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May 21, 2010
GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
Antonio is a shoo-in as her only opponent drops out
by Eric Resnick
Lakewood-With opposition out of the race, it is now nearly certain that Ohio will get an openly lesbian legislator.
Lakewood councilor Nickie Antonio won a tough Democratic primary race against her council colleague Tom Bullock on May 4.
Now her only remaining opponent, independent Jeremy Caldwell, has withdrawn from the race. No Republican filed to be on the ballot.
The Ohio City resident's exit from the race was made official May 11 with a handwritten note to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. No reason for his exodus was stated.
"I have no opponent, but I will continue to campaign and meet people," Antonio said, "so that I can better represent all of the people of the district."
"For me, campaigning was never about an opponent. It has always been
Nickie Antonio
about service to the people of the district," Antonio continued.
Barring any extraordinary circumstances, Antonio, 54, will be seated as Ohio's first openly LGBT general assembly member in January 2011. She will represent the 13th District, which encompasses all of Lakewood and the part of Cleveland to its east, including the Edgewater and Detroit-Shoreway
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neighborhoods, and most of Ohio City. It is the seat currently held by LGBT ally Mike Skindell, who will most likely become a state senator.
It has taken Ohio longer than most states to get an openly LGBT lawmaker. There are currently 83 out legislators in 32 states, according to the Lesbian and Gay Victory Fund. Those states include Georgia, Utah, Wyoming, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho and Oklahoma.
This is the second "first" for Antonio, who became Lakewood's first openly gay official when she was elected to the at-large council seat in 2005.
Antonio holds a master of public administration degree from the Maxine Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and a bachelor of science degree in education from Cleveland State University. She has also been a special education teacher and college instructor and an aide to
former Lakewood mayor Madelin Cain.
She has been active with the Cleve land Stonewall Democrats and Ohio' Democratic Party.
Antonio and her partner Jean Kosma have two daughters, Ariel and Stacey
Also on the November ballot, in th Dayton area, will be Ohio's first openl lesbian judge, Mary Wiseman, who also unopposed. A former Dayton cit commissioner, Wiseman was appointe to the Montgomery County Commo Pleas Court by Governor Ted Stricklan in 2007.
Openly gay Franklin County Aud tor candidate Terry Brown ran unof posed in the Democratic primary an will face Republican Clarence Ming the incumbent, and Libertarian Micha Blose in November.
A second openly gay Ohio House car didate, John Sowers of Columbus, wa defeated by his primary opponent, long time LGBT ally Mike Stinziano. [
Uganda panel recommends 'kill gays' bill be dropped
Kampala, Uganda-A draconian antigay bill before the legislature is both unconstitutional and redundant, according to a committee tasked by President Yoweri Museveni to review it.
Lawmaker Adolf Mwesige, who chaired the committee, said May 8 that the few clauses that were not either in violation of the constitution or redundant could simply be placed in other bills dealing with sexual offenses in general.
The bill calls for, among other things, the extradition of gay Ugandans living in other countries back to Uganda to face trial, and requires people to report anyone known to have committed a "homosexual act" within 24 hours.
It also calls for death in cases of "repeated offenses," or gay men with HIV who have sex with other men, or rape.
The bill was supported by evangelical ministers, many of whom are financially supported by anti-gay churches in the United States.
The committee's ruling is not the official death knell of the bill, which saw opposition from across the globe, but Mwesige said that he expected the legislature to vote down the bill within weeks.
Hawaii governor may veto CUs
Honolulu, Hawaii—Republican Gov. Linda Lingle indicated on May 15 that she had not yet decided what action, if any, to take on a civil union bill sent to her desks by state legislators.
She did, however, describe it as being de facto same-sex marriage, echoing complaints from religious conservatives and a
resolution passed by state Republicans. She added that she wanted to "wait and hear people out" before deciding on a course of action.
The bill would give same-sex and opposite-sex couples the same right and responsibilities as married couples under Hawaii law.
Lingle has expressed support in the past for some form of domestic partnership, but opposes full same-sex marriage.
The governor said she scheduled appointments with supporters and opponents of civil unions, and will make her decision after hearing both sides of the issue. She has until July 6 to sign, veto or allow the bill to become law without her signature. How-
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ever, if she decides to veto the bill, she must notify the legislature ten days in advance.
Hawaii voters passed the nation's first constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in 1998. The measure does not actually ban marriage, however; it allows the legislature to do so or to undo or modify the ban they passed then.
Pawlenty nixes partner funeral rights
St. Paul, Minn.—Gov. Tim Pawlenty on May 15 vetoed a bill allowing surviving same-sex partners to execute last wishes and sue for wrongful death, repeating religious right talking points, many of which were incorrect.
Pawlenty claimed that the bill "addresse a nonexistent problem," according to th Minnesota Independent, and that couple simply needed to draw up legal paperwor to go around any problems they might fac
"Marriage as defined as between a ma and a woman-should remain elevated i our society at a special level, as it traditior ally has been," his veto message reads. oppose efforts to treat domestic relation ships as the equivalent of traditional mar riage."
Sen. Scott Dibble, a sponsor of the bil issued a statement saying, "This bill wa about basic human decency. We have hear
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