In
Ohio,
the
state
that
played
a
pivotal
role
in
the
presidential
election
last
year,
features
several
races
with
openly
gay
candidates
to
be
decided
next
Tuesday,
Nov.
8.
That’s
big
news
for
the
state,
which
despite
its
size
and
urban
centers
is
just
one
of
10
across
the
U.S.
without
an
openly
gay
state
lawmaker.
“There’s
a
lot
of
action
taking
place
in
Ohio,”
said
Robin
Brand,
senior
vice
president
for
Politics
&
Strategy
with
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Victory
Fund.
“And
this
could
lead
to
more
opportunities
in
a
state
with
no
openly
gay
legislator.”
Electing
gay
officials
at
the
municipal
level
may
help
pave
the
way
for
gay
state
lawmakers,
Brand
said.
The
other
states
where
openly
gay
candidates
have
never
won
elective
statewide
office
include
Wyoming,
Texas,
Oklahoma,
Mississippi,
New
Mexico,
Delaware,
New
Jersey,
Pennsylvania
and
Florida.
What’s
happening
in
Ohio
is
a
microcosm
of
other
races
across
the
country,
where
the
Victory
Fund
has
endorsed
45
openly
gay
candidates,
including
five
Republicans
and
several
Latino
candidates,
making
2005
a
record-breaking
year
in
gay
politics,
Brand
said.
“We
have
more
candidates
than
ever
before
during
an
off-year.
We
seem
to
have
more
and
more
each
year,”
she
said.
“We
are
entering
Nov.
8
in
a
very
strong
position
and
our
gay
candidates
are
very
strongly
connected
to
their
communities.
We’re
running
in
red
and
blue
states.”
Other
highlights
include
a
gay
incumbent
facing
a
gay
challenger
in
an
Atlanta
City
Council
race
—
apparently
the
only
gay
vs.
gay
race
on
the
Nov.
8
ballot
in
the
U.S.
—
and
three
openly
gay
Republicans
running
in
New
York.
Two
states
—
Maine
and
Texas
—
also
face
anti-gay
ballot
measures.
In
Ohio,
the
gay
candidates
include
Democrats
Nickie
J.
Antonio
for
Lakewood
City
Council,
incumbent
Mary
Jo
Hudson
for
Columbus
City
Council,
Joe
Santiago
for
Cleveland
City
Council,
Mark
Tumeo
for
Cleveland
Heights
City
Council.
Republican
David
Schulz
is
vying
for
a
seat
on
the
Toledo
City
Council.
The
Victory
Fund
endorsed
Antonio,
Hudson,
Santiago
and
Schulz.
“I
do
believe
the
interest
in
Ohio
is
because
of
what
happened
last
year.
There
is
a
renewed
interest
in
Ohio”
for
progressive
politics,
Brand
said.
The
only
known
gay
versus
gay
race
is
taking
place
in
Atlanta
where
Anne
Fauver,
the
City
Council
incumbent,
is
hoping
to
fend
off
a
challenge
from
Stephen
Brodie.
The
winner
will
represent
District
6,
a
heavily
gay
area,
and
will
likely
be
the
council’s
only
openly
gay
member.
Brodie,
who
served
on
the
city’s
Human
Relations
Commission,
a
panel
created
to
uphold
the
city’s
non-discrimination
policies
that
includes
sexual
orientation,
resigned
his
post
in
August
to
run
for
the
seat.
The
Victory
Fund
endorsed
Fauver,
a
rare
move
for
an
organization
whose
mission
is
to
elect
gay
candidates
in
a
race
where
a
gay
candidate
is
already
guaranteed
to
win.
The
Victory
Fund
and
Georgia
Equality,
a
local
gay
group,
said
Fauver’s
service
during
her
first
term
made
her
worthy
of
a
second
term.
Both
groups
also
endorsed
her
during
her
inaugural
run
for
office
in
2001.
In
what
is
probably
a
first
in
New
York
political
history,
three
out
gay
Republicans
are
running
for
office
across
the
state.
They
include
Patrick
Murphy,
former
local
chair
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
running
in
District
4
for
the
New
York
City
Council;
incumbent
City
Councilmember
Bill
Schmidt
is
seeking
another
term
in
Peekskill;
and
Phil
Gille,
who
received
the
endorsement
of
his
local
paper,
the
Journal
News,
is
running
for
Yonkers
City
Council.
The
Victory
Fund
endorsed
all
three
candidates.
New
York
stands
out
in
a
year
seeing
an
uptick
in
gay
Republican
candidates
across
the
country,
Brand
said.
One
of
the
reasons
why
gay
Republicans
are
making
spirited
runs
is
because
the
leader
of
the
GOP,
President
George
Bush,
ends
his
second
term
in
early
2009.
In
2004,
Bush’s
anti-gay
marriage
rhetoric
put
gay
Republicans
in
the
crosshairs.
“My
sense
is
in
2004
it
wasn’t
a
very
good
environment
for
gay
Republicans
to
be
running
for
office,”
Brand
said.
“It
was
a
difficult
year
for
a
gay
Republican
to
get
through
a
primary.”
In
New
York,
gay
Republicans
point
to
state
leadership
from
Gov.
George
Pataki
and
Mayor
Michael
Bloomberg
as
one
of
the
reasons
why
they
are
out
looking
for
votes.
“We
are
lucky
that
Log
Cabin
has
been
welcomed
by
the
leadership
in
New
York,”
Murphy
said.
“Every
so
often,
a
few
right-wing
fanatics
try
to
keep
us
out.
The
leadership
stomps
on
them,
and
I
think
that
is
testimony
to
the
leadership
and
an
example
of
an
open
environment.
We
are
able
to
run
as
candidates
who
just
happen
to
be
gay.”
For
the
third
time
since
1998,
Maine
voters
will
decide
if
their
state
will
outlaw
discrimination
based
on
sexual
orientation.
State
lawmakers
in
1998
and
2000
approved
an
anti-bias
measure,
only
to
later
see
it
struck
down
by
voters.
The
state
legislature,
with
bipartisan
support,
approved
the
measure
again
in
March
of
this
year.
It
was
signed
by
Gov.
John
Baldacci,
a
Democrat.
But
the
socially
conservative
Christian
Civic
League
was
able
to
get
the
52,000
signatures
needed
to
force
a
referendum
on
the
Nov.
8
ballot.
 |
| Nickie
J.
Antonio
is
one
of
several
gay
candidates
in
Ohio
seeking
citywide
offices.
The
state
is
one
of
10
without
an
openly
gay
state
lawmaker. |
Both
the
law
which
prevents
discrimination
on
the
basis
of
sexual
orientation
and
the
push
for
same-sex
marriage
are
based
on
the
same
false
premise
that
discrimination
is
wrong,”
said
Rev.
Sandy
Williams,
the
Christian
Civic
League’s
chair,
states
on
the
group’s
Web
site.
“The
very
definition
of
marriage
as
between
a
man
...
