I’ve written a number of posts about the recent PA Voter ID bill which could be viewed as a kick off to the 2012 election season. Certainly for many, the Voter ID bill may make it more difficult to vote, but another ongoing issue occurs every election if registered voters do not know enough about the candidates to make informed decisions in the voting booth.

For voters here in Pennsylvania, a few different organizations provide endorsements for candidates based upon their positions on issues important to the LGBTQ community. Soon, Equality PA, our state-wide LGBTQ organization will be making their endorsements. This organization is working extremely hard to create the framework needed for change across Pennsylvania, and their endorsements is one piece of that. I’ll be posting a few different posts to highlight some of these endorsements as Welles the organizations efforts in the regard. We have seen some real progress here in PA mainly because of efforts led by Equality PA, and understanding what they are doing and why they are doing it will help keep that momentum going.

Here in Pittsburgh, both the Steel City Stonewall Democrats and the Gertrude Stein Political Club offer endorsements. The SCSD endorsements grow from their member’s meeting and how the membership votes. This process is not as thoughtful and deliberate as Equality PA’s but still offers valuable information. SCSD like EQPA provide questionnaires to candidates, and you can read these for Steel City on their website. Other groups across PA do similarly.

Election season always takes me back a few years to the race for Governor, when Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ community was extremely divided over the candidates for Governor. It is my hope that the community uses this endorsement process and pre- election season smartly so that we can as a community affect the political landscape with our vote.