Joe.My.God. LGBT News
AL.com reports:
Alabama’s special election to fill a U.S. Senate seat has a new and unexpected candidate. Michael Hansen, the openly gay executive director of Alabama environmental advocacy group Gasp, announced on social media that he is seeking the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Luther Strange and vacated in January by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a long shot,” Hansen wrote in the blog post announcing his candidacy. “I’m 35, gay, and a Democrat — but it’s one we have to take.” Hansen told AL.com Tuesday he is running as a Democrat, and said he plans to file the paperwork in person with the state Democratic Party Wednesday.
From Hansen’s crowd-funded campaign site:
I am a gay man. This one is personal. I grew up attending a Southern Baptist church that taught that homosexuality is gross and abhorrent. I could not disagree more. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning individuals are afforded the same liberties under the Constitution as every non-LGBTQ person in this nation. End of discussion. Same-sex marriage is the law of the land.
Transgender people have the right to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. As far as the role of the Senate goes, we desperately need a federal law to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in employment, education, housing, public accommodations, and more. I emphatically support passage of a strong and inclusive Equality Act. And as long as I’m on this topic, I want to take a moment to discuss Roy Moore’s candidacy. Moore is a bigot and a coward.
There is no place for the sort of hate and vile that emanates from his being anywhere in public office, let alone the U.S. Senate. The vitriol he is famous for is exactly why LGBTQ kids have a suicide rate more than twice the rate of their peers. Life is sacred. Let’s protect our LGBTQ kids by saying “No more Moore.”