Los Angeles—Equality California today announced the endorsement of four outstanding LGBT candidates for election to local offices in Los Angeles and Signal Hill.
The candidates are as follows:
Ron Galperin (Los Angeles City Controller) – Ron Galperin is running for reelection for Los Angeles City Controller. Galperin has been highly visible as the first openly-LGBT person to serve in a citywide office. He is a member of the LGBT Advisory Council of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and has been an energetic supporter of LGBT and progressive causes in Los Angeles and beyond. He helped mobilize the Los Angeles LGBT community to support the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and served as a delegate of the LGBT Caucus at the Democratic National Convention. He was active with the “No on Proposition 8” Campaign, and has helped support organizations including GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Stonewall Democrats. He also sings as a guest cantor at Congregations Kol Ami and Beth Chayim Chadashim.
“You’ll find Controller Galperin wherever an LGBT cause or campaign in Southern California needs a hand,” said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. “His visibility as an out, gay man in one of the most important citywide offices in California’s largest city serves as an example to thousands of LGBT young people across the city. He approaches his work, both professionally and in the community, with enthusiasm and integrity, and we’re proud to endorse him.”
Mike Bonin (Los Angeles City Council) – Mike Bonin is running for reelection to represent District 11 on the Los Angeles City Council. Bonin has been a prominent force advancing LGBT civil rights in Los Angeles and beyond for more than a decade. Following passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, he co-founded Camp Courage, a successful training program for community organizers fighting to restore the right to marry for same-sex couples. As a member of the Los Angeles City Council, he helped lead city gestures of protest against anti-LGBT policies in Los Angeles’ sister city, St. Petersburg, Russia. Last year, he authored a city resolution prohibiting official city travel to North Carolina and Mississippi, after those states passed laws allowing discrimination against LGBT people. He has committed to ensuring that Los Angeles remains a safe haven that embraces the equality of all residents.
“Councilmember Bonin is well known to anyone working in Los Angeles to advance the civil rights of LGBT people and all marginalized communities,” said Zbur. “With a hostile administration in Washington, it is more important now than ever to have strong, experienced representatives of our community on the city council of California’s largest city. We know that Mike is committed to a Los Angeles and a California that will stand strong against threats from the new administration.”
Mitch O’Farrell (Los Angeles City Council) – Mitch O’Farrell is running for reelection to represent District 13 on the Los Angeles City Council. He was first elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2013. Since that time, he has supported city policies and resolutions calling for an end to the Food and Drug Administration’s discriminatory ban on blood donations by men who have sex with men, supporting asylum for LGBT refugees and creating gender neutral restrooms in city facilities, and more. He also obtained funding for organizations addressing the needs of homeless youth and the transgender community in his district. Before becoming a councilmember himself, O’Farrell served for ten years on then-Councilmember Eric Garcetti’s staff, with whom he worked to coordinate large protest marches against Proposition 8. He has volunteered and held leadership positions in non-profit organizations including the California Wilderness Coalition, Project Angel Food, The Wildlife Waystation, and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra.
“Equality California stands with Mitch O’Farrell,” said Zbur. “Councilmember O’Farrell has a long history serving the LGBT community in Los Angeles, starting with his work for Project Angel Food during the height of the AIDS epidemic, to organizing against Prop 8, and now during his first term in office fighting for full equality for every Angeleno. He is building on our foundation, and will fight to protect our rights at City Hall. He has always been there for our community, which is why Equality California strongly supports Mitch O’Farrell for Los Angeles City Council.”
Keir Jones (Signal Hill City Council) – First time office-seeker Keir Jones is an openly-LGBT business owner and community leader in Signal Hill and surrounding Long Beach. He has been active for many years in leadership positions supporting the organizations on which the LGBT community depends, including Equality California and the Human Rights Campaign. He has also served on the board of the Legal Aid Foundation and as president of the Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
“Keir is already a prominent community and business leader, and has demonstrated his commitment to advancing LGBT equality through his extensive community work,” said Zbur. “He is approaching office with years of experience helping LGBT people through the organizations our community relies on, and we are confident he will go on to be an effective advocate for LGBT equality once elected.”
The Equality California Political Action Committee endorses viable candidates for federal and state office who have a proven track record of supporting equal rights and legal protections for LGBT Californians, as well as outstanding LGBT candidates at the local level.
###
Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance, and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org
