Think of it as a boot camp for potential LGBT candidates.  The deadline is nearing for LGBT hopefuls to sign up for the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute’s Candidate and Campaign Training in Denver, CO.  This coming Tuesday, August 25, is the last day to apply for the training program running September 24-27.

The GLLI’s training program assists LGBT hopefuls in learning the ins and outs of running a campaign as an out candidate.  Attendees will learn about raising enough money to compete, how to formulate a political message that allows candidates to run as more than just an LGBT candidate, and how to produce a winning campaign.  Candidates will even participate in an intense campaign simulation over the four days in Denver.

By taking the training program to Colorado, the GLLI will be paying a visit to the state that gave us one of our most significant victories in 2008: the first gay man elected as a non-incumbent to the US House of Representatives, Jared Polis.  Back in 2006, Polis prepared for his historic run by participating in the GLLI’s Candidate & Campaign Training.  Three years later, Polis is crafting legislation in the House and the program that helped put him there is coming to Denver.

Additional training alumni include the first Latina lesbian sheriff elected in the United States, Dallas’s Lupe Valdez, and the first lesbian elected to the North Carolina state Senate, Senator Julia Boseman.  These remarkable candidates, and many more, started their campaign journey by participating in this renowned training.

The deadline to start your path to public service is Tuesday, so apply now!

More than six in ten U.S. voters say they could support an openly gay candidate for president of the United States, according to a new nationwide poll from Zogby International.

The poll, conducted for the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, asked 1,089 likely voters if they would support an openly gay president, U.S. senator, vice president or cabinet-level secretary if they believed the individual was the most qualified person for the job. Sixty-five percent of survey participants indicated that they “strongly” or “somewhat” agree they could support the presidential candidate.

Seventy-one percent of respondents claimed they would support the appointment of an openly gay cabinet-level secretary. To that end, the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, along with a coalition of partners, launched the Presidential Appointments Project earlier this year to serve as a talent bank for openly LGBT professionals seeking appointed positions in the next presidential administration.

“These results prove that most Americans want to be fair to gay people. Our aspiration is to always see each other as individuals first, and though we may not always succeed at that, our underlying fairness and decency means that one day soon we will. This marks tremendous progress for our community and for the voting public,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of Leadership Institute.

A recent article in The Advocate pondered the practical possibilities of potential gay presidential candidates, coming up with a list that ranged from Providence mayor David Cicilline and Rep. Tammy Baldwin to political pundit Rachel Maddow and 21-year-old superdelegate Jason Rae.

The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, in conjunction with the David Bohnett Foundation, recently sent a group of 11 openly LGBT leaders to participate in the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

The David Bohnett Gay & Lesbian Leadership Fellows program helps openly LGBT public leaders take advantage of one of the nation’s most prestigious mid-career executive training programs, designed primarily for senior-level executives from state, county and local governments, and their elected counterparts. Part of the training included participation in a ropes course, seen at the right.

Evan Low, Campbell City, Calif. Councilmember and current leadership fellow described the experience as important not only to openly gay fellows seeking premier leadership skills, but to the other participants of the Senior Executives Program at Harvard. Low believes that the program has been invaluable in giving LGBT leadership a face among senior executives across the country.

“Today we had a session in which one of the participants broke down and confessed to the class that before he came to the program, he considered himself a Midwestern, Catholic, homophobic, conservative white male,” reported Low. “Now that he’s had an opportunity to meet and interact with us, he no longer feels uncomfortable and sees us as friends.”

The 2008 Bohnett Leadership Fellows are:

• 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
• Don Mullen, chief of policy, San Diego City Council
• David Pierce, state representative, New Hampshire House of Representatives
• Debra Shore, commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Chicago, Illinois
• Kyrsten Sinema, state representative, Arizona House of Representatives
• Kevin Vaughn, chief of staff to the city manager, City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In its continuing efforts to develop and cultivate LGBT leaders, the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute has announced the launch of the Presidential Appointments Project.

This non-partisan effort, done in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Stonewall Democrats, intends to grow the pool of openly LGBT professionals who would be qualified and ready to accept politically appointed positions in the next U.S. presidential administration. GLLI will identify, recruit and vet applicants for thousands of executive branch positions that will be filled with political appointees after the next president is sworn in.

Ambassador James C. Hormel, who became the first openly gay U.S. ambassador when he was appointed by President Bill Clinton, said the project will make it easier for the next president to identify and consider talented individuals to serve his or her administration. “We also need to say to the next president, ‘We’re ready to serve and we’re ready to lead,’” Hormel said. “The next administration must know that we are concerned about being included, determined to contribute our talents, skills and insights, and eager to participate in the hard work of governing our country.”

Visit the Presidential Appointments Project Web site by clicking here.