Justice in Alabama: Vote electing out lesbian allowed to stand

Good news out of Alabama this weekend! Democrat Patricia Todd survived a challenge to her election victory. That makes her the first out queer member of the Alabama Legislature.

Patricia Todd won the Democratic primary for a seat in the state House of Representatives. She did not face any Republican opposition in November, but her electoral victory was challenged by some in her own party. They pulled out an obscure rule in an attempt to disqualify her. The problem was that no one else was following the rule either.

Yesterday, the Alabama State Democratic Executive Committee voted 95 to 87 to drop the challenge to Todd's victory.

Here's some of the best coverage.

Eyewitness reports from Birmingham Blues:

More on the SDEC Meeting

A couple of cool stories from yesterday's SDEC meeting

From AMERICAblog:

Patricia Todd is the victor in Alabama -- finally

The Victory Fund also released a statement."Finally, the voters have prevailed."

From Pam's House Blend:

More details on Kathy on the big day for Patricia Todd where Pam, who is black, talks about how the controversay was not about race. Pam wrote:

Yes, people it's not just about race, no matter how many folks try to spin it that way. Black homophobia cannot be ignored as a core part of the problem in this dust up -- it is a serious impediment to progress and dialog within the party when it gets continuously swept under the rug.

Civil rights cannot be defined a race-only matter, and not as a zero-sum game either.

Here at In This Moment, we wrote about the Todd case in:

Alabama Democrats defy democracy by moving to overturn lesbian's election victory