Melanie Shelby Wont Play With Politics

Former Prop 8 Supporter Dodges Questions on LGBT Issues, Attacks Questioner.

Back on July 2, 2010, I wrote a post about Oakland City Council candidate, Melanie Shelby, who is running in District 4.  Melanie Shelby is well known in and out of political circles for her past support of Proposition 8 – California’s same-sex marriage ban.  Why?  Because she told everyone.

Because Melanie Shelby stated she has changed her view on same-sex marriage since starting her campaign for city council, I requested clarification from the Shelby campaign on her past and current position on same-sex marriage.  I received no response.  I wrote my post based on conversations with political insiders who have spoken to Shelby regarding this very issue.

(You can read my post here)

Melanie Shelby began saying she is working with Equality California since starting her campaign; supposedly in an effort to share her story of an evolving view of same-sex marriage.  However, she has never really explained what project this is.

Following the ruling in the case challenging Prop 8 on August 4, 2010, the Shelby campaign released a statement where she again claimed to be working with Equality California and other LGBT activists.  She also stated Californian’s still struggle with the “moral implications” of same-sex marriage.

(Read Melanie Shelby’s full press-release here.)

I again sent an email to the Shelby campaign asking for comment.  I asked what project and relationship she has with Equality California and what she meant by “moral implications”.  I also sent an email to the press office of Equality California asking them to comment on any project or relationship they had with Shelby as well.

I’m still waiting for Equality California to respond but after receiving the following response from the Shelby camp I feel compelled to address it.  I will, of course, update upon any response from Equality California (if any).

Detach and Evade – Oakland Worthy of Better

I have come to view Twitter as a great resource for news junkies.  The increasing number of people I follow on my account include many bloggers, columnists, reporters and news sites.  It’s rather exciting for someone like me who enjoys getting almost real-time information from these news purveyors because many columnists and reporters will actually update their Twitter accounts before updating their websites.  So it’s no surprise yesterday that i first learned of Oakland’s past 24 hours of crime ridden incidents on Twitter: Sniper shot at police from rooftop in West Oakland, Man with body armor shoots at highway patrol on I-580, Gunman shoots and kills visiting tourist for less than $20.  But this post is not about how awful those individual incidents are.  This post is about how, frankly, I initially was unphased.  And frankly, so was everyone else.

Prop 8 Supporter Running for Office… in Oakland?

Proposition 8 – California’s constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage – passed in California back in November of 2008 reversing a previous court ruling.  While Prop 8 did pass in the state, it is important to recognize that Prop 8 met a thunderous defeat in Alameda County 62-38%.  In Oakland alone, Prop 8 went down hard.

Melanie Shelby, a candidate for Oakland City Council, District 4 is well known, both in and out of political circles, for her support of Proposition 8 back in 2008.  The fact that she is a Prop 8 supporter, though disappointing, is not the main issue per se.  The big issue is that she is running for a city council position in a city that heavily voted down the gay marriage ban.  So the question that comes up early in this race is this: Is Melanie Shelby really the right person to represent her district?

To help answer this question, i sent an email to Shelby on Monday, June 28th asking for comment on her past support on Prop 8 and current position on same-sex marriage.  To date, i have received no reply.  This is unfortunate as i now must begin the task of speculating based on my conversations with other political observers.

Oakland’s First Annual Pride Festival!

This year, Oakland will host its First Annual Pride Festival since 2004.  Oakland has the third-highest concentration of LGBT people in the nation, only behind San Francisco and Seattle.  So why shouldn’t we have our own Pride?  There is a lot to be proud of in the East Bay, such as great weather with REAL seasons (i.e. Summer?).

Oakland Pride, Inc. (the business behind the festival) recieved a donation from the Port of Oakland in the form of 4,000 square foot office space in Jack London Square.  With only a few months to go, fundraising and last minute organizing has been in full swing to make this first festival one to remember and bring hope to continued festivals in the future.

Oakland Pride is also serving as the vanguard of a full-fledged fundraising effort to create the first All-Inclusive LGBT Community Center in Oakland in collaboration with City Councilmember, Rebecca Kaplan, the council’s only openly gay member.