Keynote speaker Kecia Cunningham, a city commissioner from Decatur, Georgia, was joined by some of California’s most prominent, openly lesbian politicians, including State Assemblymember Christine Kehoe, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and San Diego City Councilmember (and soon-to-be Deputy Mayor) Toni Atkins. The number of attendees was “twice what it was last year,” according to Victory Fund board member Pamela Wilson, who coordinated the event. One of the recipients of San Diego Pride’s 2003 Friend of the Year award, Senator Dede Alpert, also attended.

The mission of the Victory Fund is to elect qualified GLBT candidates to every level of government, regardless of party affiliation. Atkins next introduced Cunningham, whom she met when both women spoke at a seminar that the Victory Fund held in Atlanta. The seminar was designed to train Victory Fund-endorsed political candidates like Atkins and Cunningham, as well as their campaign managers.

Atkins outlined Cunningham’s achievements for the GLBT community during her four-year term as a city commissioner in Georgia, including winning domestic partner benefits for Decatur city employees and expanding the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

In addition to her achievements as a city commissioner, Cunningham serves on the board of directors for the Decatur Rape Crisis Center, is a member of the Atlanta Executive Network, the Stonewall Democrats and the Atlanta Women’s Foundation.

“I want to title my remarks, ‘Eat Your Wheaties,’” Cunningham began. “We have to be better, faster, stronger, more educated, more in-touch with what’s going on, because we are women, because we are lesbians and because we care about the future of this planet, of this country, and of the state of our community.”

Cunningham recounted the stresses that accompanied running for city commissioner as an openly lesbian candidate.

“Probably the saddest stories come from the homophobia that I faced in the African-American community,” Cunningham said. “For whatever reason, my lifestyle — our lifestyle — is not supported. On that Sunday before the Tuesday election, we had a meeting of the mothers of the community. Mayor [Elizabeth] Wilson [the first African-American to be elected in Decatur] was aware of this undercurrent and called the meeting. She said, ‘When I asked Kecia to do this, I told her we would support her, and I need you to get over your issues. I need you to look at the bigger picture.’

“Folks got to see an African-American, a lesbian ... and to put a face with it. And so, when I say, ‘Eat Your Wheaties,’ I mean do your homework. Everything that we do changes the world. We put a face on what it means to be GLBT and Q. They say we are asking for special rights. We’re not asking for special rights, we’re asking for our rights as human beings. If it can happen in Georgia, it can happen anywhere.”