Following the California Supreme Court’s marriage decision, LGBT candidates are stepping up to run for office in cities across the U.S., according to several media reports out today.

Former Washington, D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation director Clark E. Ray (pictured) is considering challenging incumbent City Councilman Phil Mendelson for at at-large seat on the D.C. Council.  Ray, who would become the third openly gay councilmember, told the Washington Post he’d be focused on running a broad campaign rather than one specifically about marriage.  

In Atlanta, openly gay business owner and community organizer Alex Wan announced his bid for a seat on the Atlanta City Council.  He will be running against Steve Brodie, another openly gay candidate, who came within 5 votes of unseating incumbent Anne Fauver in 2005.  Fauver, who is the Council’s only openly gay official, has announced she will not run for a  third term.

Meanwhile in San Francisco numerous openly gay candidates reacted to the California Supreme Court decision, and some were even arrested at street protests following the announcement, according to the Bay Area Reporter.

“Politically, I have hope. Personally, I am very distressed. I don’t like being a second-class citizen…If they want a fight, they are going to get a fight.” 

California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s reaction to the ruling on the validity of Proposition 8 echoed that of his out colleagues in the legislature, many of whom had earlier worked to pass a marriage equality bill that was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  

The LGBT legislative caucus spoke at a press conference following the decision yesterday, according to the L.A. Times:

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com looks at national and regional polling and concludes the Hispanic Americans generally support marriage equality for gays and lesbians at about the same level as whites.  ”There is a somewhat persistent conservative myth that Hispanic voters are vehemently opposed to gay marriage. Although a majority of Hispanics are probably are opposed to gay marriage — as most (though no longer all) surveys suggest are a majority of Americans in general — Hispanics appear to be no more opposed to gay marriage than are whites,” Silver writes.

Iowa State Sen. Matt McCoy (pictured), who is openly gay, this week said a local radio host “crossed the line” when he questioned McCoy’s religion.  

In on-air remarks last week reported by the Iowa Independent, WHO-AM radio host Steve Deace and his pastor, Bob Deaver of Grace West Church in West Des Moines discussed the fact that McCoy has talked about his own faith in discussions about marriage equality.  According to the Independent:

Deever said McCoy has developed a God in his mind to allow him to do the things he wants to do, and because he is openly gay McCoy can’t be a Christian.

“You’re going to have to determine what you’re going to believe: your self deception and what you think it is or God’s truth and what he says it is,” he said.

Deace then hearkened longingly for the days when a homosexual could not “live this way without any sort of societal retribution for them.”

McCoy responded today in an article in the Independent:

“As an elected official I have always tried to be accepting and appreciative of all religious and spiritual beliefs and practices that makes our country diverse,” McCoy said in a statement to the Iowa Independent. “Steve Deace chooses to use his radio platform at 1040 WHO to spread hate and lies on behalf of his version of Christianity. I feel that he crossed the line of decency by attacking me and my family in such an outrageous manner. Steve Deace does not know me or my heart and his attacks will not harm me.”

LGBT leaders are responding to President Obama’s choice of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.  

In piece written by Lisa Keen for Bay Windows, Freedom to Marry’s Evan Wolfson said, “I believe she has the demonstrated commitment to principles of equal protection and inclusion that defines a good nominee to the Supreme Court. In choosing Judge Sotomayor, the first Latino candidate for the Supreme Court, President Obama has made a strong and appealing nomination that should and will receive the supportof those committed to equality for lesbians and gay men.”

Chris Crain, the former editor of the Washington Blade who writes at his blog Citizen Crain, said, “We will no doubt all be learning more about Judge Sotomayor in the days and weeks to come, including the context of her most incendiary comments, and whether they are in fact reflected in her actual judicial philosophy, the votes she has cast from the bench, and the opinions she has authored. In the meantime, she appears to be an impressive selection destined for confirmation.”

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement praising the pick.  ”The U.S. Supreme Court decides cases that intimately affect the lives of all Americans.  We are confident that Judge Sotomayor has a demonstrated understanding and commitment to protecting the liberty and equality of all Americans,” Solmonese said.