Stonewall Dems: 27% increase in openly LGBT DNC conventioneers

by: Pam Spaulding

Tue Aug 05, 2008 at 06:00:00 AM EDT

The National Stonewall Dems held a conference call yesterday to brief folks about the gains in the number of openly LGBTs who will attend the DNC convention.

From its press release on the matter, the unofficial count is based on numbers reported by state Democratic parties to the Secretary's office of the DNC -- 324 LGBT participants were reported by state parties to the Secretary's office. What's interesting is that Stonewall Democrats identified 34 more openly-LGBT participants than what was initially disclosed.

Below the fold are some of the out attendees.

Among the currently reported 358 LGBT Participants in Denver, will be:

Christopher Pappas (New Hampshire) who became the first delegate elected in 2008. The Treasurer of Hillsborough County, Pappas was elected as a pledged delegate to Hillary Clinton.

Jason Rae (Wisconsin) who - at 21 - is the youngest "super delegate" in the nation. Rae has declared his delegate vote for Barack Obama. Rae is a Member of the Democratic National Committee LGBT Americans Caucus.

Jane Bradshaw (Georgia), who was elected as a pledged delegate to Barack Obama from Atlanta. This will be the first national convention for Bradshaw, who is a member of the Atlanta Stonewall Democrats.

Javier Morillo-Alicea (Minnesota) who is President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26 in the Twin Cities. Morillo-Alicea was elected as a pledged delegate to Barack Obama and is a member of the Minnesota Stonewall Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus..

Amanda Simpson (Arizona) of Tucson. Simpson is a consultant and test pilot for an major aerospace company. Active in local Democratic politics, Simpson is also openly transgender and a pledged delegate for Hillary Clinton. Simpson is a member of the Southern Arizona Stonewall Democrats.

Jeff Richardson (District of Columbia) who serves as Vice Chair of the District of Columbia Democratic State Committee and as a Member of the Democratic National Committee. Richardson has declared his delegate vote for Barack Obama. Richardson is a member of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the Stonewall Democrats chapter in the District of Columbia.

Sonya Lewis (Colorado) was elected a pledged delegate for Hillary Clinton in a crowded field due to the competitive caucus system in Colorado. As a lesbian and a Latina, Lewis hopes to use her participation in the Democratic National Convention to promote an action agenda shared by multiple Democratic communities. Lewis is a member of the Colorado Stonewall Democrats,

Paul Tran (Texas) of Dallas. A founder of the Young Stonewall Democrats network, Tran is nationally active in both youth and Asian American organizing within the Democratic Party and has helped to found numerous Stonewall Democrats chapters both in Texas and across the nation. Tran is a pledged delegate for Hillary Clinton and member of the Dallas Stonewall Democrats and a past president of the Stonewall Young Democrats of Dallas.

Heather Mizeur (Maryland) who serves as a Delegate in the Maryland House of Delegates and a Member of the Democratic National Committee. As a "super delegate" Mizuer has declared her support for Barack Obama.

The announcement of the increase in LGBT convention participants was made as party of the Pride in the Party program of Stonewall Democrats. This national program seeks to expand the participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Democrats within state and local Democratic parties and, in 2008, specifically increase the participation of LGBT Democrats at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The program had hoped to achieve a base goal of 321 LGBT convention participants (a 14% increase from 2004) and has so far secured a 27% total increase of LGBT delegates and convention participants.

Rick Boylan, former Director of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection at the Democratic National Committee,serves as Director of Pride in the Party. Rick Stafford, Chair of the GLBT Americans Caucus at the Democratic National Committee and former Chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, also works with the program as a consultant. Earlier this year, in an effort to assist outreach to the LGBT community among traditional Democratic constituencies, the program worked with consultants Mandy Carter, former member of the Democratic National Committee and the DNC GLBT and Black Caucuses, and Laura M. Esquivel, a strategist with experience in successfully building bridges between Latino/a and LGBT constituencies.

Also going to Denver, as an Obama delegate, is Ian Palmquist (on the day job he's ED at Equality NC), whom I spoke with today. We will interview him while at the convention.

An aside -- I wonder how many closet cases are attending the Republican National Convention? Since we know the party's chock full of homos -- none of them out of the closet (save some LCRs) -- wouldn't it be interesting to tally up "representation"?