Celebrity Friday: Lincoln Chafee

The Governor of Rhode Island, Independent Lincoln Chafee, is 2011's first Celebrity Friday for his call for the legislature to enact marriage equality during his inaugural address this week.

According to the transcript (and video):

"I urge the General Assembly to quickly consider and adopt this legislation. When marriage equality is the law in Rhode Island, we honor our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in the pursuit of human equality. Rhode Island today must be as welcoming to all as [the state's founder] Roger Williams intended it to be. Mark my words, these two actions will do more for economic growth in our state than any economic development loan."

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

RI-01: Openly Gay Mayor of Providence, RI Wins Democratic Nomination

Openly gay Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island David Cicilline easily won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by Patrick Kennedy on Tuesday night.

Because Rhode Island is an overwhelmingly Democratic state, winning the nomination is tantamount to winning the seat. This means that Cicilline will very likely become the 4th openly LGBT member of the 112th Congress which is called to order January 4, 2011. The other members should be Tammy Baldwin (WI-02), Barney Frank (MA-04) and Jared Polis (CO-02).


There's a possibility that openly gay Mayor of Palm Springs Steve Pougnet may join them as the 5th member of the LGBT Caucus from CA-45. Won't you help him get there?

MadProfessah Visiting Brown University

I'm en route to Providence, Rhode Island today to participate in a panel discussion entitled "Beyond Proposition 8: Race, Sexuality, Religion, and Same-Sex Marriage" at Brown University on Thursday.

RI-01: Openly Gay Providence Mayor Announces Bid For Congress

Openly gay mayor of Providence, Rhode Island David Cicciline has announced that he will run for the open seat in Rhode Island First Congressional District being vacated by Patrick Kennedy. If elected, the 48-year-old Cicilline would likely become the 4th openly gay congressperson to serve in the next Congress (and second openly gay man ever to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives). The only other openly gay person running for Congress this year (that I am aware of so far) is the current mayor of Palm Springs Steve Pougnet, who is running against U.S. Represntative Mary Bono Mack in California's 45th Congressional district.

Cicciline has been Providence's mayor since 2002 and was up for re-election this year. The former head of the Rhode Island democratic party Bill Lynch has also announced he will challenge Cicilline for the Democratic nomination, and there will probably be other contestants.

He made is announcement of his official candidacy for Congress on his Facebook page on Saturday:

Today, I am announcing my candidacy for the United States Congress in the First District of the State of Rhode Island.

I’m running for Congress because Washington has lost sight of what is really happening to the hard-working middle class in the cities and towns in America. There’s a dangerous disconnect between what Washington thinks will help the American people out of this miserable economic decline and what will really make a difference in their lives right now. I see the cost and the reality of that disconnect every single day.

Rhode Island has been hit as hard as any place in America by this recession. Unemployment here is nearly the worst in the country. And no matter what the hopeful stirrings and positive signs they’re seeing in the rest of America, the fact is that Rhode Island is still in the thick of the worst of it. Somehow Washington hasn’t figured out that our Number One priority has to be creating, retaining, and training for jobs of the future.

Rhode Islanders don’t want to hear about billions of federal dollars in bank bailouts. They don’t even want to hear about billions of dollars of stimulus funds tagged for Rhode Island if that money isn’t helping them find jobs and pay for groceries today.

I’m running for Congress to take to Washington what I know about getting hard things done. That’s what mayors do every day—solve difficult problems. We cut costs, resolve complex problems, and look an impossible challenge in the eye and just figure it out. We know how to work across party lines and build coalitions to get things done. I intend to bring these critical skills and perspectives to Washington and represent this state’s urgent need to move beyond our current stagnancy and toward the economic vitality that I am so confident is within our reach.

I am gratified by the outpouring of support from the many people who have urged me to run for Congress. I look forward to presenting my vision for the future of this great country to the citizens of Rhode Island’s First District in the coming months.

Finally, I want to thank Patrick Kennedy for his extraordinary service to our state and the nation. His passionate and courageous leadership has made a lasting difference in the lives of Rhode Islanders.

David N. Cicilline

My internet connection has been sporadic the last few days, so I have not been able to blog as regularly as I would have liked.

Rhode Island Elects Openly Gay (and Black) House Speaker

Now there are two! Two openly gay, people of color who are the elected heads of state legislative bodies, that is. Earlier this year, MadProfessah's friend John Pérez was elected by the California Assembly Democratic caucus to become the first openly gay, Latino head of a state legislative body (and second openly gay person in history, following Minnesota's Allan Spears).

Now, Gordon Fox, has been elected Speaker of the House in Rhode Island. From the Providence Journal's blog:

Gordon D. Fox was elected as the state's first black and openly gay House Speaker, moments after West Warwick Democrat Willliam J. Murphy relinquished the helm on Thursday.

Fox was elected House Speaker with 51 votes; another 14 went to Rep. Gregory Schadone, D-North Providence, and five to House Minority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich.

He was sworn in by William R. Guglietta, chief magistrate of the state's Traffic Tribunal.

In his first speech from the rostrum, Fox told colleagues "change is absolutely necessary. We cannot continue [to conduct] business as usual. We must think anew and act anew.''

Fox is the 222nd Speaker in the history of Rhode Island. Rod 2.0 points out that Fox is in a long-term relationship but not married, since Rhode Island and Maine are the only two states in New England where marriage equality is not the law of the land (yet!):

Fox said in an interview with The Providence Journal that he is "in a long-term relationship, but not officially married. ... When I get married, I would like to do it in my home state." Rhode Island and Maine are the only New England states that have not approved marriage equality. Fox says he is "reluctant" to make a commitment to bring the issue to the House floor for a vote after Murphy leaves. Rhode Island's anti-gay Republican governor Donald Carcieri has tried to block even basic rights for LGBT couples.

Fox is biracial—his father is Irish, his mother Cape Verdean—and considers himself black. He does so, the Providence Journal writes, because he hopes to be a role model for black youngsters and black gay youth.

An example of another multiracial politician who is succeeding in America, but who identifies with the marginalized parts of his identity. I also find it fascinating that the two openly gay Speakers of the House currently serving are both people of color.