Mike Colona, a
gay lawyer from St. Louis, won his Democratic primary
Tuesday for a Missouri house seat despite controversy over
his ties to the gay porn industry, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch reported.
Colona took 42%
of the vote in his five-candidate race and should head
directly to the statehouse: He has no Republican challenger
in the fall. He'll become the second out gay man
elected to the Missouri legislature, after Tim
Van Zandt, who was elected in 1994.
He received
endorsements from local police, firefighters, and teachers
unions as well as the Communications Workers of America and
the National Abortion and Reproduction Rights Action
League.
But it was
another outfit that nearly cost him -- X99 Media, a
Springfield, Ill., producer of adult websites and DVDs.
X99's founder also contributed to Colona's campaign.
No one accused Colona of doing anything illegal, but
eyebrows were raised when adult sites that had listed
Colona as a "custodian of records" abruptly removed his
name or replaced it with that of another law firm.
Colona, for his
part, defended his role and said it was limited to
ensuring that no minors were used in productions.
"A small part of
my job is to ensure no minors are exploited by the
pornography industry," Colona, 39, told the
Post-Dispatch. "Some of my opponents want to
mischaracterize the work I've done. Make no mistake, my work
is focused on keeping kids safe."
But, said the
Post-Dispatch, his porn ties proved "just an
embarrassing hindrance" in his district of Tower
Grove, a fast-gentrifying neighborhood in south St. Louis of
stately Victorian homes lining a namesake park that
often hosts Pride events.
Two other
candidates each got about 23% of Tuesday's vote, the
Missouri secretary of state's office reported.
Missouri in 2004
elected its first lesbian lawmaker, state representative
Jeanette Mott Oxford. She was joined in 2006 by out state
senator Jolie Justus. Both face only token opposition
in November, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory
Fund. (Barbara Wilcox, The Advocate)