Georgia State capitol building. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
Lest it seem the news is all bad on the LGBT front--what with the defeat of a same-sex marriage bill in the New York State Senate on December 2--there is exciting news for both gays and people of color out of the state of Georgia this week.
The first victory to report is the election of Simone Bell to the Georgia State House of Representatives on December 1. By edging out her opponent (fellow Democrat Asha Jackson) with 53 percent of the vote, community organizer and activist Bell has become the first openly lesbian African-American state legislator in US history.
But wait, before you drop the balloons, there was another significant electoral win in Georgia: Atlanta voters sent Alex Wan to the city council, making him the first openly gay man and the first Asian-American to serve on that body. Progress, thy name is...Georgia?
Meanwhile, in Houston, lesbian City Controller Annise Parker has a good chance of becoming the city's first openly gay mayor in a runoff election scheduled for December 12. Could there be still more good news for the LGBT community on its way from the South to offset the recent disappointments of the Northeast?
Comments