Frank Ferri will join Gordon Fox as the only out gay lawmakers in the Rhode Island Assembly. He beat two opponents in a special election Tuesday to fill a vacant seat. Inerestingly, Ferri will be the first lawmaker in the state with a same-sex spouse. He and his partner were married in Canada. Ferri is the Chair of Marriage Equality Rhode Island.

Michelle Bruce likely isn’t interested in being a cause. Read her comments to the press over the last week and you realize she just wants to serve the people of Riverdale, Ga., just as she has for the past four years on the city council.

Bruce, one of the few openly transgender elected officials in the U.S., was the top vote-getter in the race to keep her seat, but local politicos with designs on taking over city government are trying to nullify the election in part on the grounds that Bruce is not a woman. The absurdity of the claim is obvious, but the mean-spirited nature of it and the blatant disregard for the democratic process are still galling.

The staff here is incredibly busy as we prepare to host the annual International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference in Las Vegas this weekend. There is much to do and not enough hands to do it. But as busy as we are, our minds or on Riverdale, Ga., where Michelle Bruce is still fighting the bigotry and small-mindedness that many of our candidates face when they stand up to lead.

We will stand with Michelle, and we encourage you to do the same. Please give to Michelle’s runoff campaign today and help her face down those who would hold us back and ignore the will of the people to advance their own narrow agenda.

Budget behemoth Wal-Mart’s smiley face logo didn’t charm Human Rights Campaign scorekeepers this holiday season. The group gave the retailer a failing grade on its annual list of LGBT-friendly holiday shopping spots, advising conscientious gay shoppers to move along to more friendly corporate climes. Target rated 80 out of 100 points, while Wal-Mart fell to just 40 this year. That’s a step backward from prior years, when the company was enagaged in talks with HRC to expand benefits for its LGBT employees. Wal-Mart reportedly pulled back after anti-gay groups balked. Read more at USATODAY.com.

Gay blog Good-As-You posted an item this morning bringing attention to NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams’ statement that the institution of marriage was “under attack.” Williams’ report focused on the 60th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth to Prince Philip, with Williams stating that the anniversary is a rarity given the current cultural climate.
View the clip below:

Good-As-You writes: “So at best, this was bad news writing; at worst, it’s a prominent journalist and news outlet taking some irresponsible rhetorical bait. Either way, we’re less than thrilled.”

Philadelphia mayor John Street, who the Philadelphia Inquirer claims was once “public enemy number one” of the LGBT community,” has apparently come around on his views. This Saturday, Street will preside over the commitment ceremony of his deputy secretary for external affairs, Micah Mahjoubian, and his partner Ryan Bunch.
The Inquirer reports:

With 125 guests expected, it will resemble in every way a traditional wedding but will have no legal standing, since Pennsylvania prohibits gay marriage.
Mahjoubian, 33, and Ryan Bunch, 32, will wear matching black tuxedos with orange vests. There will be a 10-person wedding party; each groom’s best man happens to be a woman. Mahjoubian and Bunch will say their vows, exchange wedding rings, then leave for a reception at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s gay civil-rights organization, said he was unaware of another mayor who performed a commitment ceremony in a state where civil unions and gay marriage are illegal.
“Every single time a public official like Mayor Street performs a ceremony,” he said, “it strengthens the case for marriage equality.”
For Mahjoubian and Bunch, it’s as much a political statement as a show of their love before family and friends.
For Street, who has performed fewer than 10 weddings as mayor, it’s anything but.
“Micah is my friend. He has been in my campaign and has been in my administration for eight years,” Street said. Currently, Mahjoubian is his deputy secretary of external affairs. “I’ve come to respect him as a person, and if this is something he would like for me to do, then I’d like to do it for him.”