GayPolitics.com

Sunil Babu Pant, a gay man who recently made history by winning a seat in Nepal’s parliament, recently gave an interview to Gay City News about his election and the country’s changing attitude toward the LGBT community.

“There has been a significant change in the Maoist attitude toward sexual and gender minorities. I and the BDS had many meetings, dialogues, and orientations with several parties, including the Maoists. And this year, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress Party [the second-largest party in the constituent assembly], and the Communist Party-(United) all included LGBT rights in their election manifestos.”

Pant, 35, founded gay rights group the Blue Diamond Society in 2002. In the most recent election, ten candidates from the organization sought public office, eight of whom were transgender.

Read the entire article here.

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Bohnett fellows: Hon. Evan Low, Dr. Dana Beyer, Hon. Henry Fernandez

The David Bohnett Foundation has teamed with the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI) to help the organization sponsor lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender public officials in attending one of the nation’s most prestigious mid-career executive development programs — the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The program, to be named the David Bohnett Gay & Lesbian Leadership Fellows, is being funded by a $500,000 grant to GLLI.

GLLI also announced its ten fellows for 2008, a list that includes elected officials and public servants. The full list is:

• Dr. Dana Beyer, senior policy advisor, Montgomery County Council, Rockville, Maryland
• Jeremy Bishop, executive director, Pride At Work AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C.
• Spencer Cronk, senior advisor to the deputy commissioner, City of New York
• Henry Fernandez, school board member, Lawrence Township, Indiana
• Robert Gaiser, councilmember, City and County of Broomfield, Colorado
• Evan Low, councilmember, City of Campbell, California
• David Pierce, state representative, New Hampshire House of Representatives
• Gerrie Schipske, councilmember, City of Long Beach, California
• Debra Shore, commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Chicago, Illinois
• Kevin Vaughn, chief of staff to the city manager, City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“We are honored by and excited about David Bohnett’s commitment to growing the leadership capacity of the LGBT community,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI). “This extraordinarily generous gift means our public leaders will be able to develop their leadership skills at the finest educational institutions in the world.”

The David Bohnett Foundation, which promotes social activism as a means to improve society, has long supported GLLI’s work to equip openly LGBT leaders for effective leadership. The Foundation’s executive director, Michael Fleming, said the grant reflects its desire to improve the lives of gays and lesbians through promoting leaders from among that community.

“GLLI’s work is making a difference by ensuring gay people are well represented among the ranks of public leaders in America. But it’s not enough that leaders are out. Our leaders should also be outstanding, and that means we have to invest in developing their skills,” said Fleming.

Jim Roth, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner and alumnus of the Harvard program, said that the experience was life-changing.

“Quite frankly, my experience as a Leadership Institute Fellow at Harvard has dramatically changed my life, personally and professionally,” he said. “The experience taught me a new guiding principle that I now apply to every public service/political and personal situation I encounter: ‘Change does not happen when you are comfortable.’”

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The Pennsylvania House of Representatives derailed State Sen. Michael Brubaker’s proposed constitutional ban on marriage equality yesterday.

Opposition in the Democratically-controlled House forced Brubaker to let the bill rest indefinitely, meaning it won’t likely be acted upon in the current legislative session. Brubaker did, however, vow to continue his fight for the bill, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Rep. Babette Josephs, who represents the gay district in Philadelphia, was instrumental in the bill’s demise, since she serves as chair of the House State Government Committee, where the bill was headed. Josephs spoke at a rally against the amendment on Monday where she called the legislation “discriminatory, disgraceful, morally wrong and unnecessary.”

The paper reports:

The bill would have amended the constitution to define a legal marriage in Pennsylvania as a union only of one man and one woman. Pennsylvania already has a law doing that, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, but some religious groups and social conservatives want to put the one man-one woman definition into the constitution, to make it stronger and prevent “liberal judges” from allowing gays or lesbians to try to get married or to join in “civil unions,” as they can in several other states.

Mr. Brubaker, a freshman senator, “has worked hard and diligently on this very difficult issue,” said Sen. Michael Waugh, R-York, a co-sponsor of the bill. “He has brought it along and contributed to its progress, but I support the move to table. It’s the most prudent action under the circumstances.”

The chances that Senate Bill 1250 might have passed the Senate were good, since it’s controlled by Republicans 29 to 21. The measure just passed the Senate Appropriations Committee 18-8 on Monday, and had also passed in the Judiciary Committee.

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Boris Johnson, the new mayor of London, has appointed Tory Richard Barnes as one of his deputy mayors.

Barnes is the London Assembly member for Ealing and Hilldingdon. He holds a degree in economics from the University of Wales, according to Pink News — which listed him as one of the top 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender politicians in the United Kingdom.

Johnson also appointed gay officials Brian Coleman and Simon Milton to prominent roles. Pink News reports:

Mr Barnes is not the only prominent gay man in the new administration.

Another gay Tory Assembly Member, Brian Coleman, has been appointed Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

Sir Simon Milton, leader of Westminster Council, becomes a Senior Adviser on Planning. Knighted in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List, he publicly declared his sexuality and married his long-term partner Councillor Robert Davis at The Ritz hotel last year.

Commenting on the appointments, Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:

“I promised during the election campaign that I would be backed up by a strong team of advisers who will help me deliver my agenda of change for London.

“Yesterday I was able to reveal that Ray Lewis would join me in the fight against gun and knife crime in taking the important role of Deputy Mayor, Young People.

“Ray will work closely with Kit Malthouse who has agreed to become Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Policing.

“I’m also happy to welcome into City Hall Ian Clement and Simon Milton, two experienced public servants who have a fantastic record of delivery in local government.

“I have no doubt that this team will back me all the way in working tirelessly for London over the coming years.”

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Last night, while most political onlookers were watching the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Indiana and North Carolina, a Virginia resident quietly made history as he became the state’s first openly gay African-American elected to public office.

In his first bid for elected office, Lawrence Webb won a seat on the Falls Church City Council by a margin of 39 votes. He joins two other candidates on the City Council: Nader Baroukh and Robin S. Gardner.

“I am grateful that the citizens of Falls Church have entrusted me with the responsibility to help guide the direction of our city’s future, and I thank them. I look forward to working with Council to make Falls Church an even better city than it is now,” Webb said.

“I also hope my election opens the door for others to get involved in public service. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or black or both. What matters is your dedication to building a better community, and your willingness to work hard at it. I’m glad the people of Falls Church agree. I also want to thank the Victory Fund and its staff and donors. They were dedicated to this campaign from the beginning, and they worked very hard to help us win.”

Lawrence is currently the assistant dean of admissions at the University of Mary Washington. In his free time, Lawrence is an active member of the Falls Church City Democratic Committee, the City of Falls Church Parks and Recreation Commission and Equality Fairfax. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner appointed Lawrence to the board of the Department of Correctional Education.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund staff launched an intense get-out-the-vote initiative, bringing supporters out to the polls.

“While the presidential race is grabbing national headlines, openly gay candidates and elected officials are making great strides under the radar. Lawrence’s historic win is just one example of this,” said Chuck Wolfe, President and CEO of the Victory Fund. “I’m also extraordinarily proud of the work our team did in the field yesterday. They made calls until their cell phones went dead and, in the end, their work contributed directly to Lawrence’s close win.”

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, the results were:

Nader Baroukh 1,226 18.77%
Robin S. Gardner 1,273 19.49%
E.B. “Ed” Hillegass 807 12.36%
M. R. “Lindy” Hockenberry 1,176 18.01%
Margaret W. Housen 590 9.03%
Patrice A. Lepczyk 231 3.53%
Lawrence L. Webb 1,215 18.60%
Write In 11 0.16%

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