Nate Silver: Odds Favor Christine Quinn's Election

 

 

 

The New York Times columnist Nate Silver says the odds that Christine Quinn will be elected Mayor of New York City are very high. Silver's statistics show that the early Democratic frontrunner has almost never lost the election in past races.

Silver reports:

The early Democratic front-runner in recent New York City mayoral races has a near perfect record in going on to win the party’s nomination, according to an analysis of public opinion surveys conducted since 1989. If that pattern holds true in this year’s race, Speaker Christine C. Quinn of the City Council will very likely win the Democratic nomination in September. She has led in every primary poll conducted in 2013.

In five of the past six Democratic primaries for mayor, the candidate who led in an average of polls conducted in the first six months of the election year advanced to the general election. The only exception was in 2009, when then-Representative Anthony D. Weiner led William C. Thompson Jr., the New York City comptroller, by five percentage points but decided not to formally enter the race.

Beyond Mr. Weiner in 2009, every early front-runner included in at least 20 percent of surveys has won the Democratic nomination since 1989, which is as far back as FiveThirtyEight’s database of New York City mayoral polls goes. (Republican primaries in New York City have been less crowded and less competitive than Democratic races, and Republican polls have been more scarce.)

There were some close calls. In 2001, Fernando Ferrer, who was the Bronx borough president, nearly came from behind to defeat Mark Green, who was the New York City public advocate. Though Mr. Green had a lead of 10 percentage points over Mr. Ferrer in an average of early polls, Mr. Ferrer placed first in the primary. But Mr. Ferrer got just 36 percent of the vote, requiring a runoff election. (In New York City mayoral primaries, if no candidate earns at least 40 percent of the vote, an automatic runoff is held between the top two finishers.) Mr. Green won the runoff, 60 percent to 40 percent, and advanced to the general election.

While the early front-runner virtually always secures the nomination, underdogs have leapfrogged other candidates to finish in the top tier (although never to win). In 2005, Mr. Weiner was barely in double digits in the first 15 polls of the year, but secured 29 percent of the primary vote, finishing in second place. In 1997, early surveys showed the Rev. Al Sharpton with just 9 percent of the vote, but he, too, went on to finish second in the primary, winning 32 percent of the vote.

What does all this tell us about this year’s mayoral race?

Ms. Quinn has a lead of 17 percentage points in an average of the seven primary polls conducted so far this year. But her level of support has fallen from just under 40 percent early in the year to the high 20s in the most recent Quinnipiac and Marist polls, which included Mr. Weiner.

Ms. Quinn is also only one of four Democratic candidates polling in double digits, along with Mr. Weiner; Bill de Blasio; the city public advocate; and Mr. Thompson. John C. Liu, the city comptroller, is close behind at 9 percent.

No Democratic candidate has reached the 40 percent mark in any of the polls conducted this year, which points to the likelihood of a runoff election.

The last time four Democratic candidates had double-digit support in early polls, in 2005, the primary winner, Mr. Ferrer, avoided a runoff by a hair, just 0.2 percentage points. Four years earlier, in 2001, when five candidates were polling in double digits, Mr. Green and Mr. Ferrer ended up in a runoff.

So, if the historical precedent holds, Ms. Quinn is likely to win the Democratic nomination, even if she has to face a runoff election first.

SEE MR. SILVER'S CHARTS AND DATA HERE>>>>>

Could Russia's President Vladmir Putin Possibly Be Gay?

 

 

Over the years we have learned that some of the most ugly homophobic people have turned out to be closeted gays. They act macho and are the first and loudest to condemn LGBT people. Since President Putin resumed power again (after his best friend Dmitry Medvedev surrender power to him), the President has turned Russia into a nightmare for its LGBT citizens.

President Putin has supported and passed one repressive law after another. He has strongly condemned homosexuality and rounded up LGBT activists. He is on a moral crusade of such intensity you just have to wonder about his own personal life.

I have no idea if he is gay or not but the recent announcement of his divorce fuels the rumors! 

He says he is straight and I will take him at his word. Quite honestly, given his policies, the highest praise I could give the President would be to call him gay. Somehow I don't think he believes that to be the case.

Really doesn't make a difference if he is gay or straight because his policies are immoral, brutal, harsh, repressive and outrageous. Russian LGBT citizens are in harm's way. This man, whatever he is, has no moral compass when it comes to the freedom and rights of his own citizens.

 

The Importance Of Electing Our Own And Christine Quinn

 

 

In the New York's Mayor's race, there are people who quickly dismiss the importance of electing our own to higher office. In fact, some have gone out of their way to proclaim loudly that they are 'above gender/orientation' politics and have attempted to do as much damage as possible to Speaker Christine Quinn.

The dissenters to Quinn's election appears to have one platform and one issue and that is to slam Quinn day in and day out to the point where it borders on hysteria. Really gang? She is the greatest evil ever? Really?

Below you will see a video of an openly gay Commissioner in Hillsborough County who led the effort to over turn an ugly anti-LGBT amendment. Commissioner Kevin Becker is openly gay and was passionate about the defeating this ugliness. One has to wonder how passionate the others would have been without him there.

The attitude that it is no longer important to elect our own and that it is just 'gender/orientation' politics could not be more wrong. Our work is not done and we need powerful and unyielding openly LGBT candidates in office from school board to eventually President.

That includes electing Speaker Christine Quinn.

The Speaker has been there for the LGBT community time and time again. She has used her powers and connections to pass marriage equality. Time and time again she showed up in Albany and at rallies to make sure it passed the legislature. Often she was the ONLY elected official who bothered to make an appearance.

When the hate crime epidemic hit the city she was out front on the issue before anyone else and used the resources of her office to organize a massive protest march demanding justice. She was visible, angry and show up to be counted. Her passion was from in her guts and not a position on an issue paper.

There is a reason that national organizations like Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Emily's List, are supporting Quinn. They know first hand the importance of electing our own. They know that electing an open lesbian to Mayor will make history and change the world. They know it is more than symbolic and about real power - a place at the international table. 

The other candidates are good people. I have long admired Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. He has been a good friend.

However, the constant attacks and angry and bitter inaccurate accusations against Quinn by his supporters do him a great disservice. He would be wise to meet with them and reign them in since I know he does not share their beliefs about a very talented and capable Quinn who has been his long time friend.

Yes, Quinn would be the first woman and lesbian ever elected Mayor of the Big Apple. That is real power and more than symbolic. It is legitimate to take that into consideration when deciding how to vote. Her record on marriage equality and hate crimes has proven the value of having Quinn in office.

For those of you supporting others, I respect that but not the shrill, angry and offensive rhetoric that has surfaced against Quinn. It is unbecoming, inaccurate and not only harms the LGBT community but the entire city.

Has The LGBT Community Been Placed On "Hold, Please"?

 

 

 

Increasingly our straight allies and maybe some of the LGBT communities own activists have put our organizing on "hold, please" until the Supreme Court decision is made by the end of this month. All across the country battles and the issue of full equality have been suspended so politically elected officials don't have to make tough decisions on LGBT issues.

In the battle for immigration rights, the 'Gang of Eight' took out all references which would bring equality to LGBT bi-national couples. Clearly the belief is that the Supreme Court will take care of it when they rule on DOMA. What happens if the Court rules the wrong way and the LGBT community is left behind yet one more time? What happens is we have to go back and once again beg to be included in the legislation and most likely to be told it is 'too late'.

Illinois was just embarrassing.

There was more energy coming out of Delaware and Rhode Island for marriage equality then there was from Illinois. That state's Speaker of the House has the power to pass marriage equality in the Land of Lincoln but with community permission pulled back from the vote. Why? Some people needed more time to 'reach out to their constituents'. Really? This issue has only been front and center in American politics for the last ten years and they needed to delay justice because they suddenly need more time?

My guess is that they were hoping the Supreme Court would take them off the hook or at least add California to the list of marriage equality states. God forbid anyone in Illinois in the House would have to show courage and vote to grant us our God given rights. My suspicions were confirmed when suddenly there might be a vote in July or August after the Court decides on the Proposition 8 case. What if the Court rules against us? Expect some of our allies to tell us in Illinois 'now is not the time'.

If there is ever a state where marriage equality should be an issue it is in New Jersey where overwhelmingly the voters support full equality. Governor Christie, who has done a great job on Sandy recovery, didn't allow his courage to stretch to equality for the LGBT folks in the Garden State. He vetoed marriage equality after it was passed by the legislature. Do any of you get a feeling that there is a 'fight back' effort similar to the one that took place in New York? Are ournational organizations in the state fighting to defeat those who are against us and getting enough votes to over ride a future veto? There is absolutely no major presence in New Jersey in this year's Governor's race about the issue and we appear to be missing in action.

Has waiting for the Supreme court enabled once again for LGBT issue be put on the back burner? Are we giving far too much permission for our allies to stray so they don't have to make the tough decisions?Are we being 'too nice' that it is costing us momentum in our struggle for equality? Illinois should have been adding to our momentum in the Supreme Court not waiting for it to make a decision for them.

If the Supreme Court should rule against us on both of the issues before it, then that lost momentum will be very costly indeed. Instead the LGBT community will hear from our allies how tough to move forward in the near future given the negative court decision.

This is a time that proves that electing our own is critical to keeping our allies honest, working hard and not putting us on 'hold, please' so they don't have to make tough decisions.

Hell's Kitchen Journal: Celebrate Gay Pride

 

 

CELEBRATE!

LGBT Pride Month has arrived just like clock work. All over the world literally millions are marching in small and large cities. The largest being San Paulo, Brazil with over four million attending. In large part, the events this month is a celebration of our cultural, the freedom to come out and to have a sense of community.

Always have been amazed by 'straights' who are appalled at the sexuality or nudity in our LGBT pride parades. Some have made our 'freedom' conditional by insisting that we must stop the pride parades and remove any hint of sexuality from our lives. Really? First, freedom is never conditional Second, they don't have to look. And finally, have they seen the straights behavior in New Orleans doing Mari Gras? They show each other their private parts for simply beads.

My first pride parade was on Hollywood Blvd. a few years after Stonewall. Still heavily in the closet I headed for the center of a large group of marchers hoping no one would see me. Nevertheless, I was astounded by the hundreds or thousands surrounding me. They held up signs proclaiming that they were scientists, teachers, cops and from every walk of life. I was in disbelief at such pride and openness.

Most pride parades have been more celebration of our lives and community than protest. However there were those years that events in our epic struggle for freedom overtook the celebration. The year of Anita Bryant brought tens of thousands of marchers into the streets across America refusing to keep quiet any longer. It was my first pride parade where I was 'out', 'proud' and certainly 'defiant'!

Pride March in San Francisco In Early 1970's

When Governor Pete Wilson vetoed the gay rights legislation in California there was the same kind of energy.

At the height of the AIDS epidemic, tens of thousands marched in horrible health and even in wheelchairs demanding equality as they fought the plague. I will never forget an entire family of a mother, father and three siblings taking turns in a pride parade pushing their son /brother with AIDS down Santa Monica Blvd. That image shall always stay with me.

Now times have changed.

The marchers are still energized than ever by our struggle for full equality. They still celebrate our culture.

However there are differences.

LGBT Pride In San Diego 

This year the LGBT community will march with members of the military in uniform. There will be a reception at the White House. The President of the United States has issued a Pride Proclamation. Openly Gay members of Congress, Mayors, a Senator, elected officials will taken their place of honor. Straight politicians who used to avoid the parades like the plague now seek honored placement in the line of march.

Also this year in New York City the LGBT community has to make a powerful and unmistakable statement about the dozen hate crimes in the Big Apple since the first of May. This is unacceptable and the pride parade is a moment to let the world know of our feelings about these brutal attacks.

In Chicago , hopefully they will march with new determination and pride in the face of the cowards in their State Legislature.

When they march in California this year they might just be able to march with a Supreme Court decision making it legal again to marry in the The Golden State.

Across the country, we all might be able to march with the evils of DOMA in the past because of the Supreme Court. Each of us will always be grateful for Edie Windsor.

So my friends, though much still needs to be done be sure to celebrate being a LGBT American, having a sexuality, our culture and our victories . Don't forget to show a little 'skin' just to irritate the hell out of our foes!

Happy LGBT Pride Month!

LGBT Pride San Paulo, Brazil

Will Maryland Elect The First LGBT Governor In America?

 

 

The LGBT community is breaking political barriers down all over the place. Mayor Annise Parker in Houston, Senator Tammy Baldwin and hopefully Speaker Christine Quinn (New York), Councilman Gary Schiff (Minneapolis) and Senator Ed Murray (Seattle) will all be elected this year to be Mayor's of their respective cities!

Now it is time for a Governor before an LGBT American moves on to be Vice President and President!

The wish for an openly LGBT Governor has a good shot of coming true in 2014.

Maryland Delegate Heather Mizeur is running for the Democratic nomination for the Governor of Maryland. While initially thought to be a long shot among the other candidates in the race, she has surprised political observers and is being taken as a serious contender. If she wins, not only will she be the first LGBT Governor in America but also the first woman governor of Maryland.

You can make history happen by donating now to her campaign.  (click on her name on the left).

Bethesda Magazine in their latest issue ran an article about this charismatic and fantastic candidate. It is well worth the read and well worth you getting out your check books to help her.

The odometer on Heather Mizeur’s Chevy Volt has racked up 15,000 miles since she purchased it last October.

“Every evening, I’m in some different corner of the state, and Saturdays and Sundays are usually filled with three to five events in any one day,” the two-term Takoma Park delegate related in an interview this week.

While Montgomery County’s higher profile gubernatorial contender, Attorney General Douglas Gansler, continues to play coy -- he isn’t expected to declare until fall, and was even quoted recently as saying he hadn’t ruled out running again for his current job -- Mizeur is talking and acting very much like an announced candidate in next year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.

The alternative of seeking re-election to her state delegate seat in District 20 – where several potential successors already are positioning themselves – seems to be off the table. “That’s not where my head is right now,” said Mizeur, who served a term on the Takoma Park City Council before being moving to the General Assembly. “The strong enthusiastic response I’m seeing as I’m meeting with voters from Cumberland to Ocean City is making me think we’re on the right track here.”

While saying a “formal decision” won’t come until this summer, Mizeur is holding house parties across the state to introduce herself to voters, while working actively to raise funds for a gubernatorial run. (As of this past January, she had $380,000 in the bank – compared to $5.2 million for Gansler; $1.6 million for Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who formally announced last week; and $2.1 million for Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, who is widely expected to become Brown’s running mate.)

Mizeur touted the precedent-setting aspects of her candidacy as she expressed confidence in her ability to narrow this gap.

“The energy that is behind a candidacy like mine and the interest in breaking a few historic barriers – I would be Maryland’s first woman governor and the nation’s first openly gay one – opens up an energized donor network that is interested in helping to move this campaign forward,” she said.

Owing perhaps to at least one of those historic barriers, Mizeur’s candidacy was widely regarded as something just short of quixotic until late last month, when she unexpectedly finished second in a straw poll at a gathering of western Maryland Democratic in Hagerstown. Mizeur -- along with Brown, Gansler and Ulman – addressed the gathering. While Brown topped the straw poll with 62 votes, Mizeur garnered 37, trailed by Gansler with 25 and Ulman with 17. Mizeur supporters believe they might have done even better had some of the ballots not been cast prior to the speechmaking.

Deborah and Heather On Their Farm

Notwithstanding the limited size of the straw poll sample, “it gives you some sense of where the hearts of the real party activists are,” said Todd Eberly, associate professor of political science at St. Mary’s College. “The western Maryland poll shocked a lot of people. She kind of came out of nowhere – particularly given what the press had been saying prior to that – and Gansler fared horribly.”

Gansler’s life could be further complicated if Mizeur ends up as the only credible contender in the contest besides himself and Brown. While she remains a longshot candidate, even a strong showing by Mizeur could split the vote in Montgomery County and other areas of the state on which Gansler must rely to counter Brown’s base among African-American voters.

If Brown’s campaign has avoided highlighting the prospect of his becoming the state’s first black governor, Mizeur downplayed her potential status as the first woman governor -- even if she may emphasize it for purposes of fundraising.

“I’m running to make a difference, not to make history. But I do hear from a lot of women – and even many men in this state – that they’re looking for a different kind of leadership,” she said. “Not just different because I’m a woman – but different because I’m someone who has always been very clear in articulating what I believe in, and how I bring people together.”

Of course, the difference that may provide the greatest test of her candidacy – to say nothing of Maryland’s reputation as an increasingly progressive bastion – is sexual orientation.

“I hate to say it but I think two things would prevent her from winning the nomination,” said Eberly. “1) prejudice and 2) a concern among primary voters that prejudice would make her a weaker general election candidate.” Eberly likened it to former Rep. Kweisi Mfume’s narrow loss in the 2006 U.S. Senate Democratic primary: Some voters, while wanting to see election of the state’s first black senator, feared Mfume’s race and aspects of his earlier life would make him unpalatable as a general election candidate – so voted instead for the eventual winner, now-Sen. Ben Cardin.

But Takoma Park Mayor Bruce Williams, who two decades ago became the state’s first openly gay elected official, downplayed the political impact of sexual orientation -- even prior to last year’s referendum upholding the same-sex marriage legislation.

“I can honestly say I don’t think it’s an obstacle. I’ve never perceived it as an obstacle in all that I’ve experienced in 20 years in elected office,” said Williams, while noting: “I’ve spent a fair amount of time in some fairly conservative areas of Maryland…And even though there was no obstacle, I think that things have gotten a whole lot more open, just in the last year or two.”

“Who I am married to is inconsequential,” declared Mizeur, who exchanged vows with her spouse, Deborah, in 2005. Mizeur paused, and then boasted: “But I will say that she’ll be a fabulous first lady.” It was, perhaps, an unwitting affirmation that she’s in the race to stay.

MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A DONATION AND HELP MAKE HISTORY HERE>>>>>>(click on her name on the left)

NEW POLL: Christine Quinn Leads By 10% As Anthony Weiner Enters Race

 

 

A new Quinnipiac University Poll shows Christine Quinn holding on to a significant lead despite weeks of relentless attacks by her opponents and the entry of former Congressman Anthony Weiner into the Mayor's race in New York City.

le Quinn has dropped three per cent since the last poll it is within the margin of error and shows she is holding strong against the bitter personal attacks against her.

latest results are:

Christine Quinn: 25%

Anthony Weiner: 15%

Bill Thompson: 10%

Bill de Blasio: 10%

John Liu: 6%

The poll shows that 49% of the people did not want Weiner to enter the race. By a margin of 17% women were against him running.

Wall Street Journal: Powerful Profile On Houston's Out Mayor Annise Parker

 

 

 

Mayor Annise Parker by Terry Shaffner

In an article by journalist Matthew Kaminski, the Wall Street Journal wrote a love letter to open lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker. The long article focuses on her extraordinary leadership in leading Houston to being an "American Boomtown".

Here is an excerpt:

'Redneck white city down in Texas."

That's how Houston Mayor Annise Parker sums up the caricature of her town, and she wants everyone to know it's bunkum. Houston is "a really cool city," she says. "Open and entrepreneurial and welcoming." It's also booming.

The mayor herself is a walking testament to the cosmopolitan contrarian reality of modern Houston. Annise Parker is a Democrat in a deep-red state, the first openly gay mayor of a major American city. She's a social liberal who's also a former oil-industry executive with a pro-business attitude running what may be the nation's least-regulated metropolis.

Houston's recent track record is startling. For the calendar year ending in February, it saw the fastest pace of job growth (4.5%) among the country's 20 largest metropolitan areas. (With a population of 2.1 million, it's the fourth-largest U.S. city.) In 2011, the last year such data are available, Houston had the fastest-growing large metropolitan economy, at 3.7%.

Add to that a cost of living that is 7.8% below the U.S. average—New York is 53.4% above the average—and you can see the attraction for waves of new arrivals. Housing costs run a third less than the average in the 29 largest metro areas. Adjusting for these lower costs, Houston has the highest per-capita income of any city in the nation.

The mayor, who is 56, and I are discussing the city's makeover at one of its hottest new restaurants. Underbelly, Ms. Parker's choice for lunch, is in the Montrose neighborhood where she lives. "This was a huge lesbian bar," she says, before the neighborhood turned "trendy" and places like Underbelly moved in. As diners fill the capacious restaurant, Ms. Parker notes that Houstonians eat out more often than anyone else in America.

Like Texas as a whole, Houston sells itself as "business friendly," and Ms. Parker ticks off the attractions—ease of permitting, unobtrusive regulations and low taxes. She also supports Houston's limited restrictions on land use, which some here call its real secret sauce. Without zoning, Houston can adjust to shifting market demands—whether for townhouse complexes or retail outfits—faster than most any other city. It looks unwieldy to anyone of the urban-planning persuasion, but it also keeps prices down.

Tory Gattis, who writes the Houston Strategies blog, says: "I'd argue we may be the most libertarian city in America. Live and let live; strong property rights; not much corruption; small business culture."

The economic dynamism has demographic consequences. A couple of years ago, Ms. Parker says, she argued with New York filmmaker Spike Lee over whose hometown was "the most international city in the U.S." The debate isn't as lopsided as it might seem to a non-Houstonian.

The city has surpassed New York as the country's most racially and ethnically diverse, according to a study last year by Rice University. One in five residents was born outside the U.S. The city attracted the second-highest number of new, foreign-born residents in the first decade of this century, after the more populous New York. A Manhattan Institute report last year named Houston and Dallas the country's least segregated cities.

Hispanics are hardly the only newcomers. The Korean, South Asian and Chinese communities are a backbone of the small-business community. European expatriates work in energy and at the Texas Medical Center—which, this being Texas, touts itself as the world's largest.

No ethnic group makes up a majority, and Hispanics, whites, Asians and African-Americans are evenly represented. Houston's "melting pot" makes it "impossible for any one group to dominate another," says Fred Hofheinz, who was mayor in the 1970s. Leave the politics of ethnic and racial division to other places.

Stephen Klineberg, who led the Rice study, argues that in some 30 years all of America will look like Houston today. Conservatives and liberals can both find something to like in Houston's post-racial, post-ethnic present.

The Mayor also speaks about marriage equality:

Situated on a bayou and close to Louisiana, Houston mixes the South's hospitality and the West's independent streak and tolerance of differences. Ms. Parker cites these qualities to explain her political career. "The vast majority of Houstonians are pragmatic and they judge me for what I do, not what I am."

She is a former president of the Houston GBLT Caucus and militated for gay rights in the 1990s. In her various stints as an elected city official, she emphasized financial matters and played down social issues. At least her mayoral victory, she says, got Houston a bit of attention for defying typecasting by outsiders.

"I'm not a spokesperson for the gay community," she adds. Gay marriage is personal. "I've been with my life partner for 22 years." They have three children. "I want to marry her."

Ms. Parker is holding out for Texas to legalize gay marriage. "I may be old and creaky, but it's gonna happen," she says. "This is a war we've already won. There are still battles left to fight. . . . mopping up operations."

Anything, they keep telling you, is possible here.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE>>>>>>

Join LGBT Americans For Quinn! Help Elect The First Woman and LGBT Mayor Of NYC!

 

 

 

I am personally asking you to simply go to this site and in one minute add your name to those endorsing City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for Mayor of New York City!

There are those who suggest the power of having an open lesbian mayor of New York City is just not important.  They want you to believe that electing our own and electing the first woman mayor is no longer a historic event. That we have elected other mayors in other cities so we essentially have 'been there, done that'.  

They are wrong.  

That would only be the case if City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wasn't qualified to be Mayor and hadn't really delivered big time in the marriage equality battle in New York State.

Quinn has used the power of her office time and time again to force others to support not only marriage equality but also other issues that lead to full equality for LGBT Americans. She went far beyond what any expected of her in that role.

The National Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Emily's List have both endorsed her candidacy believing she would become a not only a powerful symbol but also a critical person in the LGBT and feminist struggle for full equality. As Mayor in  the world's most powerful city, home to the United Nations and most of the nation's media, her ability to help us move forward in our battle to achieve total freedom and equality for LGBT Americans would be unparalleled.

Please join LGBT for Quinn by clicking here.

This year we have candidates running for Mayor in Seattle, Minneapolis and New York City. Each and every one of them is important in our battle for equality. Having worked over thirty years to elect LGBT people to office, I am here to tell you that each and everyone of these campaigns are critical in our struggle.

While we appreciate and value our straight allies that hold office, we have learned time and time again there is simply no replacement for having our own elected. We have seen it in battle after battle, legislature after legislature and city by city.

While I don't always agree with Christine Quinn 100% of the time, the fact of the matter is that I would not agree with any candidate 100% of the time. There is no question that she has the experience and will do an outstanding job as mayor.

There is also no question, that if Christine Quinn is elected mayor of the nation's largest city and the world's most powerful one, that it would be historic and critical to the future of LGBT Americans.

All we are asking for is that you join LGBT for Christine Quinn by simply clicking here.

Tales of Two Cities? LGBT Mayors In Seattle and Tel Aviv?

 

 

While the races for mayor by openly LGBT candidates both in New York City and Minneopolis have gotten some attention, there are two more exciting races for mayor for the LGBT community. There are openly LGBT candidates running to head the cities of Seattle and Tel Aviv.

In Seattle, legendary state legislator Ed Murray (photograph above), after serving over twenty-five years is now running to head the Northwest's largest city - Seattle. Murray who was one of the first openly LGBT persons to serve in the Washington legislature has vast experience in finance, education and transportation. He was one of the key players in making marriage equality the law in Washington. It would be hard put to find a more qualified candidate. You can support Ed by clicking here.

Across the ocean in Israel, Nitzan Horawitz (photograph below) is an openly gay member of the Israeli Parliament - The Knesset. The elections are this October. If elected, he will be the first openly LGBT mayor in the history of Israel. His main issues are transportation, urban plight and cost of living. (H/T: Queerty.com).

Imagine by this November we could have openly LGBT mayors in Berlin, Paris, Tel Aviv, New York City, Seattle, Minneapolis and Houston. Who would ever thought that would be possible just ten years ago?