Oct 27, 2006  |  By: KEVIN NAFF  | COMMENTS     

THE EDITOR OF a gay newspaper endorsing a slew of Democratic political candidates may sound like a dog-bites-man kind of story. But read on, nonetheless, because each of these picks in local races leaves something to be desired.
 
Too often in recent years, the monolithic gay voting bloc herds into the voting booth to cast a ballot for the Democrat. Once in power, most of those Democrats quickly turn their backs on one of the most reliable constituencies that put them in office in the first place.
 
I was reminded of this disturbing trend last weekend while listening to Sen. Barbara Mikulski address a packed banquet hall at Equality Maryland’s annual Jazz Brunch, an impressive affair that drew nearly 700 attendees. Mikulski took the stage to a standing ovation and then drew applause for touting her votes against a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
 
There was, of course, no mention of her vote for the despicable Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 that makes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions unnecessary and redundant.
 
Unfortunately, a gay vote for the current Republican Party, which has been hijacked by fundamentalist Christians hell-bent on stripping gay citizens of equality, is unconscionable. And so local gay voters are left with limited options.
 

 
trong>D.C. mayor
 
The general election race for D.C. mayor isn’t a race at all but a coronation. Adrian Fenty will be the city’s next mayor, given that three-fourths of the city’s registered voters are Democrats. Once it’s official and Fenty has moved into City Hall, let’s hope he remembers a few promises and speeches he made on the campaign trail.
 
In December, Fenty said, “I believe that the government should never discriminate against people because of who they are. The state should make it possible for every committed couple to obtain an official civil marriage with all of the legal rights and responsibilities that married heterosexual couples currently enjoy.”
 
Some pro-gay activists and politicians have declined to push for legalized same-sex marriage in the District, fearing a backlash from the conservative GOP-controlled Congress. But if the Democrats retake control of the House and/or Senate on Nov. 7, then that excuse for avoiding a debate is gone. We’ll soon see if Fenty finds the political courage to take up the issue in 2007.
 
The issue of whether D.C. should recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts will also confront Fenty. In 2004, D.C. Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti prepared a legal memorandum for Mayor Anthony Williams on whether D.C. law allows the city to recognize those unions. Williams has declined to release the memo. Last year, Fenty pledged to make the memo’s recommendation public upon becoming mayor. He should honor that pledge.
 

 
trong>Maryland governor
 
Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley (D) deserves the support of gay Marylanders in his quest to unseat Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R), if for no other reason than Ehrlich’s cruel veto of the Medical Decision Making Act. There are plenty of other reasons to oppose Ehrlich’s re-election, most prominently his cynical push to ban gay marriage in the state even though the measure was doomed before it got off the ground. But the medical act veto illustrates that Ehrlich has no regard for the basic humanity of gay residents.
 
The Medical Decision Making Act would have created a statewide registry of straight and gay unmarried domestic partners and provided them with several new rights, including hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights. It was approved by both houses and Ehrlich not only vetoed it, but aggressively lobbied four Republican senators to derail an override.
 
The clear choice may be O’Malley, but that doesn’t mean the easy-on-the-eyes mayor is with us 100 percent of the time. He avoided taking a clear position on the marriage amendment effort last spring, and O’Malley opposes same-sex marriage.
 
O’Malley has said he supports civil unions instead.
 

 
trong>U.S. Senate, Maryland
 
Michael Steele’s shockingly thin resume ought to disqualify him for the office of U.S. senator, but in this era of personality trumping intellect, he’s giving Rep. Ben Cardin (D) a tough race, mostly thanks to a clever TV ad campaign.
 
But slick commercials should not confuse Maryland voters. Cardin has a mostly pro-gay voting record, though like O’Malley, he opposes gay marriage. Steele, the Republican candidate and current lieutenant governor, attended a Defend Maryland Marriage rally in 2005 that called for a state constitutional ban on ...