Sep 10, 2004  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR.  | COMMENTS     

With pro-gay councilmembers Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4) running unopposed in the city’s Sept. 14 Democratic primary, activists are looking toward the hotly contested races in Ward 7 and 8, where the gay vote has been difficult to measure.

Councilmember Kevin Chavous (D-Ward 7), whom gay activists view as the least supportive member of the Council on gay issues, is facing a strong challenge from former D.C. Health & Human Services Director Vincent Gray. Gray received the endorsement of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, a gay group.

Councilmember Sandra Allen (D-Ward 8), who also received the Stein Club’s endorsement, is fending off a challenge by former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

With no publicly disclosed polls conducted for either race, political pundits say it is difficult to say who is ahead. Both Gray and Barry are considered formidable candidates who have a shot at unseating the two incumbents.

Members of the Stein Club, the Log Cabin Republicans of D.C., and the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, the only politically active gay groups in the city, say the gay vote is difficult to assess in Wards 7 and 8.

African Americans make up the overwhelming majority of the residents of the two wards, with conservative, black churches often playing an important role in the lives of many residents there, according to gay activist Phil Pannell, who lives in Ward 8.

Pannell, a longtime participant in African-American civil rights groups as well as the Stein Club, has said large numbers of African-American gays live in the two wards. But Pannell has said gays in the two wards tend to be far less visible than gays living west of the Anacostia River in neighborhoods such as Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, or Adams Morgan.

Pannell and Stein Club Vice President Brad Lewis, who also lives in Ward 8, said they are uncertain whether gays in the two wards will vote as a block or split their vote along non-gay issues in next week’s primary.

Lewis is backing Allen in Ward 8. Pannell said he planned to remain neutral because he has longstanding political ties to both Allen and Barry, as well as at least one of the five other candidates challenging Allen in addition to Barry.

In the Ward 7 race, Gray is one of six Democrats challenging Chavous. Five, including Gray, failed to return a GLAA candidates questionnaire seeking their views on gay and AIDS related issues. GLAA disqualified the questionnaire returned by Chavous because it was unsigned.

Community activist Almetia Hariston-Hamilton, the only Democrat in the race to return a valid questionnaire, expressed support on most gay and AIDS related issues, garnering a GLAA rating of +4.5, the highest rating among any of the Ward 7 Democratic candidates.

GLAA, a small group with a long history of local activism, rates on a scale of –10 to +10.

Few return questionnaires
Gray and Democrats Donna Daniels, Mary Jackson, James Johnson, and Steven Pettus each received a rating of 0 from GLAA. Gray expressed support for gay and AIDS issues in an appearance before the Stein Club, drawing praise from Stein Club members.

GLAA members said Gray’s campaign office confirmed that Gray received the questionnaire and promised to have Gray return it. But the group said it never arrived, leading GLAA officials to believe Gray was reluctant to take a position on gay marriage.

The questionnaire asks candidates if they support legal recognition of same-sex marriage as well as D.C. recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states.

GLAA gave Chavous a rating of –3.

Allen has been a strong supporter on gay civil rights but has been criticized by GLAA for not exerting stronger leadership on AIDS issues in her role as chair of the Council’s Committee on Human Services. The committee has jurisdiction over the city’s HIV/AIDS Administration.

AIDS activists have said the agency, known as HAA, has failed to adequately manage its funds, causing repeated funding shortages for AIDS service providers, despite the fact that it receives nearly all of its own funds from the federal government.

She expressed support for all gay issues deemed important to GLAA and other gay groups on the GLAA questionnaire, including full support for same-sex marriage. The group gave her a -5.5 rating, with GLAA members saying Allen’s handling of ...