Victory in the News

National attention for Marcus Brandon

Guilford County legislative candidate Marcus Brandon makes the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund's national list of Ten Races to Watch.

The group's press release notes, "With the retirement of N.C. State Sen. Julia Boseman, Brandon would become North Carolina’s only openly LGBT state legislator, and one of just five out African-American state lawmakers in the U.S."

The attention surprised Brandon, a Democrat who ousted Earl Jones in the party's May primary in House District 60. He faces Republican Lonnie Wilson in the heavily Democratic district. Both candidates live in High Point.
Brandon doesn't consider his sexuality relevant in the campaign, he told me today.

"This is not something I wanted to take over my campaign," he said, adding that his slogan is "It's About You."

"I didn't want this to turn into something that's about me."
The main issues are jobs and economic development in a district where many residents are poor and unemployed.

"Nobody in a year-and-a-half ever asked me about my sexuality," Brandon said, "and I think that is a powerful place to be in North Carolina."
It's not a secret, he said, adding that most people who know him personally are aware. But it's not all of who he is.

Nor does it shape his agenda -- except for his concern about bullying of gay teenagers.

I agree there are much more important issues in the campaign. Brandon has run an energetic campaign and has been very successful so far -- especially for a first-time candidate.

His sexuality doesn't matter -- and I brought it up here only because of the Victory Fund press release.

Pelosi Stumps for Votes, Says DADT Soon a ‘Memory’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who might have to relinquish the Speaker’s gavel over to GOP Minority Leader John Boehner if the House changes hands, is trying to counter the flagging enthusiasm. On Sept. 29, she received an award at the Victory Fund’s 10th annual Gay & Lesbian Leadership Awards. She again assured the audience that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would be a memory “by the end of the year,” according to LGBT reporters on hand, even though the Senate failed to move the National Defense Authorization Act forward, with the attached DADT repeal amendment. Pelosi also reiterated that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would have to wait until after DADT is repealed.

Openly gay Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., also spoke at the Victory Fund event, stressing the importance of keeping a Democratic majority in Congress. Frank described Pelosi as “the single most important public official in the history of the United States to be fully committed to our agenda—not just as a matter of support—but as a matter of her own personal involvement,” according to the Washington Blade.

But Frank was less gracious about disaffected gays. “I understand people being unhappy about that,” Frank said, referring to failure to pass LGBT bills. “What I do not understand is people who think that the way to respond to the fact that we weren’t able to get things done is to further empower the people who kept us from getting them done.”

After the Victory Fund event, Pelosi spoke with reporters, telling The Advocate that DADT will end “with or without Congress. We wanted to sort of put our imprimatur on it, but I don’t think it has to depend on whether it passes the Senate. The process will work its way through and the president will make his pronouncement on it.”