Several prominent members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community endorsed Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy for governor today.
Malloy is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Malloy supports equality and helped fight for marriage equality, said several people at a press conference, mentioning a law enacted in 2005 that legalized civil unions. A few years later, the state began to recognize same-sex marriages.
“Dan hasn’t just talked equality; he’s worked for it,” said Anne Stanback, the founder and former director of Love Makes a Family.
Malloy cares about people and recognizes that diversity in communities is the beauty of the state, said state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford.
“We’ve been in battle with this man, and he is often leading the charge,” he said.
At the very same moment that Malloy was holding his news conference Friday morning, Democratic frontrunner Ned Lamont was across town on Franklin Avenue at a catering business. Lamont was touting his plan to eliminate the business entity tax, which has been pushed by many legislators at the state Capitol. Lamont was joined at the business by former state Rep. Art Feltman, who was elected as an openly gay member of the Hartford city council in the 1990s before being elected to the state legislature. Feltman said that he supported Lamont four years ago in his race against U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, and he is volunteering again to help Lamont now.
“I started supporting Ned four years ago and never stopped,” Feltman told Capitol Watch.
Sharing a personal story Friday, McDonald said that in 1998, Malloy asked him to be his corporation counsel. At that time, McDonald said he had not publicly told people he was gay, but Malloy said he didn’t care.
Others shared similar stories Friday, painting Malloy as a compassionate man who is ready to lead Connecticut.
“He is willing to listen to people who have a very real problem,” said state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven. “Dan Malloy is the guy we need to be governor.”
For his part, Malloy said that equal rights is important and have to be extended to all. If he is governor, he said there would be no retreat on equality. Discrimination against anyone, including transgender individuals, should be illegal, he added.
“This battle is not done,” Malloy said.
Malloy also added that endorsements coming from people who have suffered and who have been subject to discrimination are meaningful.
“It’s an achievement that stands by itself regardless of the governor’s race,” he said.
In the past three Quinnipiac University polls, Lamont has been leading Malloy in the race for the Democratic nomination. They are facing Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, and former state Rep. Juan Figueroa of Meriden.
Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz had been the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination last year, but Lamont moved into first place in the poll when Bysiewicz dropped out to run for attorney general. A recent Rasmussen poll showed that former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley was ahead of both Lamont and Malloy among those polled.