Georgia Equality releases endorsements for November elections

On Sept. 22, statewide LGBT advocacy group Georgia Equality released their endorsements for this November’s state legislature races, revealing one more LGBT candidate than previously thought and one surprising non-endorsement.

Attorney Sam Park joins Bob Gibeling as the two openly LGBT males running for the state legislature, and either of them would make history by pulling out a win and being the first openly gay male to be elected to the Georgia legislature—Rashad Taylor was outed in 2011 while in office and did not win reelection.

Park, a Democrat, is running in House District 101 against incumbent state Rep. Valerie Clark, a Republican running on lowering taxes and transportation issues. Park is making the economy, health care and equality (including opposition to any anti-LGBT so-called “religious freedom” bills) the centerpieces of his campaign.

Georgia Equality declined an endorsement in the House District 54 race that pits the openly gay Gibeling against Republican Rep. Beth Beskin. Beskin riled LGBT activists last March during a House subcommittee hearing when she failed to support LGBT nondiscrimination amendments to SB 129, state Sen. Josh McKoon’s (R-Columbus) “religious freedom” bill. However, Beskin was one of two Republicans who joined seven Democrats in passing an amendment that added anti-discrimination language into SB 129 the following day, leading the bill to be tabled and eventually failing to pass.

For the full list of Georgia Equality’s endorsements, visit www.thegavoice.com for an extended version of this story.

More than 11,000 transgender voters in Georgia may be disenfranchised