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POLITICS
Local candidates run for... and from... gay votes
Commentary by Gene Koland
On November 2, Atlanta voters will have an
other opportunity to influence the future course of
their city. Three principal candidates for Mayor have
campaigned with a good deal of heat and a little light,
but there are few major issue or policy differences
between them. They all have learned the proper lines
to say when courting gay/lesbian voters, although
after the disappointments of this year most of us will
be less trusting in the future regardless of which
candidate we support. The days when a whispered
“that one’s pro-gay" was sufficient to win gay/lesbian
votes are gone forever.
Lack of serious issue disagreements means two
things. First, it indicates substantial consensus on the
general direction the next mayor might take. Second,
it inevitably means a campaign based on personalities
and charges of wrongdoing and impropriety.
The leading candidate, according to polls so far,
is Bill Campbell. Depending bn whether one supports,
him or opposes him, Campbell is either an energetic
and competitive campaigner or a shameless oppor
tunist. He has certainly been campaigning (or, as his
endorser Maynard Jackson called it, pandering) ex
tensively in the gay community. He is clearly the most
effective campaigner in the race.
Michael Lomax has the advantage and the disad
vantages that come with name recognition. A candi
date for mayor last time, he is well known. But
familiarity often breeds contempt in politics, and
Lomax can be maddeningly professorial. His poll
negatives are the highest of any candidate’s. His
endorsements by theAtlantaConstitutionand by former
Mayor Andy Young could help, but endorsements are
rarely decisive. Lomax has likewise sought gay and
lesbian votes, but he inevitably lost some when he
indicated he favored keeping Eldrin Bell. Others are
more tolerant considering his support for the re
cently-opened Grady infectious disease clinic on Ponce
de Leon against business opposition.
The longshot of the three leading candidates is
Myrtle Davis, who wants to be Atlanta’s first black
female mayor. Davis has been criticized for being too
emotional in public, but there are those who don’t
regard that as such a bad thing. She profits from the
politico image associated with Campbell and Lomax,
although she is hardly an outsider. Though being a
woman is not quite the asset it was a year ago it
certainly can’t hurt, and a number of feminist groups
including Emily’s List support Davis—though NOW
broke ranks and endorsed Campbell. Some gay and
lesbian voters, who thought until GAP AC “recom
mended” Davis that they were alone in voting for
Myrtle, like her style and the alternative she offers. She
could surprise some people on election night. (GAPAC
did declare Campbell and Lomax “acceptable.”)
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There are, of course, a raft of other candidates.
There’s an Afrocentric artist and a member of that
endangered species, the Socialist Workers Party.
There’s said to be a gay candidate and an anti-gay
candidate. Perhaps the two cancel one another out.
David Librace was once commonly referred to as
the “openly gay" candidate, but his sometime reluc
tance to discuss the matter when asked has taken the
edge off his appeal. (GAPAC did not bother to rate
him.)
The big-haired Amazon of the religious right,
Nancy Schaefer has found a new mission—recruiting
homophobic blacks to the religious right. Her first
acolyte is campaign manager Billy McKinney. Unfor
tunately, McKinney has been unable to keep out of
physical confrontations for the duration of the cam
paign, having been physically ejected from one forum
for allegedly causing a disturbance,
Schaefer may not become mayor, but she has
done one thing that will resound beyond election day:
signing up GOP presidential hopeful Jack Kemp as a
clear ally of the homophobic religious right. Once
considered a moderate who might help the Republi
can Party live down its association with Pat Robertson
and Jerry Falwell, Kemp just can’t help flitting around
the candle flames of the religious right. He ought to
have learned his lesson before, at a time when promi
nent Republicans were all looking for fundamentalist
court prophets. Determined not to be left out, Kemp
got cozy with the right-wing husband-and-wife
preacher duo Tim and Beverly LaHaie. Kemp' was
much embarrassed when the anti-semitic content of
their preaching was exposed and he was forced to
distance himself from the couple, who are frequent
performers at Rehoboth Baptist Megachurch.
For City Council president, both Marvin
Arrington and J ibariSimama have demonstrated friend
liness for gay rights, if not for one another. GAPAC
split hairs in this instance with their mild suggestion
(without actually awarding him “recommended" sta
tus) of a vote for Arrington, who cast a tie-breaking
vote for Domestic Partnerships, instead of the also-
acceptable Simama, who was merely a strong sup
porter.
The District 1 contest offers a wide choice,
including lesbian Carolyn White, whom GAPAC rec
ommends, as well as generally pro-gay candidates
Dana Bolden, Vem McCarthy and Scott Peterson.
GAPAC rates only Soisette Lumpkin as “unaccept
able."
District 2 also offers three more-or less friendly
choices—Eric Spivey, whom GAPAC recommends,
and Chester Dixon and Debi Starnes, whom they
consider acceptable, though Dixon has been quoted
as saying he would not have supported domestic
partnerships. Candidate Ayisha Jefferies takes sharp
exception to reports that she is anti-gay, and says she
never got the questionnaire from GAPAC. Others who
have questioned her on matters like domestic partner
ships say she has avoided the issue, and her recent full
page ad in Southern Voice likewise avoided specifics. In
District 3, they contrast Michaeljulian Bond (“accept
able”) with Hiram Scott (“unacceptable.") District 4
candidate Cleta Winslow, whom GAPAC rates as
acceptable, has sounded eager but unschooled on
issues of concern to the community and could profit
from some one-on-one education from gay/lesbian
voters.
Davetta Johnson (District 5) is rated as “unac
ceptable" in comparison with “acceptable” Hubert
Merchant. (Johnson initially co-sponsored the Mary
Davis domestic partnership ordinance, but laterbacked
off.)
The most interesting City Council race, from the
gay/lesbian standpoint, is for the District 6 council
seat of Mary Davis, who introduced domestic partner
ship legislation some two years ago and who has been
a consistent friend and supporter of gays and lesbians.
Andy Loftis, is challenging her primarily on the fact
that he is personally gay, not just gay friendly or
merely the mother of a lesbian, like Davis. This
naturally raises the question of whether it is better to
have any gay council member, no matter how much of
an unknown quantity, rather than a straight person
with an established pro-gay record. GAPAC raised
some eyebrows by not rating Loftis at all, apparently
because there’s little to rate other than his sexual
orientation. (They didn’t rate Joe Kelly, either, who
says his work in the dance world demonstrates that
even though he’s straight, he can represent and get
along well with gays.)
9th District voters should know that Ari Casper-
Silverman is an associate of Nancy Schaefer. Even
Jared Samples, who opposed domestic partnerships,
would probably be more attractive to gay voters, as
might another candidate, Kathy Carter. But only
Casper-Silverman (“unacceptable") was rated. In Dis
trict 10 Clarence T. Martin is “unacceptable," as is
Dozier Smith in District 12. GAPAC finds Smith's
opponent Gloria Tinubu “acceptable," and consider
ing Smith's record on gay/lesbian issues, she’d have to
be an improvement. GAPAC also recommends Robb
Pitts (District 13), Carolyn Long Banks (District 14),
Sheila Martin Brown (District 15). Banks has also been
endorsed by Southern Voice.
Longtime pro-gay council member Barbara Asher
(District 13, “recommended,” and another Southern
Voice endorsement) is opposed by “unacceptable”
Jacqueline Livingston. Douglas Alexander, “recom
mended” by GAPAC in District 17, is opposed by
Harold Morgan, who is rated “unacceptable." Also
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Fail 1993