Mountain returned to theaters. The end of June also marked a decade of nationwide marriage equality thanks to Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Supreme Court granted homosexual couples the "equal dignity" afforded to our heterosexual counterparts. Today, I go to the movies with my husband. And sitting in the cool, dark of the cinema last week, I reflected on the ways Brokeback Mountain helped change the national discourse and still resonates in deep, meaningful ways for people across the country.
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