This year, for the first time, the two publications, along with QRadio and Out Las Vegas, decided to join efforts and issue one, joint endorsement list.

“It seemed silly that Bill Schafer, publisher of the Night Beat and my magazine, QVegas, duplicated our efforts,” explained Kelly McFarlane Smith from Stonewall Publishing, Inc.

“We discussed the idea,” said Schafer, “and everyone, including former Las Vegas Bugle publisher, Rob Schlegel, thought it would be an excellent idea to combine our efforts and issue a community-wide, joint endorsement list.”

While none of us really wanted to duplicate our efforts, the amazing thing will be the impact we can have on getting out the vote, by all promoting the same endorsements and combine our energies into getting this list into the hands of every justiceminded citizen in Southern Nevada.

Early voting begins Oct. 21 and ends Nov. 3. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 7 and polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you’re not yet registered, there is still time. Oct. 7 is the last day to register, change addresses or party affiliation without appearing in person at the election department. Oct. 8-17, voters may still register or make changes by going in person to either of the Clark County Election Department’s two offices.

We urge you not only to vote but to actively encourage your friends and family to join you at the polls. This is perhaps one of the most important elections for the LGBT community and for our nation as a whole. No one should shirk their duty to vote.

“This list of endorsements is published to help our community to be better informed about the candidates. While the best policy is to research every candidate and question for yourself, it’s not always possible or practical,” Smith said. “Our panel is well informed, knows many of the candidates personally and we urge you to take their advice in any race or on any ballot question where you’re uncertain.”

“The single, largest reason people give for not voting is they don’t know the issues or who to vote for,” Schafer said. “We’ve solved that with this endorsement guide.”

The endorsement list is provided as a service by the Night Beat and QVegas. It’s available in both publications and readers are urged to take the guide to the polls when voting. The list is also available on this site—both as a text file and as a downloadable PDF (Adobe Portable Document File). The PDF can be e-mailed too, as can the Web site address.

The endorsement list has also been officially adopted by the Lambda Business and Professional Association—the local “Gay Chamber of Commerce.” The Lambda board of directors felt it was important to give their members a more fair-minded slate of candidates than the mostly antigay individuals endorsed by both the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

We urge every LGBT member of our community to give a copy of this endorsement list to their friends and ask them to vote. In addition, nearly everyone has an email list and we urge both individuals and organizations to either send the website link or send the PDF files to every LGBT or LGBT-friendly person in their address book. With this type of unprecedented cooperation among the LGBT media, we can educate voters on our issues and actually decide or carry many races.

Text composed by Rob Schlegel with endorsements made by the Election Committee from QVegas and Las Vegas Night Beat.