When state Senator Cheryl Jacques jumped into the race for the late Joe Moakley's ninth congressional seat some gay political insiders -- who had already thrown their support behind gay-friendly candidate Brian Joyce -- warned that she would split the progressive vote and allow the socially conservative Democrat Stephen Lynch to sail to victory in the special election primary Sept. 11, potentially leaving gays in the ninth with a congressman who, as a state senator, has been less than friendly on gay issues.
But with the Bay State Stonewall Democrats giving its endorsement to Jacques Aug. 30, it now appears that the gay community is solidly in the Jacques camp. The senator has succeeded in tying up endorsements from all of the state's major gay political organizations -- the Gay and Lesbian Labor Activists Network, a statewide labor organization; the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance, and the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, in addition to the Bay State Dems. Endorsements from national gay groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund also came early in Jacques' campaign. By all appearances, the openly gay Jacques has a lock on the gay and lesbian vote in the ninth district.
``It seems to me that most gay people will be voting for Cheryl Jacques," said Garry Daffin, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. ``That's the sentiment that I get from the community."
But will that vote make a difference at the polls on Sept. 11? Special elections typically don't bring voters out in droves, so candidates must hustle to turn out their voter bases. Given that Jacques has the smallest geographic voter base -- her hometown of Needham is the only town in her senate district that also sits in the ninth -- the senator needs to muster all the voter support she can from other constituencies.
``I think it will be more important than it would have been without an openly gay person in the race," said Mark Merante, co-chair of the Bay State Stonewall Democrats, of the gay vote. ``But it won't be the deciding vote." Merante notes that those neighborhoods in the district where there are high percentages of gays and lesbians historically have low voter turnout in special elections.
But Jacques spokesman Angus McQuilken disagrees. Jamaica Plain -- where there is a high concentration of lesbians -- ``has one of the highest turnouts," he counters, adding that Jacques has campaigned there extensively.
The Gay and Lesbian Political Alliance's Jeremy Pittman puts more weight on the gay vote than does Merante. ``It's extremely important," he said. ``This is a race where every vote counts. I think the gay and lesbian vote is going to be critical," he added, noting the various district neighborhoods -- such as JP and the South End -- with gay enclaves, and the rising gay populations in Dorchester and even suburban Milton. Pittman also notes that with voter turnout in special elections usually attracting a mere 70,000 voters, ``a person could win with only 30,000 votes. It's really a ground war. The candidate with the best turnout, he said, ``will fare the best." Though Jacques has a small geographic base in the district, says Pittman, she's targeting the progressive community -- the senator has a strong record on gun control and abortion rights -- and ``is doing quite well."
Indeed she is. With the exception of Lynch -- who has succeeded in raising over a million dollars for his campaign, Jacques has outdone her rivals Joyce, state Senator Marc Pacheco of Taunton, John Taylor and former U.S. attorney Bill Sinnott and William Ferguson in the fund-raising department. As of Sept. 4, says McQuilken, Jacques has raised $900,000 for her campaign. Dubbing Jacques ``the most principled progressive in the race," the Boston Globe Sept. 4 endorsed Jacques in the Democratic primary (The Globe also gave its endorsement to state Senator JoAnn Sprague in the Republican primary.) If fundraising and media attention are any indication, Jacques appears to have overtaken Joyce as the progressive voter's choice, and the most formidable challenger to the socially conservative Lynch, who has consistently led in the polls.
``It's a race between Cheryl Jacques and Stephen Lynch," said McQuilken ``And the differences between the two could not be more clear." But what about the lingering sentiment in the gay community that Jacques will still split the progressive vote? Though Pittman believes most ninth district gays and lesbians will cast their votes for Jacques, he adds, ``I certainly know a number of people are committed to Joyce."
Daffin notes that at the caucus' endorsement meeting last month -- attended by Sprague, Joyce and Jacques -- ``there was certainly support for [Joyce] in the room, but obviously people decided we should endorse [Jacques]."
But such sentiment is most acute when talking to the Stonewall Democrats' Merante, who early in the race threw his support behind Joyce, a staunch advocate of gay rights in the state legislature -- most recently on the issue of the pending domestic partnership bill. Merante, who bowed out of moderating his group's endorsement meeting because of his support for Joyce, still believes that Jacques will split the progressive vote and that gay voters' support for her may cost them. ``There's a real desire among gay people for leaders and for one of our own to carry the banner in prominent races," he observes. ``I worry that that pride blinds us to the strategic decisions that are important to achieving your policy goals in the political process."
Daffin notes that though both Joyce and Jacques have strong records on supporting gay rights, gay voters gravitate toward Jacques because ``she's one of us." Unlike gay political insiders, the average gay voter, says Daffin, will vote for a gay candidate rather than look at the bigger picture -- ``the strategic decisions" to which Merante refers -- such as the advantage Joyce's larger geographic base affords him in this election.
But McQuilken dismisses the notion of Jacques splitting the progressive vote. ``She's the only candidate in this race who has a solid progressive record," he says. ``Talk is cheap," he adds, noting that Joyce has ``never cast a pro-choice vote in his whole career."
``We've never been convinced that there is any split in the progressive vote."
If anyone needs evidence that we are moving more freely within our larger communities -- as opposed to sticking close to long-established gay neighborhoods -- you need only look at the story on page one of this issue detailing the preliminary results of Boston's same-sex household tabulations for the 2000 U.S. Census.
One caveat: We ought not read too much into these figures because any survey that purports to provide definitive demographics on gays and bisexuals is suspect. The same-sex household data on the Census was gathered indirectly, not as part of a concerted effort to count us. It doesn't include those same-sex couples that chose not to reveal themselves to the government. It doesn't include same-sex couples that filled out the forms incorrectly. And it doesn't even pretend to count single gay men, lesbians and bisexuals.
Nevertheless, the results for Boston were interesting in how far across the city we have spread -- to Roslindale, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Roxbury and even a place with a once less-than-friendly reputation like South Boston. Lesbian couples outnumber males in several neighborhoods.
Our numbers are growing everywhere -- and so will our political clout if we choose to make it so. For example, several of these neighborhoods, or parts of them, fall into the Ninth Congressional District. Next week voters in that district will have the opportunity to elect a new representative to replace Joe Moakley. As things stand now, the choice appears to be pretty stark: between state Sen. Stephen Lynch, a longtime foe of our equality who only had a conversion on some of our issues when he decided to run for Congress; and state Sen. Cheryl Jacques, a recently out lesbian whose record on our issues is almost entirely one of intelligence and compassion.
That Jacques is a lesbian is incidental to the race at hand. Homosexuality offers no intrinsic reason to vote for someone -- any more than it offers an intrinsic reason to vote against another.
Jacques has been a competent, effective legislator on Beacon Hill, and that's not easy with the inertia that grips a place that seems to run more on intrigue than altruism much of the time. That she made inroads with legislators from both parties attests to her skills as a politician.
But as important as her political skills are her demonstrated abilities to meld compassion with pragmatism and look for solutions to public and private needs. She has a refreshing lack of demagoguery in a profession where pushing hot buttons often supercedes finding answers to tough questions. And while it is true that she has made some missteps -- her flirtation for a time with being a no-mercy death penalty advocate was unseemly for someone of her intelligence. And she could use some enlightenment on the wise use of prosecutorial powers in pursuit of questionable ends.
But no voter can expect to be without serious disagreement on some issues with any legislator, especially one with the breadth of experience and array of interests that Jacques possesses.
That she is a lesbian is only useful if the places that had taken her have taught her any lessons about prejudice, shame, ignorance and compassion. She appears to have learned those lessons well.
Pundits are saying she has no chance against the Lynch juggernaut. But that Lynch steamroller is using apathy as its chief fuel. Lynch's supporters are motivated to see him elected. But we are out there in the district, too. The Census proves that.
So call your local town clerk or election office and find out if you're in the Ninth District. And if you are, use wisely your relatively new freedom to live wherever you please. That did not happen without those of us who first lived in the gay neighborhoods making our voices heard. And now that you moved out of those neighborhoods, let's start building our clout in the rest of the world.
Vote on Sept. 11. And if you're in the Ninth District, vote for Cheryl Jacques.
(Jeff Epperly is the editor of Bay Windows. His e-mail address is jepperly@baywindows.com. Letters to the editor for publication can be sent to letters@baywindows.com.)