Endorsement
Bay Windows
Sep. 11, 2008
This is an easy one. The LGBT community needs to make sure Rep. Carl Sciortino wins his re-election fight to hold onto his 34th Middlesex District seat, which includes portions of Somerville and Medford. When Sciortino was first elected in 2004 his victory was seen as a David-and-Goliath story symbolic of the strength of the marriage equality movement; he was a young openly gay man running a grassroots campaign who unexpectedly and narrowly defeated Vincent Ciampa, a 16-year incumbent who strongly opposed marriage equality. But once Sciortino took office he soon showed the LGBT community that he was more than just a symbol.
Sciortino made history in the Bay State when he worked with transgender activists to file the first statewide transgender civil rights legislation this session. He cosponsored the bill, which would add trans-inclusive language to the state's anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws, with Rep. Byron Rushing, and last March he helped organize testimony for the Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill, the first legislative hearing focused on trans issues in the state's hearing. Sciortino also helped win funding increases for LGBT youth and HIV/AIDS programs in the state budget this year, and as a freshman legislator in 2005 he addressed his colleagues from the floor of the constitutional convention and urged them to protect the right of same-sex couples to marry. In just four years Sciortino has become one of the House's most dedicated champions of LGBT rights.
Sciortino faces an uphill fight against Somerville Alderman Bob Trane, who is challenging him for his seat. On primary day Trane's name will be the only one on the ballot, since Sciortino did not turn in the required number of certified signatures to appear on the ballot to the secretary of state's office by the deadline. Sciortino claims the signatures were stolen from his State House office. He has been forced to run as a sticker candidate to hold onto his seat. Whether the signatures were stolen or simply lost, the campaign's failure to keep better track of such crucial paperwork was an unfortunate slip-up. But since then the Sciortino has picked himself up and run an impressive campaign, reaching out to voters in the district, managing a powerhouse fundraising operation, and even scoring a rare primary endorsement from Gov. Deval Patrick. Trane may be good on LGBT isssues, but the bottom line is the LGBT community needs Sciortino back on Beacon Hill, and he deserves our support.
On Sept. 16 voters in the 34th Middlesex District should put a sticker on the ballot for Carl Sciortino.