Two openly gay candidates are among the 20 endorsements issued today by the Atlanta Stonewall Democrats.

The gay political group announced its endorsements for the July 20 Democratic primary, as well as several races on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

The endorsements include lesbian candidate Joan Garner, who faces fellow lesbian Keisha Waites and several other candidates in the Democratic primary for Fulton County Commission District 6, as well as Tim Riley, who is openly gay and running for State Senate District 47.

Garner, a longtime LGBT rights advocate and expert on social justice and philanthropy, has also been endorsed by Georgia Equality, the national Lesbian & Gay Victory Fund, and the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Atlanta Stonewall Democrats will host a meet-and-greet event with its endorsed candidates on Wednesday, June 30, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Roxx Tavern on Cheshire Bridge Road.

“We look forward to supporting our endorsed candidates throughout the campaign season, and we are excited to have such a large class of fair-minded Democrats running for office in 2010," Tim Cairl, chair of Atlanta Stonewall Democrats, said in a press release announcing the endorsements.

Here is the full list of Atlanta Stonewall Democrats' endorsements:

Secretary of State – Michael Mills
Attorney General – Rep. Rob Teilhet
Fulton County Commission District 6 – Joan Garner
State Senate District 39 – Senator Vincent Fort
State Senate District 44 – Gail Davenport
State House District 14 – Dan Ledford
State House District 33 – David Wilkerson
State House District 39 – Rep. Alisha Thomas-Morgan
State House District 44 – Rep. Sheila Jones
State House District 55 – Rep. Rashad Taylor
State House District 65 – George Sneed
State House District 75 – Yasmin Neal
State House District 80 – Sandy Murray
State House District 94 – No endorsement at this time since all the candidates demonstrated qualities that would be a dramatic improvement for its LGBT residents over the current representation.
State House District 96 – Rep. Pedro “Pete” Marin


Stonewall Endorsed Candidates for the November 2, 2010 General Election (this is only the first round for the general election, more endorsed candidates may be added after July 20th)
State Senate District 5 – Senator Curt Thompson
State Senate District 47 – Tim Riley
State House District 30 – Marilyn “MJ” Bridges
State House District 46 – Paul Kennedy
State House District 81 – Elena Parent
State House District 106 – Steffini Bethea