GSPCGP

P.O. Box 8108

Pittsburgh, PA 15217

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – (September, 2009) At the August endorsement meeting, members of the Gertrude Stein Political Club of Greater Pittsburgh voted to endorse the slate on the reverse. Their responses to our questionnaire ensure that issues affecting the many diverse strands of the LGBT community have been given thought, consideration, and support by all endorsed candidates.

You, the voter, can feel secure in voting for the endorsed candidates.

We include a warning to voters who assume that voting for women

candidates is a reasonable way to pick people who are good on our issues.

That rule of thumb won't work in this election. There are many good

female candidates, but also those who are definitely not very LGBT-friendly or not progressive on women's issues.

In statewide offices, we endorse Jack Panella for the Pennsylvania

Supreme Court. This is an important office made yet more

important by the upcoming challenge of fair and effective redistricting—we encourage you to take this race seriously, and make a point of voting

for Jack Panella.

For the Superior Court of PA, we endorse

Anne E. Lazarus, Robert J. Colville, Teresa Sarmina

Kevin F. McCarthy.

We endorse Barbara Behrend Ernsberger and Linda S. Judson for the Commonwealth Court of PA.

For Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, we endorse Joe

Willams, Arnie Klein, Don Walko, and Susan Evashavik

DiLucente. We also unanimously endorse Kim D. Eaton for

retention. We continue to resoundingly endorse

Pittsburgh School Board candidate Sharene Shealey (Dist. 1), and we endorse Thomas Sumpter (Dist. 3).

For Allegheny County Council, District 13, we endorse reelecting

Amanda Green, and encourage her to continue with her bold, GLBT

supportive initiatives such as the County Human Relations legislation.

For the 1st district of Allegheny County Council, we continue to

gladly endorse Thomas R. Michalow.

We endorse Pittsburgh Mayoral candidate Franco "Dok" Harris. An active Democrat for many years, Harris is currently running as an independent/third party candidate. Mr. Harris is a well-spoken and well educated businessman who happens to share the most famous name in Pittsburgh with his Steeler father, along with his mother Dana Dokmanovich's name and her longtime democratic and progressive activism. At the endorsement meeting he spoke of his boyhood in the Mexican War streets, and how great it was to live in a population with a "rich diversity" of race, age, wealth, and orientation. He showed great enthusiasm for working with and for all Pittsburghers, most definitely including LGBT citizens.

In the races for Pittsburgh City Council (even numbered districts),

we endorse each of the following:

Natalia Rudiak, District 4;

Robert Daniel Lavelle, District 6;

William Peduto, District 8.

We endorse Pamela Macklin for Wilkinsburg Council (ward 2).