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Written by WiG
Feb 21, 2012
The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund on Feb. 21 endorsed Kyrsten Sinema for Arizona’s 9th Congressional District.
Sinema is a former state senator and representative and has been the Arizona Legislature’s strongest proponent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, a news release said.
Sinema is the seventh openly LGBT federal candidate endorsed by the Victory Fund in 2012.
“Kyrsten is an innovative leader and a passionate fighter for the values she believes in, the same values shared by most fair-minded Americans. That's why I know she'll be an effective representative for her community in Congress, and that's why the Victory Fund is proud to support her in this campaign as it has throughout her state legislative career," said Victory Fund president Chuck Wolfe.
HRC president Joe Solmonese said, “Arizona has a great opportunity in Kyrsten Sinema to send a strong leader to Congress. The tireless commitment to equality that she has brought to Arizona is desperately needed in Congress.”
Sinema said she was proud to earn the endorsements. “I have worked hard to build a record of standing up for equality for every family. Families who work hard and play by the rules deserve better than the partisan bickering coming out of Washington. I'm ready to go there and fight to improve our economy for all Arizonans.”
Sinema was the chair of Arizona Together, the group founded to block the ballot measures defining marriage in the Arizona Constitution, and in 2006 that campaign was the first and only to successfully beat such a proposal at the ballot box.
As a state lawmaker, she worked for non-discrimination protections, adoption rights and led on a bill for domestic partnership benefits for state workers.
Later, Sinema was instrumental in Gov. Janet Napolitano’s executive order extending equal benefits and the blocking of Gov. Jan Brewer’s attempt to rescind those benefits.
The Victory Fund, which supports LGBT candidates at local, state and federal levels, previously endorsed Sinema’s state campaigns.
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