October 22, 2004 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 15

ELECTO

Stonewall's political arm makes election endorsements

Columbus Stonewall Community Action Network has made their 2004 candidate endorsements following the local, state and federal candidate's nights held on September 30 as well as receiving over 30 completed candidate questionnaires.

The endorsement list was compiled after the candidate's night, reviewing the questionnaires and after much discussion among Stonewall CAN board members.

"The Stonewall CAN board has strived to present a slate of endorsed candidates who have consistently shown an understanding of and support for issues important to the GLBT community," said board president Karen Hamm. “We are extremely pleased that so many candidates sought the support of our community in this election as evidenced by the great turnout at the candidate night."

Stonewall CAN executive director Kate Anderson added, "This is the most important election for our community and we need every member of the GLBT community to vote. The future of our families, our healthcare, our jobs and our property depends on it.” The Stonewall CAN 2004 endorsed candidates are:

President and Vice President

John Kerry and John Edwards (D)

U.S. Senate

Eric Fingerhut (D)

U.S. House

District 7: Dave Hobson (R) District 15: Deborah Pryce (R)

Ohio Supreme Court

Chief Justice: Ellen Connally (D) Justice: Nancy Fuerst (D)

Ohio Court of Appeals, District 10

Thomas Tootle (D)

(Term starting January 1, 2005) Pat McGrath (R)

(Term starting January 2, 2005)

Ohio Senate

District 16: Steven Stivers (R)

Ohio House

District 19: Richard Otten, Jr. (Green) District 21: Abramo Ottolenghi (D) District 22: Brian McCann (D) District 24: Patrick Byrne (I) District 25: Dan Stewart (D) District 26: Mike Mitchell (D) District 27: Joyce Beatty (D)

Franklin County Commission Paula Brooks (D)

(Term starting January 2, 2005) Mary Jo Kilroy (D)

(Term starting January 3, 2005)

Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien (R) (Unopposed) Franklin County Sheriff

Jim Karnes (D) (Unopposed)

Franklin County Treasurer Richard Cordray (D)

Franklin County Coroner

Bradley Lewis (R) (Unopposed)

Franklin County Clerk of Common Pleas Court

John O'Grady (D)

Franklin County Common Pleas Court

Judge

Strongly Endorse:

Bill Hedrick (D)

(Term starting January 2, 2005)

Endorse:

Julie Lynch (R)

(Term starting January 2, 2005) Beverly Pfeiffer (D)*

(Term starting January 3, 2005)

Taskforce mobilizes the AIDS vote for the 2004 election

In the 2000 election, six states-Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin-were decided by margins so narrow that, combined, only 24,731 votes made all the difference. Together, those six states represented 59 votes in the Electoral College, where the presidency was decided by a margin of four votes.

This 24,731 is about the population of the Cleveland suburbs of Brook Park or South Euclid, and Hilliard or Delaware near Columbus.

There are now nearly a million people living with HIV and AIDS in the United States.

Believing that people with HIV should be heard in the electoral process, and believing that the democratic process should include everybody, the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland launched a voter registration and voter mobilization drive this past summer. With funding from one local and one national foundation, and in partnership with the Democracy Project of the Gill Foundation, the Taskforce secured lists from participating organizations, matched them up against voter registration lists, and hired people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS to staff a phone bank. The goal? First, to get people to register, and then in October, to mobilize the vote. Over the course of six weeks, 20,000 Ohio

residents were called. Over half of those reached assured us that they were already registered and intended to vote. In all, 1,000 new voters were registered. Given the 2000

In 2000, Florida was decided by 537 votes, and New Mexico by 366.

election, that's significant: Florida was decided by 537 votes in favor of George Bush, and New Mexico was decided by 366 votes in favor of Al Gore. In October, a separate effort will help ensure that registered voters actually get to the polls to make their voice heard.

Assembled by John Farina and now managed by this writer, this has been a tremendous effort. For many people with HIV AIDS, the injunction to "Vote as if your life depended on it“ is not an empty phrase. For those committed to improving the lives of people with HIV/AIDS, and preventing new infections, this election is historic. Remember the cause, remember the need, and vote on November 2.

John Connor (D)

(Term starting January 6, 2005) Mike Rankin (D)

(Term starting January 7, 2005)

Richard Frye (D)

(Term starting January 9, 2005) Guy Reece (R)

(Unexpired term ending January 2, 2007) Mark Serrott (D)

(Unexpired term ending January 2, 2007) Charles Schneider (R)* (Unexpired term ending January 6, 2007) Magistrate

Eric Brown (D)

Stonewall Community Action Network

Sweet as folk

State Board of Education

Adam Miller (D)

Issues Opposed

Issue 1

Strongly opposed

Issues Endorsed

4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11

Issue 97A (Columbus Public Schools) Yes

Stonewall CAN voter guides can be picked up at the Stonewall Community Center at 1160 North High Street in Columbus. For more information on the voter guides, contact Kellye Pinkleton at 614-930-2261.

ANTHONY GLASSMAN

Dana Austin, Jon Everett, Scott Lowell, Michelle Clunie and Aaron Smith, left to right, celebrate Sweetest Day at the Onyx Ball on October 16.

The event, which drew 200 people to Moda nightclub in Cleveland, was a joint venture between BlackOut Unlimited and the Cleveland Friendship Committee, part of the Friendship Movement of primarily African American LGBT groups across the country

Lowell and Clunie, who play Ted and Melanie on Queer as Folk, were in Cleveland to support Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry and speak out against Issue 1, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would bar same-sex marriage, as well as any rights or benefits for unmarried couples, whether same-sex or opposite-sex. The duo made nine stops across the Cleveland area on October 16 and 17.

Everett, the interim executive director of BlackOut, has been with Smith for 14 years, and the pair was among dozens of couples honored at the event, like Austin, also a staff member at Black Out, who was there with her girlfriend.

"The Onyx Ball and all the effort put in by the Cleveland Friendship Committee did exactly what it was meant to, which is put a human face to the potential victims of Issue 1, and show everyone African American, committed same-sex couples," Everett said. "Often we're invisible when it comes to this issue. We're here and we have the right to love.”

Anthony Glassman

A LESBIAN AND GAY PSYCHOTHERAPY PRACTICE

D.L. DUNKLE & ASSOCIATES

Debra L. Dunkle, LISW, Ph.D. Jane Miller LISW John O'Connor, LISW Judie Shields, Ph.D.

Supervising Psychologist Martha Webb, Ph.D.

Psychology Postdoctoral Trainee

OFFERING PROFESSIONAL, CONFIDENTIAL SERVICES TO INDIVIDUALS, COUPLES, AND GROUPS

216.229.2100

12417 CEDAR ROAD, SUITES 21-24, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH 44106