Gay Newspaper Endorses Stansell and Stewart

Out & About Newspaper has taken the stance of endorsing both candidates in the District 52 race. The endorsement and a series of Q & A from each candidate is here.

TEP-PAC endorses Stewart and Richardson in first round

Here is the statement that will go out tomorrow about TEP-PAC's first endorsements in State House and Senate races.

This year's legislative races are important for the future of Tennessee's LGBT community. Today we announce our first endorsements for the Tennessee House of Representatives.

District 52 includes more people on our contact list than any other district in the state. As you would expect, issues important to our community are important to the candidates. In the Democratic primary, TEP-PAC endorses Mike Stewart. Mr. Stewart has shown his commitment to equality in his responses to questions about policy as well as his consistent outreach to our community. His opponent Eric Stansell has also shown a true commitment to issues of equality in response to questions about policy. We thank the candidates for their clear support. If you would like to help Mike Stewart's campaign, go to http://electmikestewart.org.

In District 89, we again endorse Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis). She is running unopposed, but we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge her strong defense of our community in the preceding legislative session. We are grateful for her leadership.

Yours,
Jenny Ford
Chair, TEP-PAC

TEP-PAC is a state political action committee registered in Tennessee. Joyce Peacock, treasurer. The endorsements of TEP-PAC do not necessarily reflect the views of the board of the Tennessee Equality Project.

House District 52 candidates support stronger hate crimes laws

This morning Democratic candidates for the 52nd House District Eric Stansell and Mike Stewart debated...or as some would have it, politely agreed about most of the issues that were put to them by a group of progressive organizations. Matt Pulle covered the event for the Scene and noted some of the questions and answers:

On the recent spate of violence against gays:

Stewart:
“I will support the expansion of the hate crimes statute.”
Stansell:
“Without question we have to strengthen the laws in this area.”

Randy Cox, president of the Tennessee Equality Project Foundation, asked the question. I spoke with Randy after the debate and he said that he actually asked the question in reference to the violence against transgender people. The current hate crimes law covers gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (sexual orientation), but it does not cover transgender people (gender identity).

Still, we're glad that Pulle was there covering the discussion and that Randy was able to ask his question. Even better is the fact that both candidates can be convinced of the need to strengthen the law so we can bring more attention to this issue.