WEST HOLLYWOOD : Gays Urged to Back Slate of 50 Candidates

Declaring that the Democratic Party has abandoned the cause of gay rights, members of the Peace and Freedom Party ticket Monday urged gays and lesbians to back a slate of 50 openly gay candidates running for local, state and federal offices in 17 California counties.

Maria Elizabeth Munoz, a Union Avenue Elementary School teacher who is the party’s candidate for vice president, suggested that Republicans and Democrats share the blame for inadequate funding for AIDS and for slowing the gay rights agenda. “Not one of Jesse Helms’ anti-gay amendments could have passed the U.S. Senate without Democratic Party support. . . . We need to find a way to put some heat on the Democratic Party to support policies that the lesbian and gay communities need,” Munoz said at a news conference outside West Hollywood City Hall.

Sue Davies, an openly lesbian candidate for Congress, predicted that Americans’ disenchantment with traditional politics--a theme of former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr.’s presidential campaign--will lend new strength to the ultraliberal party.