Conservative Greensboro blogger Joe Guarino continues to collect responses from his City Council candidate questionnaire, including a question on the issue of domestic partner benefits for employees of the City of Greensboro.

So far, I’ve provided two posts, one with the responses of Perkins, Green, Jones, Wilson and Carmichael and the second with the responses of Knight and Groat.

In the latest update, District 3 candidate Berkley Blanks (pictured right, credit: WXII 12 Winston-Salem), who ran unsuccessfully in the 2006 election for Sheriff, responds:

7. Do you support same-sex domestic partner benefits for City employees?

It is my political belief that this issue will be settled at the state level, such as occurred in Massachusetts.

You can see all of Blanks’ responses to Guarino’s questionnaire here.

I find it interesting that Blanks, a person who courted the LGBT community’s vote in his 2006 bid for the Sheriff’s office is now offering such a vague non-answer in his response to whether or not he supports giving LGBT citizens and employees of Greensboro the same access to healthcare and other city benefits.

In 2006, I endorsed Blanks in his bid for the Sheriff’s office. The endorsement read:

Berkley Blanks, a Democrat, has shown a strong and overwhelming public commitment to LGBT citizens of Guilford County. Blanks has attended numerous events and activities of LGBT-oriented organizations, including the Triad Business and Professional Guild. Blanks was also a participant in a community forum for a recently released LGBT policy study conducted by the Community Foundation of Raleigh.

The Replacements, Ltd. PAC, run by the owners of the company, Bob Page and his partner Dale Frederiksen, also endorsed Blanks, over the incumbent sheriff, BJ Barnes:

We like and respect BJ Barnes. However, we endorse Berkley Blanks because he is very vocal in his strong support for LGBT issues.

In fact, LGBT community members – including me – spent a lot of time talking about Blanks and supporting him for his Sheriff’s run. All-in-all, Blanks was mentioned by me no less than four separate times on my blog and an immeasurable amount of times in public and private conversations with organizations and friends and on campus at UNCG.

I find Blanks’ answer to the issue of domestic partner benefits lacking at best. I wish he’d have been a bit more forward with his answer. Supporting the LGBT community in Greensboro isn’t something that is going to lose you an election or points in an election. In fact, supporting our large, vocal and visible community (a community which, by the way, votes in high numbers and often, with thinking behind it) is likely to gain a candidate some points and push him closer to winning.

Blanks should re-think his answer and I’m sure, without a doubt, that if Blanks should appear at any future LGBT-oriented candidates’ forum or at any LGBT-oriented organization’s meeting, he will be pushed for a much better answer.

As a vibrant community that has contributed much to Greensboro and Guilford County, LGBT citizens deserve direct answers on issues of importance from candidates who seek to be our representatives.

UPDATE, August 24th 11:15am – I spoke to Mr. Blanks on the phone today where he clarified his comments and response to Joe Guarino’s candidate questionnaire. He says he truly does think that benefits for employees is a state issue and that it would and is a difficult thing to give benefits to people when the state may not recognize it. Just paraphrasing here, but be sure to stay tuned to when Blanks responds to the LGBT issues questionnaire.

Previous Posts: Greensboro 2007 Elections & the LGBT Vote

• Update: Greensboro candidates & Domestic Partner benefits August 21 2007
• Greensboro ‘07 – The LGBT Vote; candidates respond to domestic partner benefits issue August 17 2007

Also of note, I’ve created a new category for quicker, more easy access of posts on the LGBT vote in Greensboro’s 2007 elections: Greensboro LGBT Vote 07. Also, the category RSS Feed.