From: Date: Fri, 05 Aug 94 18:05:35 EDT Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 1012 14th Street NW, Suite 707 Washington, DC 20005 phone: (202) 842-8679 fax: (202) 289-3863 email: victoryf@aol.com ----- NEWS RELEASE ----- First Openly Gay Candidate Elected to Missouri House of Representatives Victory Fund Racks Up Third Early Win for 1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. - 3 August 1994 - Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund recommended candidate Tim Van Zandt is Missouri's first openly gay elected official. Van Zandt won yesterday's Democratic primary for the 38th District seat [Kansas City] in the Missouri House of Representatives, and will be unopposed in the November 8 general election. A Missouri native, Van Zandt is business manager of the Kansas City's largest AIDS service organization and has an extensive history of political and neighborhood activism. Van Zandt's opponent resorted to gay- baiting in an attempt to sway the voters. In a letter voters entitled "Straight Talk," Wilson called Van Zandt "a single-issue candidate" and claimed that Tim's "sole purpose for running is to promote the gay rights agenda." Despite Wilson's gay-baiting and the fact that Missouri was targeted by the Radical Right for an anti-gay ballot initiative, Van Zandt received more than 80 percent of the vote. "Tim's victory by an overwhelming majority proves once again that people want to elect the most qualified candidate regardless of sexual orientation," says Victory Fund Executive Director William Waybourn. "Missouri is one of the largest midwestern states, and Tim's presence here as an openly gay official will be instrumental in raising the positive visibility of the lesbian and gay community throughout America's heartland." Tim joins the Victory Fund's other early winners Cook County (Chicago) Circuit Court candidate Tom Chiola and Dade County (Miami) Court candidate Victoria Sigler, both of whom have no opposition. [For more information, please contact Kathleen DeBold at (202) 842-8679 or by email: victoryf@aol.com]