Buffalo —A majority of members of the Buffalo Common Council have reached agreement to appoint Curtis Haynes Jr. to fill the seat vacated by Brian C. Davis. The Council voted 6-2 to appoint Haynes to fill the vacant Ellicott district seat at Todays special meeting.
The Ellicott district includes most of the Allentown neighborhood that is home to a large segment of Buffalo's gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans (glbt) residents and gay owned businesses.
Outcome Buffalo asked Dr. Haynes about his support of glbt issues.
"I have read the Domestic Partner registry Ordinance put forward by Councilmembers LoCurto and Rivera. I applaud and support their efforts. Further, I also support Governor Patterson's executive order of full rights and benefits for domestic partners working for the state, and I feel that the
gay marriage bill should be passed."
Dr. Haynes appointment comes as a relief to many glbt voters. Rev. Darius Pridgen who had been a leading candidate for the appointment is known for his anti-gay opinions.
Rev. Pridgen condemned homosexuality and non-marital sex in unambiguous terms. "You have to call sin sin, but HIV/AIDS is not the sin, it's the disease," Pridgen commented in a 2003 Ethics Newsweekly article. "Until you separate the sin from the disease, people are not going to get tested."
Outspoken for Equality, a Buffalo glbt activist organization had requested that Rev. Pridgeon clarify his positions regarding HIV/Aids and the gay community. Paul Morgan, a representative of the group told Outcome in a recent viewpoint article that "Regrettably, he did not respond. His silence spoke volumes."
Dr. Curtis Haynes, Jr is an Associate Professor, Economics and Finance, Buffalo State College. Dr. Haynes acheived his Ph.D in Economics at the University of Massachusetts in 1993.
Haynes resume includes:
ºResearch interests include cooperative economics, community economic development, black political economy, urban economic development and industrial organization.
ºCo-founder of the Resurgent City Center for Cooperative Community Development (RCC) – a HUD funded Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) dedicated to community revitalization through cooperative economics and participatory and applied research.
ºPartnered a relationship between RCC and the OUR Market Community Supermarket Project that resulted in a Police Station established at Filmore and Ferry and a Tops Market on Jefferson.
ºPast educator at Comstock Maximum Security Prison, University Without Walls.
—
Tim Moran
