WHILE GLUED TO my desk working on a busy afternoon before last November’s Houston City Council election, I received a call from newly elected City Councilmember Sue Lovell.

She called to thank me for an article in The Voice about her advancement to a runoff election against Houston Community College trustee Jay Aiyer for the At-Large Position 2 seat. But she also expressed her displeasure with the story’s headline.

The article, "Lesbian in runoff for At-Large City Council post," included a picture of Lovell, who is openly gay, and Houston City Controller Annise Parker, who is also a lesbian.

Lovell insisted that everyone already knew her sexual orientation and to announce it in a headline was not only unnecessary, but had the potential of costing her the election. She worried the article would be used in negative campaigning by her opponent.

It’s a decision gay candidates have been wrestling with for decades: Should I come out of the closet and gain the support of gay voters and political action groups or keep my sexual orientation private?

"Why not ‘Lovell in runoff for At-Large Position 2?’" she said at the time. "Everyone in the community knows I’m a lesbian. It’s no secret."

It’s unclear whether Aiyer and others who worked on his campaign knew Lowell is a lesbian, but the information was not hard to discover.

Lowell is also identified as a lesbian in the article, but she didn’t seem to have a problem with it there. She was calling about the headline.

I went over the facts with the candidate: Are you openly gay? Yes. Was it the first time that your sexual orientation has been reported in the Houston Voice? No. Did you have a problem with this newspaper identifying you as a lesbian in the past? No.

"I just think it will be best not to have it laying around all over town in the newspaper that I’m a lesbian," Lovell said.

The Voice article did not "out" Lovell, who chose freely to disclose her sexual orientation and not in response to any sort of scandal. It was volunteered information.

Of course, there have been gay Houston councilmembers before, but Lovell is only the second to publicly disclose her sexual orientation. Parker, who is often seen with her same-sex partner at city events, was the first.

SHOULD A POLITICAL candidate’s sexual orientation be considered an attribute worth reporting and debating when seeking office? Does someone’s sexual orientation better qualify her for a job?

It could be at times, when voting for instance on domestic partner benefits for city employees or other gay issues that could come before City Council.

Knowing that Lovell is a lesbian and would probably be a voice on gay issues at City Hall is certainly important to gay Houstonians, whether they knew, as Lovell said everyone did, or not.

But the role of the media, including gay and lesbian newspapers, is not to help or hinder her campaign or that of her opponent’s. Our job is to present the facts and let our readers decide how they feel and will vote.

Lovell reminded me that the "smart" thing to do as editor of the gay newspaper is to endorse the gay candidate in an editorial.

But would she have been displeased with an endorsement editorial with the headline, "Lesbian candidate is the right choice for At-Large Position 2"?

If being a gay candidate should earn her an endorsement, then why shouldn’t it be included in the headline?

Lovell and other gay candidates can’t have it both ways. On the one hand, she wanted the support of this newspaper because she is gay, and her race covered favorably because she is gay.

On the other hand, she didn’t want the reports to highlight in headlines that she is gay because that might harm her campaign. Swinging both ways, at least in this way, smacks of hypocrisy.

Lovell sought and won an endorsement from the Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which only donates money to openly gay candidates, with the idea that gay public officials will be the most effective advocates. David Arpin, a member of the national organization’s board, said $70,000 was raised for Lovell’s campaign.

Lovell received a Local Hero Award from the organization last weekend during its annual Houston brunch. The Houston GLBT Political Caucus also endorsed the new gay councilmember, choosing her over Aiyer.

And yet she worried that if some conservative Republican from her opponent’s campaign had stumbled upon the article, it would give them fuel for a bonfire of trash ads against her. It’s possible, but newspapers are responsible for the accuracy and fairness of their stories, not the gay-baiting ways in which some political candidates might use coverage.

IT’S A MYSTERY why Lovell’s sexual orientation was never reported in other Houston newspapers. Is it only because being gay is important to a gay publication but not the mainstream press?

Or did Lovell promote her sexual orientation only in gay circles, while securing endorsements and campaign contributions to help her win the election?

In the November general election, Lovell received 32 percent of the vote compared to 26 percent for Aiyer. In the Dec. 10 runoff, Lovell took 50.8 percent, narrowly defeating Aiyer’s 49.2 percent.

The margin was only 579 votes out of more than 35,000 cast. Only 4 percent of the city’s registered voters came out to cast ballots.

Robin Brand, senior vice president of politics and strategy, said the organization only endorses and supports gay candidates. The organization claims to have helped more than 300 gay candidates win elections since 1991.

Lovell’s win is highlighted on the website of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund as an important election victory last fall.

Only time will tell if Lovell will continue to swing both ways on her sexual orientation, using it to her political advantage while shielding it where she believes it may hurt her politically.

The gay groups that endorsed her, and the gay Houstonians who supported her, will be better served if she reconciles her sexual orientation as something that’s relevant for all Houstonians to know about her.

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