Forces of Reaction at Work in Metro Races: District 25

Nashvillian Earl Lamons sent an email to Metro Nashville Council District 25 candidate James Kaminski about the Contract Accountability Non-Discrimination Ordinance. Here's the reply he received last week:

Earl,

Thank you for your message. I would have voted against it. I think it is inappropriate for a businesses to comply with this. Its implementation will serve as a deterrent to potential businesses in the future. I am tired of all the attention this gets, and will be voting against any future bills which are similar to this anti-discrimination bill. I hope I have adequately addressed your question. Please feel free to contact me with any more questions or suggestions.

Best,

James M. Kaminski

If you ever doubted whether these elections are important, this email should clear up any confusion. There is definitely a battle for sensible, progressive government in Nashville. We have a choice between candidates who are thoughtful about moving Nashville forward like District 25 incumbent Sean McGuire and people who are "tired" of tackling the issues that face our city like Mr. Kaminski. We have a choice between candidates who know what really affects the jobs environment of our city and candidates who mistakenly believe that valuing talent and merit in an environment free of discrimination is somehow a barrier to attracting great companies, many of which already have inclusive policies.

Let's turn out the reality-based vote for candidates who aren't tired of moving Nashville forward.

-Chris Sanders

(Note: The image is from Zazzle.com and here is a link to the product listed above if you're interested in purchasing it.)

TEP treasurer Wes Aull considering Metro Council bid

The Tennessean and their political blog In Session are reporting that Wes Aull is considering entering the race to replace 5th District Metro Nashville Councilman Jamie Hollin who has announced he is not seeking reelection.

Aull serves as treasurer of the Tennessee Equality Project and is a CPA who works in the 5th district. He is also an active member of the Historic East Nashville Merchants Association.

Exciting news!

-Chris Sanders

Politicos come out to celebrate Metro NDO at Nashville Victory Toast

It was a great night for politicking in Nashville as the GLBT community and allies came together to celebrate the first anniversary of the passage of the Metro non-discrimination ordinance.

Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors, Sen. Douglas Henry, Rep. Sherry Jones, Council Members at-large Megan Barry and Ronnie Steine, district Council Members Emily Evans, Erica Gilmore, Sean McGuire, Jason Holleman, Kristine LaLonde, Sandra Moore, and Sam Coleman (also a candidate for House district 60) joined the crowd Wednesday evening to mark a milestone in the history of Tennessee's zig-zagging path to equality.

I was particularly glad to see Sen. Henry and Councilman Coleman reach out to the community at this event. It was a great opportunity to extend the dialogue with these two officials.

Additionally, Metro Council candidates Nancy VanReece for district 4 and Pete Westerholm for district 6 stopped by.

It was a good night for reflecting on the last year and building toward advances of the future.

Saturday Brunch on the Go: Probable Hate Crime in Vonore and more

Brunch came from Hardee's today. Cancel that. It was breakfast. It's too early for brunch and the ballcapped customers would have looked at me like I was crazy if I had asked them, "How's your brunch this morning?" Our president, H.G. Stovall, is on the road today and he and I always make a stop at Hardee's when we travel for TEP. So I raise my cup of Diet Coke to you, H.G., and wish you safe travels.

Hate crime in Vonore, TN: A fire that destroyed the home of a lesbian couple in Vonore about a week ago is finally getting some media attention. Here's WATE's coverage complete with a photo of "Queers" spraypainted on the house. More coverage is available from The Daily Times (Blount County). The couple had been harassed by a neighbor in the weeks leading up to the incident. The only fortunate, though ironic, aspect of the story is that the couple and their daughter were in Nashville celebrating their 5th anniversary of moving into the house while it burned to the ground.

PFLAG Maryville, the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, and the East TN Equality Council have offered support to the family. If you would like to help, Knoxville Pridefest's blog offers specific ways to do that.

We are all hopeful that the family remain safe and that they get justice under the Tennessee hate crimes statute and the new federal hate crimes law. The matter is in the hands of law enforcement and we will all be watching how they handle the matter.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: As many of you heard, a federal judge has declared the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy unconstitutional. It's good news, but it's not stopping advocacy groups around the country from pressing the Senate for a legislative repeal. Tomorrow the TEP Nashville Committee is holding a Don't Ask, Don't Tell Barbecue at Stirrup to get our members to contact Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker to support repeal. That will be an uphill climb, but we believe they still need to hear from us so that they know people in Tennessee want to see this outdated, harmful, discriminatory policy changed.

Volunteers are signing up: This week TEP PAC started recruiting volunteers for pro-equality candidates for the General Assembly. We're getting a great response. What I'm noticing is that candidates are having a tough time getting all the help they need. We believe that they will be a valuable resource to candidates who deserve the help. If you would like to volunteer 2 hours between September 20 and November 2 to help a good candidate, contact us at chris@tnequalityproject.com and we'll try to find a match for you.

Have a great weekend!
-Chris Sanders

Sunday Brunch: Diet & Exercise edition

You'll notice a little more fruit on the menu today. Well, if you're going to eat sausage it's probably a good idea to throw in a few more antioxidants. Fruit is loaded with them and they help fight those free radicals. When you put it that way, it sounds downright repressive and reactionary. To us activists, free radicals just have to be a good thing, but they're definitely not in this case.

Diet: But maybe we can turn that around a bit. The radicals that are yelling the loudest about being free these days aren't progressives. They're the ones blathering on and on about trimming government, except when it comes to marriage and repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And they're out working hard for their candidates. If we want to fight the free radicals then we'd better start adding more fruit (if I can reclaim that offensive epithet used about our community) to the body politic. Yes, I'm suggesting that heavy doses of the antioxidant vitamins G, L, B, and T found naturally in what some people call fruits is part of the remedy to these dangerous free radicals.

So does that mean raising our community's issues more often and with more urgency in our state's upcoming election? To a degree. What I'm really talking about, though, is higher participation by the GLBT community. In other words, let's use fewer fighting words and use more fighting action. And that brings us to

Exercise: I'm definitely no exercise physiologist, gym bunny, etc. You can tell that by looking at me. But I do know that there are three muscle groups that our community needs to work if we want to have an impact in the upcoming election. And all three can help a good candidate.

Fingers: Phone banking for the candidate of your choice is a great way to give those tiny muscles in your fingers a great work out. After just a few sets with lots of reps (pretty butch, huh?) you'll amaze your friends with feats of manual dexterity that will pay off in faster and more accurate texting, etc.

Legs: After canvassing the voters in a neighborhood for a couple of hours, your legs will definitely feel the burn. You'll not only get the definition in your legs that you've been wanting, you'll also see the results when you contact your winning candidate about the issues that are important to you.

Arms: You don't have to do all your heavy lifting in the gym. Hitting the polling places during early voting with your candidate's sign in your hands will give you plenty of opportunity to work and show off those arms. For an aerobic component, try your sign spinning skills just like those guys who stand on street corners advertising everything from "Cash for Gold" to mobile phones. You'll look great in that sleeveless thing in all the clubs.

If you'd like to join our diet and exercise program for this fall's elections, contact us at chris@tnequalityproject.com and we'll be glad to connect you with a candidate who could use some help.

-Chris Sanders

Small in size, but packing a powerful punch: A lesson from unions

Today's Tennessean includes a detailed piece on the role of unions in Tennessee and Nashville politics. It has helped me extend my thinking in a previous post about the need for Tennessee's GLBT community to get more involved in electoral politics. Even though their numbers are declining, unions are adapting and stepping up their political activity. As the piece points out:

A survey of campaign finance records show unions have contributed at least $120,000 to campaigns this election cycle, including to the House and Senate Democratic caucuses; many Middle Tennessee Democratic legislative candidates; Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike McWherter; and Dean, Nashville's Democratic mayor, who is running for re-election next year.

And what's the motivation? It will sound familiar to many members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. According to SEIU's Doug Collier:

"I think we all need to grow out of necessity," he said. "Tennessee is a right-to-work, at-will state. If people don't have a voice on the job, there are many stories across this state of people showing up to work and being terminated or sent home for no reason."

So just to make the connection perfectly clear: Unions are a small group of people in Tennessee concerned about protecting their jobs. In fact, the percentage of Tennessee workers represented by unions in collective bargaining is 6.6 according to the same Tennessean piece. Tennessee's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender population is small but growing and growing significantly in urban areas like Nashville, according to Williams Institute analysis of census data. And like unions, our community is concerned about job protections. There are no federal, state, or local laws in Tennessee protecting workers in the private sector from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Some public employers like Shelby Co government, Metro Nashville government, Metro Nashville Public Schools, the Tennessee Board of Regents, and the University of Tennessee offer these protections to their own employees. But even the vast majority of state and local government employees in Tennessee lack these protections.

Put your money where your mouth is (going to be): Unions put into practice something the Tennessee GLBT community doesn't yet do. They give large amounts of money collectively to help elect candidates who can represent their interests in the Legislature and in local government. Such activity obviously helps amplify their voice when they come to lobby officials on their issues. Since November our community has bundled about $11,000 for state and local candidates. It's a good start, but given the growth of our community and our need for job protections, to say nothing of the need for defeating bad legislation, we've got more work to do.

-Chris Sanders

TN House District 64 candidate recruiting children in war against marriage equality

Rep. Ty Cobb's likely opponent in the House District 64 election in November is Sheila Butt. There's another Republican in the primary, but Ms. Butt has left him in the dust in fundraising, so she is all but assured to be the nominee. She may talk about jobs on the campaign trail, but I think her motivation for running is to advance doctrinaire Right wing public policy.

An email has been floating around linking to a children's book she has written, Seth & Sara Ask...Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies? I really wanted to see it for myself and fortunately a straight ally from Maury County sent me a copy. See the photo below along with some Butt campaign literature:














We could spend all day talking about the title. First, the very idea that she would publish a book asking the question whether God loves anyone should be a red flag. By starting with the question, she casts doubt in the reminder's mind. She uses the book to work toward the answer that, indeed, God loves Michael's two daddies, but that what they're doing is wrong. Never mind that they love each other and take good care of Michael. But at least they get God's love. Butt knows that if she started with the foundation that God loves everyone, she might have to concede that Michael's two daddies are responsible, loving, and healthy. And then she might have to concede that things like equality in adoption and marriage laws might be justified.

Second, I find it particularly pernicious that she puts her question in the mouths of children. The title is Seth & Sara Ask..., not Sheila Butt Asks... However, we should make no mistake that the question is hers as is the answer. She obviously feels the book is needed because children have to be taught that happy, loving families ought to be broken up:

"So that means that Michael's two daddies should not get married, doesn't it Daddy?" Sara asked. "It means they should not live together like a husband and wife."
"That is exactly what the Bible teaches," Dad said. (p. 10)

If she is elected, any legislation affecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community is going to evaluated through the lens of her ideas about how we need to change. She will not care that our community faces employment discrimination or that hate crimes are committed against our community. She won't care about breaking up families. The data won't matter, the stories won't matter. If you have any doubts, the campaign literature touts her membership in two intensely anti-gay organizations--American Family Association and Concerned Women for America. Definitely a campaign to watch!

-Chris Sanders

Won't you be my neighbor? The Neighborhood Movement and Equality in Nashville

Discussing the lack of openly gay country stars with the recent and notable exception of Chely Wright, The Independent (Ireland) observed yesterday:

"Yet Nashville has no corresponding equivalent of San Francisco's Castro district."

Certainly there is the business district on Church Street and there is a significant presence in East Nashville and in the 37212 Zip code, but the Nashville GLBT community is pretty well spread out in Davidson County. The Independent is basically right; we are without a defining gay neighborhood.

Coincidentally yesterday was also the Neighborhood Summit in Nashville sponsored by the Nashville Neighborhood Defense Fund, MNEA, IAFF (Nashville Firefighters), FOP, and SEIU. I attended to get a better understanding of the language of "neighborhood" that so animates Metro politics. I've specifically been interested in the points of connection and divergence between the neighborhood movement and our work for equality in Nashville. It's particularly important considering the passion that neighborhood issue evoke, equal to our own in the fight against discrimination.

Points of contact: Neighborhood associations and two of the sponsoring organizations of the Neighborhood Summit (SEIU and IAFF) endorsed the Metro non-discrimination ordinance last year. The majority of the current and former Metro Council Members who spoke at the summit have supported non-discrimination efforts. Current Council Members Emily Evans, Mike Jameson (who was a sponsor of the 2009 ordinance), and Jason Holleman all supported the ordinance. Former Council Members Ginger Hausser and David Briley supported the 2003 ordinance. It's difficult to find a theoretical point of contact, but it appears that many of the leading neighborhood advocates also happen to be equality advocates in our city.

Points of divergence: There aren't really any direct points of divergence. When it comes to GLBT homeowners, I don't hear any Not In My Back Yard rhetoric. Maybe that was part of old Nashville, but not so much now. Understandably the two movements will sometimes back very different candidates for office.

Why is that? The GLBT community is perhaps not as suspicious of business and development as the average person involved in his or her neighborhood. I think that's because business has led the public sector in establishing non-discrimination policies and providing partner benefits. I'm not making the case that our community shouldn't have a healthy suspicion of business and development interests. But I think this difference makes it so difficult for us to wrap our minds around why the Nashville Neighborhood Defense Fund endorsed Carolyn Baldwin Tucker for Vice Mayor in 2007. But NNDF didn't make that endorsement based on her opposition to the 2003 non-discrimination ordinance. It wasn't any attempt to glorify those positions at all.

That's precisely why it's important for equality advocates in Nashville to do more homework on neighborhood concerns if we want to be effective. It's a source of passion and power in our city's politics that could lead to new strategies for advancing legislation. Given the strong involvement of a number of members of our community in their neighborhoods, there's every reason to believe we can make those connections if we try.

-Chris Sanders

Murfreesboro City Elections begin

Early voting starts Wednesday, March 31 for Murfreesboro city elections. Voters will choose three City Council members, a mayor, and three school board members, according to the sample ballot.

There isn't much diversity in Murfreesboro city government these days. All the Council members are men with only one African-American member. That may change if Madelyn Scales Harris is successful in her bid. Another interesting note in this election is the candidacy of MTSU student Thomas Connor Moss.

Election Day is April 20.

Congratulations, Kristine LaLonde

The results are in, according to the City Paper. Kristine LaLonde has won the District 18 Metro Council seat by a vote of 672 to 476, beating Stephenie Dodson. LaLonde was endorsed by MNEA, labor groups, Women in Numbers, and TEP PAC.

I was working the poll at Eakin Elementary this morning and this afternoon through minor episodes of rain and a stream of people that was more parents and children than voters. Kristine's campaign clearly showed they know how to turn out their voters.

Congratulations to Kristine and to the people of District 18. You have elected a thoughtful, energetic Council Member. Everyone at TEP looks forward to working with you.

*Pictured above are Kristine LaLonde, Krissa Barclay, and Keith Merrill this morning at Eakin.

TEP PAC to host reception for Kristine LaLonde at home of David Glasgow

From the invitation from TEP PAC chair Jenny Ford:

You're invited to a reception for Metro Council District 18 candidate Kristine LaLonde on April 14 at the home of David Glasgow and Van Pond. The event takes place at 1802 Primrose Avenue. Stop by between 7:00 and 8:00 to meet Kristine and enjoy light refreshments. TEP PAC has endorsed Kristine in the runoff election because of her longstanding commitment to working for equality. We believe that she will be an effective advocate for all the residents of the 18th District. We are grateful to former Metro Council candidate and TEP PAC endorsee David Glasgow and his partner Van Pond for opening their home for this event to provide an opportunity for more members to meet this candidate.

TEP PAC endorses Kristine LaLonde in 18th District Metro Council runoff

TEP PAC has endorsed Kristine LaLonde for the Metro Council District 18 runoff. A fuller statement on the endorsement will be going out in the next day. In our previous endorsement, TEP PAC noted her longstanding commitment to and work for equality. We look forward to working with Kristine in the days ahead.

Glasgow's challenge for the 18th

Former Metro Council District 18 candidate David Glasgow has issued a challenge to the candidates preparing for the April runoff:

I challenge our next representative to take action to improve the quality of life for all of us. My short list includes taking action to

• Make our streets safer for walkers and bikers by adding crosswalks, at least at 21st and Bernard, Blair at Harris Teeter's back entrance, and two more along the south end of Belmont Blvd. The new crosswalk on Blakemore must also be made safer.

• Clean up Love Circle for good by breaking through the bureaucratic impasse that keeps the area in limbo. Work with the neighbors to solve the new traffic and parking issues created by new development and ensure that when we have a community cleanup day the city has not allowed 33 bags of trash and a mattress to accumulate.

• Improve traffic safety at Chesterfield/Fairfax by adding a traffic mirror added at the bend in the alley between there and the Continental. This is a frequently used cut through to West End that currently puts children, pets and property at risk every day.

• Add parking along Magnolia. Institute 2 hour parking between 9am-4pm and longer parking available between 6pm-6am in the outer lanes. This would help merchants in the Village, provide places for more people to start their jog or walk and help visitors and Belmont students avoid residential streets.

• Adopt the green space on the Brightwood overpass as a demonstration project. This requires gaining the necessary permissions from metro, state and federal agencies, inviting Civic Design Center staff to develop ideas for using this neglected space up to its full potential, and bringing together neighbors from the bordering neighborhoods to raise the funds and donate the time needed to put the plan into action. This could be used as an example of what can be done with other green spaces around our neighborhood and the city - including Love Circle. Other neighborhoods are doing it, so we can.

• Social issues. Our representative should take the lead on social issues that hurt Nashville's reputation and ability to attract new businesses and commerce. English Only was a huge waste of taxpayer dollars and time. Discrimination should not be tolerated in any guise. I hope our representative works actively to weed out discrimination in existing ordinances and to block future attempts to codify hate.

• Work with Metro Transit Authority to develop a pilot project to take people from residential neighborhoods to commercial districts from 6pm-2am on Thursday through Saturday nights. Skepticism and entrenched interests will have to be overcome. In the end, though, we can get cars off the road, support our business districts and build community by getting people together for the ride to and from similar destinations. Our neighborhood has the density to prove the concept. If we have a leader who sells the idea to MTA and neighbors we can take a big step toward a financially healthy, user-friendly mass transit system in Nashville.

Election Day

It's here. The big showdown in the 18th Metro Council district features a field of four candidates--John Ray Clemmons, Stephenie Dodson, David Glasgow, and Kristine LaLonde.

Earlier the forecast was calling for a 40 percent chance of rain with mild temperatures. As of now, we're looking at a 30 percent chance. But what effect that will have on the turnout and whose turnout is anyone's guess. The last I heard about 127 people had voted early. A long presidential race followed by English Only must have burned out most of the voters. However, they will likely have one more series of campaigns before them soon. With four candidates in the race, it would a miracle if there were not a runoff. Let's hope the fact that voters will finally get to vote in their own polling places instead of at the Election Commission will be a big boost to turnout.

The coverage of the race has been light, but what do you expect for one council district? If it weren't for the blogs, City Paper coverage, a few general pieces in the Tennessean, Liberadio, and Morning Line, most of the rest of Nashville wouldn't have had a chance at knowing that an election is even going on.

Fundraising has been vigorous. Yard signs are everywhere in the district. Personal phone calls, door knocking, robo-calls, and mailers have all confronted the voters in the 18th at every turn. Now all that's left is the voting, counting, and the parties. Kristine LaLonde's campaign will be waiting for returns at the Dog of Nashville while David Glasgow's crew will be at Zeitgeist. At this point, I haven't heard where the supporters of John Ray Clemmons and Stephenie Dodson will be gathering. But I'll be happy to add updates if I find out anything about that.

We'll have Twitter updates from Eakin Elementary tomorrow morning and from the Glasgow party tomorrow night. What will be, will be.

Finally, for something completely different, Arcadia's Election Day:

District 18 Roundup: LaLonde gets endorsement

Michael Cass is reporting that Kristine LaLonde has received the endorsement of the Central Labor Council. Congratulations, Kristine.

Nate Rau had this piece on the get-out-the-vote efforts of all four candidates. I was pleased to see that there are no attack posts in the comment section. In fact, I didn't notice any posts at all, which is unusual. The comments have been one index that the race is highly competitive, even though early voting is still slow at this point.

The Glasgow Campaign is hosting a get-out-the-vote rally at the home of David Taylor and Michael Ward in the district to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Yes, Glasgow is a Scottish name, but it's a short distance over the North Channel to the Emerald Isle, after all.

Glasgow gets big boost from teachers as early voting begins

David Glasgow has announced that he has received the endorsement of MNEA's PAC as early voting begins today in the special election for the open District 18 Metro Council seat.

With his early lead in fundraising dollars as well as the number of local donors, this endorsement is another sign of an effective campaign.

Update: Michael Cass with the confirmation.

Out & About Newspaper endorses Glasgow in the 18th

Out & About Newspaper has endorsed David Glasgow for the 18th District Metro Nashville Council seat in the upcoming election. Out & About surveyed all the candidates; three of them responded.

Early voting starts March 6.

Fundraising in the 18th race

Out & About Newspaper just published a helpful piece on fundraising in the 18th District race. David Glasgow held a slight lead over John Ray Clemmons based on the disclosure of contributions made by January 15. Both candidates report $11,000 cash on hand. Clemmons has upped the ante a bit by setting a goal of $25,000 while Glasgow pursues a total of $20,000, which would go up in a runoff. Clemmons reported only one PAC contrtibution with the rest of the funds coming from individuals. Out & About notes that some of the early contributions came from out of state while Glasgow had raised most of his money from smaller, local contributions.

Kristine LaLonde, who has actively been fundraising, plans to release more information with the next financial disclosure on March 19. Out & About notes a Nashville Post story by Nate Rau indicating that LaLonde is in the same fundraising ballpark as Glasgow and Clemmons. Her recent endorsement by Women in Numbers should certainly be an additional help as she attracts contributions. I could be wrong, but I think Out & About broke that news. I don't recall seeing it before, but it's a notable endorsement.

Clemmons indicated that he has not yet received any endorsements, but then again, most groups have not yet made their decisions.

The big question mark in terms of fundraising is in Stephenie Dodson's numbers. The Out & About piece indicated that she had not replied to questions.

For four people to be in a race in which they are all trying to raise between $15,000 and $25,000 for a district Metro Council seat in a bad economy and right after a presidential race and the English-Only ballot initiative is pretty amazing. They could all be on track to achieve their fundraising goals. That's either one index of how interested the voters are or how much pressure there is going to be to take outside money/PAC money, etc to make the goal.

Report from the 18th--endorsements, yards signs, events

I just left the second fundraising event for David Glasgow in the district. It was held at the home of Joe Woolley and Jim Schmidt. A few event photos can be found here. Glasgow has recently been endorsed by the Victory Fund, an organization that had also endorsed former Council Member Keith Durbin. There are four Victory Fund Campaign Board members now living in Nashville and three of them live in District 18.

Glasgow and Kristine LaLonde have yard signs up. I didn't notice signs for the other two candidates, although they may be up. I heard that Stephenie Dodson had a fundraising event tonight as well. The Nashville Post's Nate Rau confirmed on Friday that she is running. The story can now be viewed without a subscription.

It's becoming quite a competitive race.

A fourth entry for the 18th?

There may be a fourth candidate for the Metro Council District 18 seat at the Vanderbilt University/Belmont University forum on Feb. 22.

Neighborhood advocate Stephenie Dodson is said to be considering a run. It is my understanding that she has been invited to participate in the forum.