The contrast between the candidates is significant.

Lori Saldaña, a Democrat, supports same-sex marriage. She is endorsed by GLBT leaders like incumbent Assemblymember Christine Kehoe and City Councilmember Toni Atkins. Saldaña is an educator and environmentalist.

Tricia Hunter, a Republican, opposes same-sex marriage. She is endorsed by Judge Larry Stirling (who ordered his courtroom disinfected during an appearance by a man with AIDS) and Assemblymember Mark Wyland (who fought against a memorial honoring GLBT veterans). Hunter is a lobbyist.

This race is important to the GLBT community; the outcome could determine whether the California legislature passes a bill next year granting same-sex couples the right to marry. The bill is expected to pass in the Senate. In the Assembly, the vote is expected to be close. One vote – one seat in the Assembly – could decide whether gay and lesbian couples win the right to marry in California. In this election, a vote for Saldaña is a vote for our equality. A vote for Hunter is a vote for continued discrimination against our community.

But like fellow Republican George W. Bush, Hunter can charm the very people against whom she discriminates. Some in our community have swooned over her work as a nurse, when she cared for people with AIDS. She saw men wasting away in the arms of their partners. She saw first-hand the love and commitment that gay couples share. Hunter, of all people, should not be opposing our right to marry. Tellingly, the California Nurses Association has endorsed Saldaña.

Hunter’s people say that her position on same-sex marriage is the same as John Kerry’s: They both oppose it. They are both wrong. The obvious difference for voters is that in the presidential race, there is no candidate who supports same-sex marriage. In this Assembly race, there is: Lori Saldaña.

Saldaña is more than a good vote on LGBT issues (she scored 100 percent on the San Diego Democratic Club’s candidate questionnaire); she actively supports our community. As chair of the Sierra Club of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Saldaña helped start the organization’s GLBT group. She has been active with the Women’s Resource Center and Women’s Studies programs at San Diego State University. Tricia Hunter says she would have an GLBT advisory board. Saldaña will not need one.

Saldaña’s other priorities also appeal to many of us in the GLBT community. She is a respected environmentalist. In addition to chairing the Sierra Club, Saldaña was appointed by President Clinton to co-chair a council that improved water quality at the U.S.-Mexico border. She was a founder of the Earth Fair in Balboa Park 15 years ago and chaired San Diego’s Wetlands Advisory Board. Hunter, on the other hand, is backed by the San Diego County Building Industry Association.

Saldaña is a strong proponent of educational programs that create good jobs and support the economy. A professor of business information technology, Saldaña managed a Technology Workforce Development grant for San Diego’s community colleges. She developed and managed technical job skills programs. Enjoying her role as an educator, Saldaña coached women’s basketball at San Diego City College and field hockey at high schools.

In a city where many of us come from somewhere else, Saldaña was born and raised here. Her family was stationed in San Diego during her father’s service in the U.S. Marines.

Unfortunately, Saldaña’s accomplishments and principles are being distorted by Hunter’s campaign. Politically, Hunter has little choice but to mount a negative campaign. Voter registration in the district is 40 percent Democratic and 33 percent Republican. The voters who do not state a party affiliation tend to favor Democrats. If people vote their party tendencies, Saldaña will win. Hunter has two options: convince Democrats to vote for her or discourage Democrats from voting at all. The first option would not work; Democrats have no reason to support Hunter. Knowing this, she does not waste time offering positive reasons for Democrats to support her. Her only viable strategy is to suppress Democratic turnout. By bombarding Democrats with attacks on Saldaña, Hunter hopes Democrats will become disillusioned or disgusted by the campaign and will not vote in the race.

Fortunately, most in the GLBT community will see through this. Saldaña is the Democratic candidate who will vote for our full equality. That her Republican opponent is trying to discourage us from voting is all the more reason for us to go to the polls and cast our ballots for Lori Saldaña.