Transcripts

CHRIS ROBERTS: More than a dozen gay and lesbian activists stood behind Minneapolis City Council President Sharon Sayles Belton, Wednesday, as she accepted their endorsement of her mayoral campaign. Those speaking on her behalf included State Representative Karen Clark and State Senator Allan Spear of Minneapolis.

ALLAN SPEAR: Her support for the gay and lesbian community, for domestic partners legislation, for HIV education, for the wide range of issues that are of particular concern to the gay community is simply unassailable. And I think that it is a strong record that merits the support of people in the gay and lesbian community.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Sayles Belton has not been the only candidate scrambling for the gay and lesbian vote. Her endorsement came on the heels of the Brian Coyle gay lesbian caucus endorsement for Deputy Mayor Rip Rapson, who's also a mayoral candidate. The Brian Coyle caucus is widely regarded as the official voice for gays and lesbians involved in Minneapolis DFL politics. In perhaps a veiled reference to Rapson, Sayles Belton told supporters that unlike other candidates, she was not promising action to the gay community merely to get votes.

SHARON SAYLES BELTON: I've spent 20 years of my life working for these principles. So I've got a record that the gay and lesbian community can look at long before I came into City Hall. And I think from that, they'll realize that there is a commitment, a true commitment, a genuine commitment and a history that they can examine.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Her endorsement came as no surprise to Rapson, although he questioned its timing.

RIP RAPSON: There is broad support within this community for a number of different candidates, and this is not a monolithic community. And there are people in all nooks and crannies who think differently about these issues. I have no quarrel with that. I hope it's not intended to obscure the endorsement that occurred from the Brian Coyle caucus on Sunday, because I think that was a very significant and highly symbolic endorsement that I'm very proud of.

CHRIS ROBERTS: The effort to win over gay and lesbian voters in the Minneapolis mayoral race provides more evidence that the gay community is a political force to be reckoned with. Rip Rapson proudly touts two events his campaign organized in the gay community to drum up support, including a benefit at the gay '90s bar in Minneapolis and an all gay lesbian bowling night at a local bowling alley. The mayoral campaigns of Rapson, Sayles Belton and State Representative Richard Jefferson all have openly gay staff members working in their organizations. But Susan Kimberly, who has long been active in gay and lesbian politics in the state, says no candidate in Saint Paul or Minneapolis owns the gay vote.

SUSAN KIMBERLY (ON PHONE): I don't think you want to have it oppose you, however. And I think in Minneapolis that may be the case in at least one campaign.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Kimberly is referring to Minneapolis City Council member Steve Cramer. Cramer is ignoring the DFL endorsement process and will run instead in the mayoral primary. Cramer says he isn't seeking the support of any special interest groups, including gays and lesbians. And he says, in the end, endorsements don't matter.

STEVE CRAMER (ON PHONE): What will make a difference in this election, though, is who can go out and talk directly to the people of Minneapolis who don't organize themselves into one interest group or another, but who just live in the city, want the city to be strong and viable into the future. Those are the folks who are going to make the difference in this election.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Whether gay voters will play a critical role in the Minneapolis mayoral campaign isn't entirely clear. But activists like Susan Kimberly point to that role and other accomplishments, including most recently, passage of statewide human rights protection for gays and lesbians as evidence that their movement is coming of age in Minnesota and across the country.

SUSAN KIMBERLY (ON PHONE): It's following in the path of African-Americans, and Native Americans and women who have, at some point in recent history, become organized and set out to pass an agenda. And it is one of the ways that you can actually make a difference. So in the mid '70s, it began to get organized and it's been growing ever since. And I think it's now becoming a significant factor in the political equation.

CHRIS ROBERTS: As far as the Minneapolis mayoral campaign is concerned, the DFL endorsement convention will take place June 12. Some say the endorsement convention is more important than the election because of the way DFLers have dominated city politics over the decades. According to candidate Rip Rapson, 15% to 20% of the delegates at the convention will be gays and lesbians. This is Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio.