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Georgia Democratic Candidates for U.S. Senate Are Gay-Friendly in Varying Degrees

Over the last few days, I’ve attempted to research the five Democratic candidates seeking the party’s nomination for the right to challenge Sen. Saxby Chambliss in the fall. It has been a frustrating exercise, with limited media attention on their campaigns. Georgia Equality, Stonewall Democrats, Southern Voice–no one in the gay community Powers That Be are making any endorsements. While I would not characterize myself as a single-issue voter, I would say that I always check a candidate’s positions on LGBT issues before I cast a vote. I may not choose a candidate solely on their gay-friendliness, but I will certainly rule one out who isn’t. Facing radio silence from LGBT organizations and limited press coverage of the candidates (not to mention the meager coverage of their stand on LGBT issues), I decided to research it myself. Something we should all do for outselves anyway, granted, but the organizations that watch-dog such things for us are usually a good place to start. Apparently, as I mentioned in a previous post, no one is much interested in a challenge to Saxby Chambliss. But I won’t rant on about that again. I’ll move on to what I learned in my research. I hope it will be of some help or at least mild interest to you. And I hope you will vote tomorrow.

None of the Democratic candidates offer detailed positions on gay issues on their Websites, with the exception of a brief mention of protecting constitutional rights on Dale Cardwell’s issues page and an equal rights page on Rand Knight’s site that was so buried I didn’t find it until his staff sent me a link to the page. So, I sent an e-mail to each of the five candidates campaigns asking for more detail on their positions on issues of importance to the LGBT community. I received responses from Cole Haymond with Rand Knight’s campaign and from Morgan Martin Walters for Jim Martin. Dale Cardwell directed me to a Southern Voice article detailing candidate positions. The response, which appeared to come directly from Mr. Cardwell, was courteous. I cannot fault a campaign for not answering one e-mail within days of the primary, I suppose. On the other hand, neither Josh Lanier nor Vernon Jones responded. I’m just another blogger, not high on anyone’s media relations radar, I’m sure. But I’m also an active voter. There’s two off my list already. Here are the campaigns’ responses to my query.

From Rand Knight’s campaign:

“You will find under Rand’s issues, his stance on Equal Rights. He was the only U.S. Senate Candidate to march in the Pride Parade and he stood up for equal rights in a debate on Fox 5 Atlanta. He has been interviewed by the Southern Voice and stood up for Gay Marriage when Jim Martin did not.”

From Jim Martin’s campaign, I received the following detailed response:

Same Sex Marriage/Civil Unions
Jim believes we must protect all Georgians from discrimination and must treat all Georgians with respect and dignity. He does not support discrimination in any form and believes it is unjust to deny rights to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation. For that reason, he supports civil unions.

Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell
Jim is a Vietnam veteran and believes that we should encourage citizens to serve in the military and support them when they’re there. He does not support the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy.

ENDA
Jim is in favor of ENDA because he does not support discrimination in any form.

Gay Adoption
Jim believes the first and only concern should be what is in the best interest of the child. As Commissioner of Human Resources, he was responsible for all public adoptions in the state, so he knows firsthand that adding any other factor would take the focus off of the best interest of the child. He also believes we need more adoptive parents, not fewer. Many of our most troubled, sick, and at risk children would never be adopted if we took the focus off of the best interest of the child.

Hate Crimes
As a legislator, Jim was a leader on this issue at the State Capitol. Jim built consensus on and passed out of committee hate crimes legislation before it was amended on the floor of the House in a manner that caused the law to be struck down later.

Jim is one of the most fair-minded leaders in the state. He has a 35-year record of accomplishment to prove it. In the 1980’s, when few politicians would address the HIV/AIDS crisis, Jim was a leader in the state’s response to HIV and AIDS and in getting state and federal funds for the Ryan White program and other initiatives. When HIV/AIDS-related deaths were at their peak and same sex partners were facing obstacles as their loved ones were dying, Jim wrote the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Act, which created the right for people to make end of life decisions and burial arrangements for each other. Previously, only biological family members and spouses had that right. The fact of the matter is that no candidate for U.S. Senate has a record like Jim’s on issues important to the LGBT community.

This exercise settled it for me. While disappointed by the Democratic Party’s approach to this Senate race, I will vote for a Democratic candidate regardless. And I will vote for Jim Martin. While no gay organizations have made endorsements (much to my dismay), Jim Martin was endorsed by Georgia Equality in 2006 when he ran for lieutenant governor. He lost that race, but did manage a respectable 40 percent of the vote, making him the one candidate with proven ability to wage a statewide campaign and hopefully some name recognition from his failed bid for leutenant governor upon which to build. And his record of support for the GLBT community in Georgia is strong. Few candidates are perfect on gay and lesbian issues, but Jim is clearly the most thoughtful on GLBT voter concerns. And he has the record to back it up. Jim, for what it’s worth, you have my vote.