GSPCGP

P.O. Box 8108

Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Contact: Harriet Stein, President

missharrietstein@yahoo.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 9, 2009

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – (April 9, 2009) Pittsburgh's home-grown L/G/B/T & feminist organization, the Gertrude Stein Political Club, has endorsed an "effectively perfect" slate of candidates. Member (and ex-Democratic committeeman) Jon Robison says, "a decade ago, we sometimes had to work to find candidates who we could endorse, and we endorsed people who gave tolerable answers to some of our questions. Times have changed." The club is delighted to endorse the following candidates. All gave impressive, thoughtful answers to all of the club's questions, and are also eminently well qualified.

For Superior Court of Pennsylvania we endorse Anne E. Lazarus and John Younge. We endorse Barbara Behrend Ernsberger and Linda S. Judson for Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Among common pleas candidates, we most eagerly & unanimously endorse Hugh Fitzpatrick McGough. We also endorse Susan Evashavik DiLucente (honorable mention: Arnie Klein and Don Walko) and unanimously endorse Kim D. Eaton for retention.

School board candidate Sharene Shealey brought three children, energy, listening skills, and an impressive resume (including an M.S.) to the endorsement meeting. She earned a unanimous and resounding endorsement for Pittsburgh School Board, District 1. We also endorse Thomas Sumpter, District 3. We are officially "very pleased" with the Pittsburgh School Board enacting comprehensive sexual education programs, but displeased with the enactment of expensive, time-consuming mandatory background checks / Act 33 clearance for community meetings on school property, which apply whether or not children are present.

For Allegheny County Council, District 13, we endorse the incumbent, Amanda Green, and recognize her bold, GLBT supportive initiatives. Thomas R. Michalow's thoughtful questionnaire suggests that he can run well for Allegheny County Council (district 1). We gladly endorse him. Carmen Robinson and Patrick Dowd both receive an honorable mention in the Pittsburgh Mayoral Race. We emphatically endorse all of the following for Pittsburgh City Council: Robert Vincent Frank, District 2; Natalia Rudiak, District 4; Tonya D. Payne, District 6; and William Peduto, District 8. Each of these persons – incumbents and challengers – has a record of actively working to build bridges between the LGBT community and other communities. Robert Daniel Lavelle (District 6) gets an honorable mention. For Wilkinsburg Council, we endorse Pamela Macklin in Ward 2 and Denise Edwards in Ward 3.

For more information, please contact: Harriet Stein at missharrietstein@yahoo.com.

# # #