Sep 17, 2004  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR.  | COMMENTS     

The D.C. City Council’s longstanding reputation as a gay-supportive body is expected to remain intact following the defeat this week of three prominent Council incumbents and the Ward 8 election of former Mayor Marion Barry, according to gay activists familiar with city politics.

The changes brought about by Tuesday’s D.C. primary election will also create vacancies in the leadership posts for three powerful committees that could propel gay councilmembers David Catania (R-At-Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) into important roles as committee chairs.

Barry, who became one of the nation’s most pro-gay politicians during his tenure as mayor in the 1980s, ousted incumbent Councilmember Sandra Allen (D-Ward 8) by a lopsided margin in the Sept. 14 primary. Barry received 57.2 percent of the vote compared to Allen’s 24.9 percent in a seven-candidate race. The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, a local gay group, endorsed Allen, citing her strong support on gay issues during her eight years in office.

Barry has not disclosed his views on most gay-related issues since leaving office as mayor in 1999, and he did not return a questionnaire on gay and AIDS issues sent to all Council candidates this year by the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance.

But Ward 8 gay Democratic activists Brad Lewis and Phil Pannell said they believe Barry will continue to support gay civil rights and AIDS issues in his new role if he’s elected to the new Council, which begins its term on Jan. 1. Lewis and Pannell won their own races on Tuesday as Ward 8 members to the D.C. Democratic State Committee.

“Marion Barry still has a very strong record on GLBT issues,” Lewis said. “I think he will continue with that record.”

In the hotly contested at-large Council race in the Democratic primary, challenger Kwame Brown defeated incumbent Harold Brazil, ending Brazil’s hold on the seat for more than 10 years. Brown, who expressed support for all gay rights issues except legalizing same-sex marriage, received 54.2 percent of the vote, compared to Brazil’s 32.3 percent. Challenger Sam Brooks, a 24-year-old political newcomer who came out strongly in favor of same-sex marriage, received 13.1 percent of the vote.

Brazil, like Brown, had expressed support on all gay issues except marriage, pointing to his record of backing virtually all gay and AIDS related matters that have come before the Council. Brazil received the backing of gay-oriented businesses, including some gay bar owners. He also received the endorsement of a gay-straight coalition of city nightlife businesses, including restaurants and nightclubs.

Brown received the most votes for an endorsement among Stein Club members but failed to receive the required 60 percent margin to obtain the club’s endorsement.

D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R-At-large) trounced challengers Robert Pittman and Don Folden in the GOP at-large primary by a margin of 82.7 percent to 11.2 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.

Under the city’s election rules, at least one of the two Council at-large seats in contention this year must go to a candidate not from the majority party. If Brown wins one at-large seat as expected, that means Schwartz will likely square off against Statehood Green Party nominee Laurent Ross and independents Antonic Dominquez and Harry Thomas Jr. for the other at-large seat.

Gray defeats Chavous
In Ward 7, challenger Vincent Gray defeated incumbent Kevin Chavous by a margin of 49.9 percent to 33.9 percent in a six-candidate race. Gray received the Stein Club’s endorsement.

Although he did not return the GLAA questionnaire, prompting the group to give him a “0” rating on gay issues, Stein Club members said Gray expressed strong support on nearly all gay and AIDS related issues during his appearance before the club earlier this year.

Chavous, while not hostile toward gays, is considered by activists to be the Council’s least supportive member on gay issues.

Lewis, who helped campaign for Gray, said he believes the victories of Gray, Barry and Brown were based almost entirely on non-gay issues. Among the issues considered by gays and straights alike, Lewis said, were constituent services, attention to economic development in local neighborhoods rather than the city’s downtown business district, and health and social services for the city’s low-income residents.

Some critics, including members of GLAA, said Allen had failed to exercise sufficient oversight on public health issues in general, ...