On Nov. 14, District 4 will vote in a special election to fill its city council seat left vacant when Councilmember Charles Lewis died suddenly in September of this year.

The GLBT community remains somewhat split on who to support, with endorsements for Tony Young, former chief of staff for the late Charles Lewis, and Dwayne Crenshaw, a community development director who ran a close race against Lewis in 2002.

Another favorite in the race is former District 4 council member George Stevens, who was originally termed out and ineligible to run, but joined the race following an Oct. 6 court hearing ruling in his favor.

The Gay & Lesbian Times has struggled with this endorsement, not completely satisfied with any of the candidates. One would like take away our civil rights given the opportunity. Another wants our support, but doesn’t want to be seen with us, worried about what that could do to his image and numbers at the polls, and the third is actually part of our community but seems ashamed to stand up and say so.

There is no doubt that George Stevens will not receive our endorsement. In his previous 11 years on the council, Stevens has been no friend to this community. Known for his antigay rhetoric and refusal to sign Pride proclamations as well as voting against domestic partnership rights for city employees, his late addition to the race makes it critical to have a strong opponent who stands behind our community and has the ability to defeat Stevens.

From the beginning, Young has been a likely candidate for our endorsement. He’s received the endorsement of Deputy Mayor Tony Atkins, who has worked with Young for the past two years and believes him to be supportive of GLBT issues and willing to work with our community. She told the Gay & Lesbian Times how Lewis and Young actively sought out our community in order to work with us on our issues such as the clean syringe exchange program and the identification program for medicinal marijuana patients.

At a forum that took place at the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC), Young opposed same-sex marriage in favor of civil unions. However he redeemed himself somewhat stating, “It’s a debate that’s open, and I’m listening to folks and I’m learning a lot about the community.” This openness and potential capacity to learn more about the issue was even more reassuring that Young may be someone to represent us.

The Gay & Lesbian Times invited Young to meet face to face to discuss his candidacy. Divided between Young and Crenshaw, we felt it important to sit down with the candidates before making our endorsement. It appears Young wants this community’s vote, yet we were told that it was not a high priority to meet with us. More distressing is his apparent decision to distance himself from our community, as it could be damaging this close to the election. If Young blows us off now to secure his position among his more conservative constituents, the Gay & Lesbian Times does not feel confident that Young will be the best person to represent our community at City Hall.

And then there’s Dwayne Crenshaw, who has been endorsed by the SDDC and did take the time to meet with us in order to discuss our concerns. Not representing himself as a “gay candidate” or a “black candidate” for that matter, many in our community find it hard to support someone who has chosen to remain quiet about his sexuality. Further, as a gay man, his position on same-sex marriage is even more difficult to swallow. Crenshaw told the Gay & Lesbian Times that marriage should not be the government’s business, and churches and couples should be able to choose whether or not to perform marriage ceremonies. Translation – as it stands now – Crenshaw does not support same-sex marriage.

Yet speaking to Crenshaw, it’s undeniable that he is mature, experienced and will make a good council member. His commitment to the fourth district is unfaltering as is his passion.

While many have tried to use the question of his sexual orientation against him, District 4 will hopefully view Crenshaw’s plans for affordable housing, better education in public schools, economic development, job creation, increased neighborhood development and safety as the key issues. A predominantly racially diverse community, District 4 ought to recognize the attempts to discredit Crenshaw for what they are – discrimination.

True, we would be more enthusiastic giving our endorsement to Crenshaw if he were outspoken and seemingly proud of his sexual orientation, however, he still remains the best choice and has our endorsement.