Brody's Notes... Gainesville, Florida Elects Openly Gay Mayor

Craig Lowe Photo Courtesy Of Lowe For Mayor Campaign 

By Joe Jervis (New York, New York) Apr 13 | In a nail-biter of a runoff election, tonight openly gay Gainesville, Florida mayoral candidate Craig Lowe was declared the winner, pending a mandatory vote recount triggered by his razor-thin win by 35 votes. Lowe's candidacy was marked by vehement anti-gay rhetoric by Christian activists, including "No Homo Mayor" signs in front of one church and the below false Anti-Gay attack-flyer campaign which promised predatory "gays in women's restrooms" should Lowe win.

City Commissioner Craig Lowe will become the first openly gay mayor in the northern Florida, and one of fewer than 30 openly LGBT mayors serving in the U.S.Gainesville joins municipalities as diverse as Houston, Texas, with 2.2 million residents, and Dillon, Colorado, population 800–both of which have elected openly LGBT mayors in the past year.