In Ferndale, Michigan, it’s a battle of the gay mayors! Two gay mayors enter, only one gay mayor leaves. The loser then has to become a straight city councilman.
In 2007, Ferndale elected Craig Covey (left) to mayor of the town, becoming Michigan’s first openly gay mayor. Covey served two terms before becoming the Oakland County Commissioner in 2010, succeeding David Coulter, who would later become Michigan’s second openly gay mayor weeks later.
When Covey lost his seat on the Commission last year, he decided to run for mayor of Ferndale again — to the surprise of his friend and political ally, David Coulter. Now, Ferndalers are torn between two viable gay candidates, with some gays criticizing Covey for running against a fellow queen. But the two men are as different as day and…slightly later that day.
“Some people have said, you two are pretty similar in a lot of ways,” Covey told the Detroit Free Press. “We’re both gay, we’ve both run AIDS organizations, we’re both liberal on social issues, we’re both white Anglo guys in our 50s. But on fiscal issues, I’m pretty conservative.”
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More importantly, Covey is all about that ganja; he’s been a big proponent of legalizing marijuana in Ferndale, something that Coulter says should be left up to lawmakers in the capital, Lansing. For his part, Coulter describes himself as the less flashy, “more nuts and bolts guy.”
We’re pretty sure they’re both nuts and bolts guys, but let’s save that kind of talk for the election. Coulter and Covey are up against longtime city resident Sherry Wells, who might claw her way to the top if things get catty — as they so often do between two white, middle-aged homosexual men vying for a part-time mayor job in a town of less than 20,000 people. That shade couldn’t cover an anthill.
Photos: Facebook
DarkZephyr
“with some gays criticizing Covey for running against a fellow queen.”
A fellow “Queen”? For a moment I thought I was at “Queerty.com” not “homophobes-R-us.com”.
Elloreigh
@DarkZephyr: Agreed. Unless Covey has changed considerably since I first met him 24 years ago, I don’t think the term “queen” applies.
A question for Queerty: Is your audience the whole gay community, or just the gayborhood “queens”?