Josh wrote:
> LGBT groups and their allies put a lot of work into the campaign of his
main opponent, Joanne Seminara.
Yup, I know all about that situation. Just as bad was the special election in the Bronx where the two Democratics were against queer rights and the Republican was pro-queer rights. How did those two ever get involved with the Democratic Party in the first place. I think I like the practice Bill Bartlett wrote about which allows people to be expelled by a party LOL.
> In a Democratic primary, she would have beaten Gentile easily -- from what
we can
tell, registered Dems supported her by a wide margin.
I hope so. From my own experience queers don't play well in Bay Ridge -- residents think there are too many moving there as is.
> The current City Council is far from perfect, but it will be much harder
for candidates associated with gay rights to win without the boost of Dem
primary.
That is an understatement. But if the Democratic party is going to field homophobes like Charles Barron et. al., how can they expect to be seen as pro-queer and progressive. Why wouldn't non-partisan elections allow for a true pro-queer progressives to run and show how little difference there is between the Dems and Republicans in NYC on these issues?
As long as Democratic primaries end up nominating homophobes like Barron, what is the sense in keeping such a system? The horrendous part of partisan elections is how money will become even more powerful, but the system that is now in place is so dominated by straights and the straight agenda that queers do not have a chance.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister