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Two weeks ago, I was very fortunate to interview that amazing Representative Deb Mell, Illinois' only openly lesbian lawmaker. I am only now getting the interview up--thanks so much start of the semester--but its awesome. There's a lot of good stuff there. This is just tip of the iceberg. I really think you should finish this piece over at Bilerico. Near the end we talked about the plan for relationship recognition and how Illinois is going to help the nation pass ENDA. Its really worth checking out. Here's my Bilerico piece " Profile: Openly lesbian Illinois lawmaker Deb Mell " Over the past few months I've told you a lot about the folks who are aspiring to be out LGBT elected leaders in Illinois, but two people I would love to tell you a lot more about are our two openly gay lawmakers Deb Mell and Greg Harris . Both serve the state in the Illinois Assembly. I got a chance to interview Chicago resident, political family scion and freshman lawmaker Deb ...

Check out my latest post at Out & About Illinois: Massachusetts could be getting an openly gay Lieutenant Governor . It may defy all reason, but it seems that the Republican party may be the first political party to make an openly gay Governor—or at least Lieutenant Governor. Moderate Republican Charlie Barker, former President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, has tapped his campaign chairman, openly gay Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei to be his running-mate in the Republican primaries this winter. According to the Boston Globe, while the 47 year old Tisei’s sexuality has been an open secret in Boston since the early 1990s, he only came out officially on the 19 th of November, after it came to light he was front-runner among those jockeying to be Barker’s running-mate. Regardless of the revelation, Barker chose Tisei anyway, and if they win the Republican ticket together, they’ll be squaring off against Governor Deval Patrick and former Democrat, Treasu...

Check out my newest Bilerico post: Illinois' Jacob Meister aims to be the first openly gay Senate candidate [Part II] . Last week I had a delightful conversation with Jacob Meister , the openly gay Chicago lawyer who has high hopes for winning the Democratic primary and seeking the seat previously held by President Barack Obama and Carol Moseley Braun before him. We opened by talking about Meister's long history working with small businesses, and his experiences on Capitol Hill as an intern in the 1980s. We continued to talk about his plan for education, his telecommuting tax credit plan and his 2020 Vision for America which includes building a strong stable of green jobs in manufacturing to move the United States to the forefront of the global green economy, and get all Americans back to gainful employment. Next we moved on to the very reason why I sought an interview with the candidate: why does Jacob Meister believe that he is going to be the first openly gay man elect...

Please check out my latest Bilerico.com post, ILLINOIS' JACOB MEISTER AIMS TO BE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY SENATE CANDIDATE Jacob Meister and his campaign manager, Lowell Jaffe, were standing outside of a CVS Pharmacy on DuPont Circle, in Washington DC the morning of the National Equality March. Jaffe stuck his hand out as I passed and they started a campaign pitch, and I smiled and rolled my eyes. Candidates are always stopping folks outside of Wal-Mart or inside of Bob Evans, and I think at a certain point most politically active people have been desensitized to these awkward attempts to schmooze. Hearing that Jacob was openly gay and was running for a state-wide seat in Illinois got my attention, however, and we exchanged information before I ran off to get my press pass and line up. I didn't think much of the encounter, and let it roll to the back of my mind until I started getting emails from the campaign. Last week, Jacob Meister opened up a local campaign office here in ...

Check out my latest BILERICO.COM POST-- THE HISTORY MAKER'S HISTORIAN: JON KNOLL ON JIM MADIGAN (THIS IS NOT THE FULL POST, YOU HAVE TO CLICK THROUGH TO FINISH AS IT IS OWNED BY THE BILERICO PROJECT!) Illinois has had its share of making history lately, but we have the opportunity to make history once again with an unprecedented number of openly gay candidates going into this Spring's primaries. Cook County (Chicago) is leading the pack with dozens of openly gay candidates for various offices on all levels. One of those offices is the 7th State Senate district currently being held by Democrat Heather Steans who is being challenged in the Primaries by openly gay former Executive Director of Equality Illinois, Jim Madigan . The district includes Andersonville, which is the up-and-coming new 'gayborhood' for the city of Chicago, no doubt part of the reason that Steans introduced a Marriage Equality bill and transgender friendly legislation in the Illinois state Senat...

Check out my newest piece in Bilerico.com about our losses in Maine and our wins elsewhere in the nation: MOURN THE LOSSES... CELEBRATE THE VICTORIES Today is not a day to be sad. Anger is a different story. We have a lot to be angry about with our community's razor-thin defeat in Maine. Its a hard pill to swallow. I've given quite a bit of my cash and time to LGBT causes over the years, but I've never given as much cash to an organization as No On One Maine. I am proud to say that I think they spent every penny carefully and deliberately, and worked their butts off to avoid mistakes of the past. However, despite all that we gave in Maine, all the time we all took, Maine went the other way. When our relationships are voted on, this is not a normal political loss. When losing elections before, I always felt as if it were something akin to losing a really important baseball game--like the time in High School when we were stopped at States by Blissfield (I'm still convi...

As I began yesterday, I think there's more to LGBT politics than what's happening in D.C. Though I did endorse the National Equality March today , I disagree with the organizers that D.C. is ALWAYS where its at. Our local snowball is rolling. This year's seen more local wins than ever before. From Vermont to Maine to Iowa, we're turning out local victories while the lobbyists in D.C. are still getting away messages. What will happen to momentum nationally if we start to win ALL of our local contests? In order to win, we need to support. we can't support every single local campaign this Fall, but perhaps 10 to focus on for starters, and build from there. What would happen if 100 people gave just $10 to each of these 10 campaigns? What if those 100 people were 1000 people? Do you think you could convince just 10 people to give $100--$10 each--to these campaigns, and then in turn have them convince 10 more people to do the same? Do you see where I'm going here? ...

There's more to LGBT politics than what's happening in D.C. This year, we've seen more local wins than ever before in our movement's history. From Vermont to Maine to Iowa, we're turning out local victories while the lobbyists in D.C. are still getting answering machines. What will happen nationally if we start to win ALL of our local contests? In order to win, we need to support. You and I can't support every single local campaign this Fall, but perhaps we can pick 10 to support with just a little bit of money today, and then get our friends to support those 10 too. What would happen if 100 people gave just $10 to each of these 10 campaigns? Each campaign could pay for the type of leg-work they need to change minds and hearts. What if those 100 people were 1000 people? Do you think you could convince just 10 people to give $100--$10 each--to these campaigns, and then in turn convince 10 more people to do the same? Do you see where I'm going here? Ye...

After a false start last week, the list got a bit of a make-over. Here it is. This fall we have a lot of LGBT issues to watch from Capitol Hill to Bangor. Its hard to sort through and tell which ones REALLY need your help NOW. Every single LGBT issue--local or national--needs your attention and support through time, spreading the word and recruitment as well as financially. However, none of us have thousands of dollars to give to all of these causes all of the place. I myself have about $100 to spend on LGBT issues this fall, and I want my $100 to make the most impact possible. In order to help you direct your attention precisely where it will be best served, this week I will tell you all about the top 10 local LGBT fights happening THIS FALL which you can donate just $10 to make a difference. With $100 you can help make a radical difference in the Equality Agenda across this land this year--and you won't break the bank! 10 . Wisconsin Domestic Partnership Benefits Supreme Court ...

This fall we have a lot of LGBT issues to watch from Capitol Hill to Bangor. Its hard to sort through and tell which ones REALLY need your help NOW. Every single LGBT issue--local or national--needs your attention and support through time, spreading the word and recruitment as well as financially. However, none of us have thousands of dollars to give to all of these causes all of the place. I myself have about $100 to spend on LGBT issues this fall, and I want my $100 to make the most impact possible. In order to help you direct your attention precisely where it will be best served, this week I will tell you all about the top 10 local LGBT fights happening THIS FALL which you can donate just $10 to make a difference. With $100 you can help make a radical difference in the Equality Agenda across this land this year--and you won't break the bank! 10. Wisconsin Domestic Partnership Benefits Supreme Court Challenge 9. Anthony Woods U.S. House California 10th District 8. Charles Pugh ...