Most hold off on endorsing, while SFGN backs Mayor Pete
by Joe Siegel
Despite the landmark candidacy of openly gay Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, many LGBTQ publications are holding off on endorsing candidates for the upcoming caucuses and primaries.
“At this point, we have made no decision on an endorsement or if we will make one,” said Paul Schindler, editor of New York’s Gay City News. “The New York primary is April 28, and when we last made a presidential primary endorsement — in 2008, when we endorsed Obama — we did so shortly before the primary here. We did not make an endorsement in 2016. By the time of the New York primary, Hillary Clinton, in our judgment, had essentially clinched the nomination.”
The Dallas Voice also has no immediate plans to endorse candidates. “In our more than 35 years of publishing, we have only endorsed one political candidate, Hillary,” said Editor Leo Cusimano.
Dallas Voice Managing Editor Tammye Nash added, “We believe that for a media outlet to choose a single candidate from among a field of qualified candidates, that media outlet should take the time to completely vet each and every candidate, preferably via individual interviews with each candidate or at least via interviews by media partners, such as our fellow members of the National LGBT Media Association.”
Nash, however, hasn’t ruled out an endorsement in the future. “Once we move beyond the primary elections, we might be more likely to endorse a candidate because we believe at that point, the differences between the candidates will be very obvious and the question of which candidate is the best choice — for the LGBT community and for the country overall — will be crystal clear.”
Tim Nedoba, editor of GoGuide Magazine of Iowa (home of the first in the nation caucus or primary), believes LGBTQ media need to “take a stand” and endorse candidates.
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| SFGN’s Norm Kent |
“We must support candidates that stand with LGBTQ+ people at all times and not just when it’s politically convenient or politically safe,” Nedoba said. “Of course, Mayor Pete is a unique candidate. He’s gay all the time. However, he’s not hiding the fact that he’s gay. He’s campaigned with his partner in Iowa. It’s a beautiful story.”
Nedoba intends to co-endorse two of the candidates. “There is a significant difference in candidates when it comes to issues relevant to the LGBTQ communities of Iowa.”
Unlike many of its counterparts, South Florida Gay News, based in Wilton Manors, has already endorsed Buttigieg.
In his November 7, 2019, column, Publisher Norm Kent said Buttigieg was “an honest man with a unifying voice; a man who addresses problems instead of creating them. Mayor Pete will build bridges, not walls. … He has made us proud and will make our country stronger. He is one of us who speaks for all of us.”
According to a story in the Seattle Gay News, a November poll of LGBTQ voters favored Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren by a nearly 2-to-1 margin over her rivals in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“According to YouGov, Warren’s popularity among LGBTQ voters is ‘probably reflective of the fact that the LGBTQ voters in this survey identify as much more liberal than the Democratic primary electorate writ large,’” SGN reported.
TOP STORY
Volume 21
Issue 10
