ST. PETERSBURG –– The rows of rainbow…
ST. PETERSBURG –– The rows of rainbow flags, feather boas and glitter-streaked men dressed as Hollywood starlets made for an unusual campaign backdrop.
But there they were, a handful of St. Petersburg mayoral and City Council candidates, passing out campaign literature, posing for pictures and introducing themselves to potential voters amid Saturday’s St. Pete Pride festivities.
In a sign of St. Petersburg’s changing politics, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is harnessing its collective voice, forcing candidates to take notice.
After years of tension between the group and conservative Mayor Rick Baker, it’s seizing the coming leadership change as a chance to make inroads and get its issues addressed.
“It is a matter of get-out-the-vote,” said Rick Boylan, founder of the Pinellas Stonewall Democrats. “If we can mobilize the community and inform them of which candidates support issues and which candidates are pro-equality and get them to participate, we can definitely have an impact on who is elected.”
See St. Petersburg’s gay community seeks to become key voting bloc in …
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Out Houston City Council candidate qualifies for runoff election
Out Houston City Council candidate qualifies for runoff election
Out candidate Maverick Welsh, a former chief of staff for the Houston City Council who is endorsed by the Victory Fund, will face former police officer Ed Gonzalez in a runoff election for a City Council seat. In other election news, voters in Fort Worth, Texas, re-elected out City Councilman Joel Burns, who was running unopposed. GayPolitics.com (5/11) , KHOU-TV (Houston) (5/11) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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