About
Where does the name Stonewall come from?
"Stonewall" refers to the Stonewall Inn - a bar in New York City. While a bar may seem an odd namesake for a political organization, the connection is clearly understood by millions of gay and lesbian Americans, and individuals around the world.
The Stonewall Inn is considered by many to be the birthplace of the modern movement for equality. For most of the 20th century, laws forbade gay Americans from congregating. In many states, like New York, it was illegal to serve alcohol to homosexuals. Police conducted routine raids, and arrested individuals on a regular basis. With few legal places to meet, gays and lesbians often faced jailing if they chose to live their lives openly.
Previous Endorsements
2005
National Stonewall Democrats
The National Stonewall Democrats is a grassroots network connecting LGBT Democratic activists from Seattle, Washington to Austin, Texas to Little Rock, Arkansas to Atlanta, Georgia. With more than 90 chapters across the country, Stonewall is a grassroots force for social change within our movement and within our party. Our members do the hard work of calling voters, putting together campaign mailings, going door-to-door for our fair-minded candidates and having tough conversations with Democratic party officials about why our families need and deserve more support from our party and its elected officials.
2008 Board Members
Toeknee Bailey – A native of Pittsburgh, Toeknee has served on the boards of Persad, PAAR, and the Renaissance City Choirs. She currently works as a legal assistant for Neighborhood Legal Services and is a drumming performer and instructor. In addition, Toeknee enjoys writing, singing and theater arts.
Joanne Bostjanick retired from teaching in the Pittsburgh Public Schools where she taught at the Elementary Gifted Center and at A. Leo Weil School in the Hill District. Prior to teaching in Pittsburgh, Joanne taught in Butler and in Houston, Texas. She worked on the campaigns of Judge Kathryn Hens Greco and County Councilman Jim Burn and has served as Judge of Elections in Shaler for the past few years. Joanne enjoys yard work and traveling with her partner Lee Marcuzzi. Some of their favorite destinations have included Alaska, the Panaman Canal, the Mediterranean, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
Michael Braxton is a major gift officer for Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon in 2004, he practiced law for 8 years in Pittsburgh law firms. Michael has served as a member of the board of directors of the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force and as that organization’s two-term president. He was a vestryman of Calvary Episcopal Church, a member of the board of the City Theatre, the Pittsburgh Symphony New Leadership Board and Blind & Vision Services of Western Pennsylvania. He was also involved locally with the Howard Dean campaign – volunteering in Iowa prior to the 2004 Iowa caucuses and helping to organize with fundraising. Michael currently sits on the board of Conservation Consultants, Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting efficient energy use in homes. Michael is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School where he was a notes editor of the Columbia Journal of Law & Society.
Nachum Golan is a native of Israel, but has lived in Pittsburgh over 40 years. He is active the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and was instrumental in bringing to the Jewish Community Center an exhibit about homosexuals in the holocaust. In addition, he has been involved in the Persad Center, the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, the Sheperd Wellness Center, and Bit Tikvah.
Mike Haye has worked in health care administration for the past 25 years, after earning his master’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Originally from Virginia, Mike did his undergraduate work at Clemson University in South Carolina. He now enjoys Pennsylvania and has lived and worked in the Pittsburgh area for the last 15 years. He has been involved politically with campaigns in Texas for governor Ann Richards. In Pennsylvania he worked for the “get out the vote” effort for Gore and Kerry through Move On and participated in the Casey campaign for Senate.
Emilia Lombardi, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Public Health, Dept of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her degree (in sociology) from the University of Akron in Ohio in 1997. She had served as the principal investigator of a study entitled "Substance Use and Treatment Experiences of Transgender/Transsexual Men and Women.” She currently works on a project studying HIV-prevention, and she is currently working on a research study that will examine the social and medical process of transitioning from one gender to another. Dr. Lombardi is also a member of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Research on Health and Sexual Orientation. She has been a transactivist for over ten years and has been involved in many groups focused on transgender issues (Akron, Oh; Los Angeles, CA, Pittsburgh, PA). She has also chaired the West Hollywood Transgender Task Force.
Jay Molluso is a 63 year old lawyer, formerly a senior deputy attorney general, who now services as general counsel for a private tax collection company. He and his partner of 15 years Bill Volbrecht reside in Mt Washington. Jay has volunteered for PERSAD as well as the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force over the years and was previously a Stonewall board member.
Kris Rust has been a member of Steel City Stonewall Democrats for several years and served on its board as interim Co-chair since August 2007. In the past he has been involved with MoveOn.org and the judicial campaigns of Kathryn Hens Greco and his partner Hugh McGough. Kris is musician and teacher. He has been involved with the Renaissance City Choirs, the Pittsburgh chapter of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association and the Western PA Conservancy.
Janis Williams, a Democratic Committee woman in the City of Pittsburgh, currently serves as the Steel-City Stonewall Political Director. Engaged in politics since 2003, Janis was very active in the Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, organizing outreach and voter registration drives. She went to the Democratic National Convention in 2004 as a member of the Platform Committee, and has been the Political Director for Steel-City Stonewall since 2005. The Stonewall National Convention, featuring DNC Chairman Howard Dean, was held in Pittsburgh in 2005, and Janis worked extensively on the Organizing Committee. Janis believes that Steel-City has unlimited potential to make equality a forefront issue and to give a voice to the GLBT community. Further, she feels that the organization needs to set aggressive goals for 2008 in order to bring focus, and to rally around the issues that are most crucial to our members and their families.
Our Endorsement Process
Steel City Stonewall Democrats endorses Democratic candidates seeking office during the primary election, during special elections and the general election. Steel City Stonewall Democrats supports only Democratic candidates for public office.
Candidates seeking office will be contacted by Steel City Stonewall Democrats soon after their nominating petitions have been filed. Our club has developed questionnaires for candidates, and these questionnaires will be sent to all Democratic candidates. Candidates seeking endorsement are strongly urged to return a completed questionnaire.
Candidate's that receive a majority of the votes (50% + 1) of the members voting will receive our endorsement.
Candidate Endorsements
See our 2006 slate of endorsed candidates and all candidates solicited and their questionnaires..
