A new political group for LGBTQ African Americans is making its presence felt in this year's June 3 primary. The nonpartisan club released its first list of endorsements earlier this month and is now focused on making an impact in the fall elections, when San Francisco voters will go to the polls to elect supervisors from the city's odd-numbered districts.
Named the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Coalition, after the gay African American man who was a confidante to slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the club is meant to empower the black LGBTQ community in the political process and to advance civil and human rights.
According to co-chairs Andrea Shorter and Robert W. Williams III , the new coalition replaces the now-defunct Lesbians and Gays of African Descent for Democratic Action. It is the outgrowth of a March 2007 retreat for people within the Bay Area's black LGBT community organized by Zwazzi Sowo, who was given a fellowship through a program launched by the anti-racism group And Castro For All and the Horizons Foundation, the LGBT grant-making and philanthropic organization.
"LGADDA has basically stopped and really has graciously reformed itself as part of this effort," said Shorter, 42, a member of the city's Commission on the Status of Women.
The coalition is meant to have a Bay Area-wide focus and rotates its monthly meetings between San Francisco and the East Bay.
"We need a voice of our own," said Williams. "I would like to see an organized African American LGBTQ community. We may not always agree on everything, but we can come to the table."
Williams, 43, a lifelong Oakland resident who works for the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, said the group purposefully did not want to align itself with one political party.
"Not everyone is identified as a Democrat. The idea was to broaden out the membership a bit," said Williams, who is an independent.
Shorter, a registered Democrat, is vice president of FPA and Associates, an LGBT executive recruitment and diversity training firm. The two co-chairs said they are hopeful the coalition will be able to groom its members to run for political office, though that may be some years away.
"Do we know someone we can name today? No. But we have an eye toward those open seats," said Shorter. "We are not only focused on the short term but also the long term. In 15 years from now we want to elect an openly gay black candidate to Congress or the state Legislature."
For this year's June primary the club, with a membership of 25 people, opted not to make nods in congressional races this time out, and instead, solely weighed in on races for local offices. In the contested Democratic primary in San Francisco between out lesbian state Senator Carole Migden and openly gay state Assemblyman Mark Leno for Migden's 3rd District seat, the club split its endorsement between Migden and Leno and snubbed former Marin Assemblyman Joe Nation.
In the San Francisco Superior Court battle between incumbent Republican Judge Thomas Mellon, termed out Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, and lesbian attorney Mary Mallen, the club sided with Mallen.
In the Assembly District 13 Democratic County Central Committee race, the club selected only 11 people for the 12 seats up for grabs, including out candidates Laura Spanjian; Rafael Mandelman; Scott Wiener; Luke Klipp; Debra Walker ; Michael Goldstein ; and Holli Thier . They also endorsed termed out Supervisor Aaron Peskin but opted not to back Supervisor Chris Daly, who is also seeking a DCCC seat.
Membership costs $25 a year and is open to anyone, however, only African American members have the right to vote.
To join or for more information, call Shorter at (415) 786-7779 or Williams at (510) 272-2965.
Aussies head to SF Pride
It's official, a contingent from San Francisco's sister city Sydney, Australia, is headed to the Bay Area for Pride weekend this year. Gay Sydney Councillors Phillip Black and Shayne Mallard have accepted an invitation from Mayor Gavin Newsom to participate in the annual LGBT Pride Parade and celebration on behalf of their city's Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
At its meeting Monday, May 12 the Sydney council approved spending $20,260 to help pay for the cost of the trip.
In an e-mail, Black said the two plan to ride on Supervisor Bevan Dufty's float in the parade "as it's only the two of us attending, and for a very brief visit ... we will not be doing anything special this trip other than supporting the cause and waving the gay Aussie flag."
Dufty and openly gay city Treasurer Jose Cisneros led a contingent of San Franciscans to take part in Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras event this past February and upon their return urged Newsom to send an official invite to their Aussie hosts. In a letter dated March 17, Newsom thanked Sydney officials for their "warm welcome" and asked that they make the trip this June.
"It is important that San Francisco and Sydney continue to provide opportunities for our city officials and citizens to experience and explore our respective cultures through long-term partnerships and frequent exchanges," wrote Newsom.
According to the letter, Dufty plans to celebrate the two cities' ties with his float theme this year and has offered to help organize a special exhibition on the historical linkages between the sister cities. Black said he hopes to organize a larger Sydney presence at the Pride Parade in 2010.
"I am hoping that we can arrange a contingent from Sydney to attend the 40th anniversary of Pride in two years time," wrote Black.
Five gays run for San Jose Dem body
It may not have attracted as many out candidates as the race in San Francisco, but the contest for seats on the body that oversees the Santa Clara County Democratic Party has drawn five openly gay men as candidates.
The Santa Clara County Central Committee, the local Democratic Party's governing board, is comprised of six representatives each from seven state Assembly districts that fall within its boundaries, as well as elected officials. In two of those districts, the 23rd and the 24th, gay men are seeking seats.
In the 24th both Clark Williams , who has been serving as openly gay state Assemblyman John Laird's alternate, and Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager are seeking seats.
In the 23rd, incumbents Omar Torres and David Parker are seeking re-election while Stephen T. "Tim" Quigley Jr. hopes to join them on the committee.
Williams said with Laird being termed out of office this year, he opted to run for election to his own seat to ensure LGBT representation.
"He is losing his seat so I am losing my voice on the central committee," said Williams, the northern California vice chair of the state Democratic Party's LGBT Caucus. "I enjoy being a part of the Democratic Party. I have used it to promote LGBT issues."
Prior to the election of Torres and Parker two years ago, Williams said he was the lone LGBT voice on the party body.
"In 2004 when I was first chosen, at many meetings I was the only gay person in the room. It thrills me to no end to see so many gay men running," said Williams, who lost his bid to replace Yeager on the San Jose City Council after Yeager was elected supervisor. "It guarantees I am not the only gay person in the room."
As for his own election chances, Williams said he is unsure. Voters often overlook the races for DCCC or they will merely choose the first six names listed. Williams said his name will be listed last out of the eight people running in his district.
"I have the worst luck in American politics. I can't get elected as dog catcher," joked Williams, who last month lost in his bid to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Yeager said he opted to run in order to ensure the party is listening to and meeting the needs of LGBT people.
"I thought I would add an additional voice to the committee. Very few elected officials get involved in the central committee. I thought that was unfortunate," said Yeager, who is banking on his name recognition with voters to give him a leg up in the race. "It is not nearly as active as in San Francisco, where I guess people are climbing over each other to get elected."
By serving on the committee Yeager said he hopes to raise its profile.
"My sense is the central committee doesn't have a lot of influence in the county. Most people aren't aware of the positions it takes and aren't involved in framing public policy," he said. "One advantage having a county supervisor on the committee is it opens that dialogue between the county and the committee."
Torres, who is Latino and 26 years old, said he is running again in order to give voice to the "poor Latino community" and to youth. A strong supporter of Barack Obama's presidential bid, he said he also wants to ensure young people go out to vote come November.
"This year I have seen an increase of youth participants because of Barack Obama. Once I see them, I am holding on to them," said Torres, a political science major at San Jose State University.
Torres helped to revive the Democratic club on campus and someday hopes to run for political office in his hometown of San Jose.
"I ran because it is actually important for young people to be involved in politics. I want to recruit more young people to be involved in politics," he said.
Parker, 32, recently was elected vice president of the Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club. The Maryland native moved to San Jose in 2006 after having lived in San Francisco for seven years and opted to run for DCCC along with nine other people.
"It came down to name placement on the ballot. No one really campaigns down here," said Parker, who lost bids for school board and a DCCC seat in San Francisco.
He is running again to bring a progressive, independent voice to the party.
"Here the unions and DCCC are one in the same," he said. "Although that is great we can agree, we shouldn't be influenced by the groups."
Quigley, who serves as Parker's alternate, is executive director of the Volunteer Center of Silicon Valley and serves as treasurer of the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Committee. Quigley did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
The three are among 12 candidates running for the six seats on the ballot in the 23rd district. Torres predicted he would land in the top three, as would Parker since his name will appear first on the ballot. He also gave newcomer Quigley winning odds.