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.
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.
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.
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
gay
marriage.
Cardin
opposed
that
measure.
“Marriage
is
not
a
purely
human
institution,”
Steele
said
to
a
group
of
religious
leaders
in
May.
“Marriage
defines
not
only
the
relationship
between
a
man
and
a
woman
but
also
their
journey
through
life.
They
should
not
be
brow-beaten
into
thinking
something
that
goes
counter
to
what
the
people
in
the
community
aspire
to.”
His
inane
remark
—
not
purely
a
human
institution?
—
ignores
the
entire
legacy
of
the
civil
rights
movement
that
fought
what
people
in
the
community
aspired
to,
namely
segregation.
Cardin
has
earned
the
support
of
gay
voters
in
Maryland.
U.S.
Senate,
Virginia
The
race
between
incumbent
Sen.
George
Allen
(R)
and
challenger
Jim
Webb
(D)
was
supposed
to
be
a
cakewalk
for
Allen,
but
changed
after
his
infamous
“macaca”
slur.
Since
then,
Allen
has
tried
...
