I live in Virginia. In Tuesday's gubernatorial election, the option is to vote for the Democrats/Republicans (pick one) because they're less awful than the Republicans/Democrats (pick one).
Both major party candidates for governor not only oppose gay marriage, but favor keeping adoption by gay couples illegal, although the Republican opposes gay marriage/adoption more adamantly. On the other hand, Virginia's Democratic governors always push through big tax hikes in our already extraordinarily high state tax rates in order to grow government and increase their party's base (and, more generally, government's tentacles).
I don't think self-branded gay advocacy groups, who raise money with the promise to advance gay equality, should consider non-gay issues in making electoral endorsements. But I do think private individual voters who are gay can and should consider other issues relating to the well being and prosperity of the commonwealth. My decision, in this election, is not to vote for either the Democrat or the Republican.
More: Here's an example of the political problem: Our state's outgoing Democratic governor, Mark Warner, opposed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature (with bipartisan support) that not only banned anything approaching civil unions, but any legal arrangements that might bestow marriage-associated rights on gay couples.
Although Warner tried unsuccessfully to strip out the
most-offensive contract-banning parts of the bill (while supporting
the civil union and marriage ban), he nevertheless decided not to
spend political capital on vetoing the full measure when it crossed
his desk. A veto probably would have been overturned; still, it
would have been a strong statement on behalf of legal equality by a
popular governor not up for re-election. But gay votes for
Democrats come with no price tag, so why bother?
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