Victory in the News

Gay candidates run openly for Pennsylvania office: 'A remarkable amount of progress'

With three "open and out" candidates seeking state House seats this year, chances are better than ever that Pennsylvania's gay and lesbian community will have its first known voice in the General Assembly at this time next year. 

Denis Dison, spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a political action committee that seeks to increase the gay voice in government, noted at least 30 states have elected gay state lawmakers to date, including traditionally red states like Utah, Georgia and Oklahoma.

But Pennsylvania, over the last few years has been building a deeper bench at the local level. There are gay elected officeholders in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg — where City Controller Dan Miller plans to run for mayor next year — and smaller communities like Millersburg. 

Victory Fund Brunch 2012 San Diego Features NYC Mayoral Candidate Christine Quinn

Two Election 2012 priorities stood out at yesterday's Victory Fund brunch at the Catamaran resort on Mission Bay: getting Tammy Baldwin, Democratic congresswoman from Wisconsin, elected to the U.S. Senate; and strengthening financial support for LGBT candidates in general – especially those who promise to actively battle for equality under the law for Americans of all sexual orientations and gender identities. 

Gay sheriff prompts intriguing questions

There have been no openly gay Republicans in Congress since 2006, when another Arizonan — U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe — retired. And the nation's 7,382 state legislators include 93 openly gay Democrats but not a single openly gay Republican, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

"If you're an openly gay Republican, you face a platform that is sometimes not welcoming," said Chuck Wolfe, the fund's president. "It's going to take a while to reverse that feeling." 

BREAKING: Maryland Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill!

According to GayPolitics.com, the Maryland senate just passed the bill nearly a week after the House of Delegates passed their version of the bill. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley lobbied for and intends to sign the bill into law.

"We are enormously proud of Sen. Madaleno for his years of advocacy for LGBT Marylanders. This is a huge victory for him and for his openly gay and lesbian colleagues in the House, and a dramatic step forward for Maryland and its people," said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund. "We also congratulate Equality Maryland, the Marylanders for Marriage Equality coalition and Gov. Martin O'Malley, whose lobbying and strategizing was so crucial to this victory." 

BREAKING: Maryland House of Delegates Passes Marriage Equality Bill, 72-67

Chuck Wolfe, the president of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to elect out LGBT candidates, noted the role of out lawmakers in a statement.

"We're very proud of the gay and lesbian delegates whose leadership has been crucial in this debate," he said. "Maryland's lawmakers understand better the necessity of legal marriage for all couples because they serve alongside gays and lesbians whose loving, committed relationships reflect their own."