Surprise openly gay victory — in Lexington, Kentucky
In one of the most unlikely of places, openly gay construction company executive Jim Gray has won election as the mayor—of Lexington, Kentucky.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the news shortly after the polls closed at 6 p.m.
Gray has been serving as the city’s vice mayor and defeated incumbent mayor Jim Newberry. The paper said the campaign has been one of the most expensive in the city’s history and only the second time in history that a sitting mayor has been defeated.
The ballot in Lexington does not indicate party affiliation. According to results published by the Herald-Leader, Gray won with 53 percent of the vote, to Mayor Jim Newberry’s 46 percent.
What a bizarre headline. Why is it such a surprise that Lexington would elect an openly gay mayor? You can’t throw a tambourine in this town without hitting a homo. I’ve been hit by several!
This is still a fairly high result on Google hits for politics in Lexington, so I’d just like to say that this city is extremely gay-friendly in comparison to the rest of the nation. Otherwise, Gray’s sexuality would have been made into an issue, which it was not.