Some Surprise

While I live in a "blue" state, I live in a "red" city in an exceptionally "red" county in an exceptionally "red" northern half of the "blue" state (in other words, all of the blue Californians are in the Southern California population centers--up here we've many more red farmers and foresters and such).

Two mayors ago, we had a very anti-gay mayor here in Chico. One we eventually got free of when he graduated up to State Assembly. We have a City Coucil who ignored the last wish of one of its members who passed on this year (her dying request was that her husband fill her seat for the remaiing two months of her term), and instead kept the seat open and made everything the city needed voting on held up in deadlock.

All of this is to lead up to say that when I read the news this week that our new mayor, Scott Gruendl, was not only openly gay, but openly HIV+ as well, I was quite shocked and double checked my wakefulness.

While some local politicians tried to block the appointment (citizens don't vote for mayor here, the city council does) for lame reasons that only thinly veiled their homophobia, he was voted in with a 4-3 vote. The forerunner, very "red" for the deputy mayor position also ended up losing by a 4-3 vote because one of the folks who would have voted for him changed her mind because of his vote against Gruendl.

It's nice to see that i at least one election this year, homosexuality didn't get to be a destroying issue for a candidate.