An openly gay former D.C. Parks and
Recreation director has announced he will run for D.C. City Council
in 2010, gay weekly the Washington
Blade reported. His opponent, Phil Mendelson, is considered
a strong gay rights ally, pitting gay camps against each other.
Clark
Ray announced last week to supporters his candidacy for the
at-large City Council seat currently held by three-term incumbent
Mendelson.
“I'm a gay man and I'm proud of it,”
Ray told the paper. “But I want to be a D.C. City Council member
at-large for all residents of the District of Columbia, not just the
GLBT community.”
As a strong advocate of gay rights,
Mendelson has attracted a large following in the GLBT community.
“He wrote the marriage-recognition
bill, a dozen domestic partnership bills and the groundbreaking
parental rights bill,” longtime D.C. gay activist Bob Summersgill
said.
“Other than personal loyalty and
friendship, there is no reason to oppose Phil and every reason to
support his re-election,” he added.
City Council approved a bill in May
that recognizes gay marriages performed outside the district's
borders, and several members say they will attempt a gay marriage
bill in the fall. Councilman Marion Barry cast the only dissenting
vote.
Supporters note that Mendelson
testified in support of the bill during a D.C. Board of Elections &
Ethics inquiry that ultimately voted down a proposed voter referendum
on the gay marriage recognition bill, saying it would violate a local
human rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
Ray has acknowledged that Mendelson is
a strong advocate of gay rights, but says his campaign will focus on
other issues important to the gay community.
The forty-five-year-old has worked in
public policy-related positions in the Clinton administration and
headed the district's Parks & Recreation Department under Mayor
Adrian Fenty. Earlier this year, however, Ray was fired by Fenty,
who said he wanted a new direction for the department.
If elected, Ray would become the
district's second openly gay councilman. David Catania was elected
in 1997 as a Republican, but in 2004, saying he could no longer
“rationalize” his association with the party, became an
Independent.
CORRECTION: There are two openly gay
men currently serving in the D.C. City Council. Councilman Jim
Graham, 64, was first elected in 1998 and has won reelection three
times since.