It Girl, Friday, September 29: Dianne Wilkerson?

The question mark above is very much intentional.

Laura Kiritsy of Bay Windows wrote a great article this week called "Abandoning Ship" about Wilkerson's fickle GLBT voters on primary day. As an inspector in JP's Ward 11, Precinct 9, I can tell you that Chang-Diaz did win by a 3 to 1 margin, but instead of it being because of Wilkerson's past financial indiscretions, I think it had everything to do with the home neighborhood advantage of Chang-Diaz. But what about GLBT voters who did vote against Wilkerson? Should they be burned at the stake? Are GLBT voters allowed to see beyond gay marriage when it comes to issues and personalities at the ballot box?

For the record, I met Dianne at her primary after-party almost two weeks ago. I found her very warm, funny and charming. Dianne said of Patrick's victory: "That's what we lovingly call a 'whooping' of monumental proportions!"

Personality aside however, I do think we have a right to expect that our elected officials pay their taxes. According to www.city-data.com, legislators' salaries are $50,123 in 2002 ... that's three times more than I make as a freelance reporter. All she needs is a good accountant; it would help her image so much. Ms. Wilkerson has been getting into financial trouble since before I came out of the closet! What's more is that the Boston Globe editorial for today demands to know why the public had to wait until after the Sept. 19 primary to find out Wilkerson owes $13,000 in back condo fees. We've all bounced checks, but after awhile, the story gets to be a little tiresome. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

And then there's this implication here that we should stick with Wilkerson because she goes to church. This made me want to puke; I don't care who you are. If anything, observing Sundays is more of a deterrent than an asset when it comes to who I vote for. However, the writer does make a very good point that Wilkerson is seen as a hero in communities of color because of her stance against environmental racism ... and if anyone has ever been to the bus station in Dudley Square, you'll understand this. Why should black people get a dirty bus station, when the state is building a state of the art train station at the Charles/MGH red line stop!

As a progressive, I think it's important that communities of color have somebody strong to represent their issues (which is what the BW article implied). Also, Wilkerson does deserve total kudos for standing up to religious fundamentalists on our (GLBT community's) behalf. But to say we are being fickle and ungrateful may be missing the point.

The fact that Wilkerson received three major endorsements (MassEquality, Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Bay State Stonewall Democrats) belies the fact that the hierarchy is not communicating with us, gay hoi polloi, down here. A Beacon Hill lobbyist told me that "Wilkerson is very tight with the Senate President, we need her on our side." Great, I wish we knew that! Maybe that could help shape our voting decisions. But what about the insiders listening to how we want to shape our own future and elect the leaders we want.