10.16.08
Fort Lauderdale Mayor’s Race Heats Up With Two Gay Candidates
Remember the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., mayor who wanted to spend $230,000 on a “robo-toilet” to cut down on the number of men who have sex with men in public restrooms?
His name is Jim Naugle. He’s been mayor since 1991. New term limits in Fort Lauderdale mean that come spring 2009, after 18 years in office, the homophobic mayor will bid adieu to City Hall.
Presently, there are four men vying for the office, two are gay men.
Earl Rynerson, a local businessman and relative newcomer to Fort Lauderdale and its political scene, and longtime city LGBT activist Dean Trantalis, who is an attorney and a former one-term city commissioner.
They both consider themselves Democrats and they both say they’re mayoral candidates who happen to be gay.