“With Christine Quinn's term limit, I don't want to be the only out person in the City Council,” said Council Member Rosie Mendez,  with Daniel Dromm, whom she has endorsed.


When State Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) first ran for City Council in 1991, his candid statement made via “Dear Neighbor” letter that he was gay and HIV-positive did not, as some expected, mark the demise of his campaign.

Instead, he won the seat, representing the West Village, Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen. That took a whole new approach to campaigning, he said, requiring him to draw people into the political process who had not been much involved before.

“Seventeen years ago an LGBT candidate had a lot more to prove,” said Duane. “We really had to invent the wheel in terms of fundraising.”

While there had been openly gay candidates for the Council in the 1970s and 1980s, Duane's win built a legacy for gay and lesbian candidates in his district, now represented by Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D).

That district was, in part, drawn for LGBT candidates. Others, like the neighboring district encompassing the Lower East Side, Gramercy Park, East Village, Kips Bay and parts of Murray Hill, were not. But that did not stop the district from electing openly gay Council Members Antonio Pagan, Margarita López and Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan).

“The gay districts obviously had taken effect,” recalled Marty Algaze, president of Stonewall Democratic Club from 1989 to1992. “But the city has changed. Now, gay candidates get elected in places that aren't necessarily gay enclaves.”

Even with lingering discrimination, LGBT candidates have been willing to run for more conservative outer borough seats.

In Queens' 30th District's special election June 3, openly gay financial executive and community activist Charles Ober came in fourth. Though he did not carry the support of Queens County, his chances were also likely hurt by the typed letter neighborhood residents received opposing Ober with anti-gay epithets.

Sunnyside occupant James Van Bramer, weighing a run for Eric Gioia's (D-Queens) term-limited seat, was a victim of a similar flyer when he ran in 2001 in the neighboring Council district.

“I knew I should expect it, but I found it appalling and shocking,” said Van Bramer, 38, now director of government affairs for the Queens Borough Public Library and a Community Board 2 and Democratic State Committee member.

But discrimination need not prove a death knell for gay candidates, even those who might try to run as Republicans.

“The members of the gay community and those running for LGBT rights still do experience prejudice,” said Gregory Wright, spokesperson for the New York Log Cabin Republicans. “But, we are getting to a point where things are getting better in New York City and across the country.”

There are not currently any openly gay candidates expected to run as Republicans in next year's city elections.
Lynn Schulman, an openly gay attorney, public relations executive, and former Council staffer from Forest Hills is also giving a Council race a second try. Schulman, 50, says the progress made by previous LGBT candidates motivated her to consider vying for the seat currently held by term-limited Council Member Melinda Katz (D-Queens).

“After Christine Quinn's role as speaker, people have open minds and want a candidate to represent them,” Schulman said.

With several 2009 Council races likely to include multiple openly gay candidates vying against each other in primaries, politicians could face tough battles for endorsements within the LGBT community.

“I get two to three phone calls a week from Council candidates,” said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda.

But, he explained, simply being gay or lesbian does not guarantee his organization's support.

 “We endorse candidates who can move our agenda forward, whether they are gay or straight,” he said.
Council Member Mendez has already endorsed Schulman and Daniel Dromm, a public school teacher running to replace Council Member Helen Sears (D-Queens).

“The only thing that is missing,” said Mendez, “is to have some out representatives of Queens. With Christine Quinn's term limit, I don't want to be the only out person in the City Council.”

But though Quinn may be term-limited next year, there are at least three openly gay candidates expressing interest. This is sure to cause a heated race with much jockeying for support within the LGBT community.

Though Duane endorsed Schulman in Queens and Bob Zuckerman, an openly gay non-profit executive, for the seat currently held by Bill de Blasio, the senator has withheld backing anyone for his former seat until later in the campaign.

Andrew Berman, 39, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and a former staffer in Duane's Council and Senate offices, is considering running for that spot, as is Brad Hoylman, a lawyer, chair of Community Board 2, and former president of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats.

Hoylman believes his history of activism within the LGBT community will only help his chances.

“Being gay or lesbian is a strength, because it gives you a perspective that allows you to empathize with people who are different,” said Hoylman, 42, who previously ran for the seat currently held by Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan).

Yetta Kurland, a civil rights lawyer who earned media attention by representing Emergency Medical Service workers against discriminatory promotional practices, victims of wrongful arrest during the 2004 Republican National Convention, and a lesbian victim of a hate crime assault who was a former contestant on Top Chef, has already declared her candidacy for Quinn's seat.

“The more people who run, the higher we raise the bar,” said Kurland, 40, who welcomes competition from gay candidates.

Other contests have created more contentious rivalries within the gay community.

Dromm, a Democratic District Leader and the founder of both Queens' Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade and the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, faced criticism from Ober when the club endorsed his straight opponent Elizabeth Crowley. Dromm, 52, questioned whether the hate mail directed at Ober was forged.

Dromm is also facing competition in his own race from Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesperson for Con Edison and a board member of Stonewall Democrats.

“I am a fighter and I view his candidacy as an annoyance,” said Dromm, who has lived in Jackson Heights for 14 years, of his potential opponent, a district resident for three years. “I don't think any gay people in the neighborhood even know who he is.”

But Quiroz, 35, said that one need not be well connected within the gay community to make a successful bid for Council.

“I don't think that the race will be won or lost on gay issues,” said Quiroz, who is also considering joining the District Leader race. “LGBT issues are the same as anyone else's: clean, safe streets, access to mass transportation, and a strong education system.”