Atlanta City Council candidates address LGBTQ+ issues at forum

Thirteen Atlanta City Council candidates answered questions about LGBTQ+ issues at a forum hosted by Georgia Equality and Human Rights Campaign Georgia on Sept. 30 at Neighborhood Church in Candler Park.

Participating candidates included Marci Collier Overstreet and Rohit Malhotra for City Council President; Alex Bevel Jones, Kelsea Bond, Rod Mack, and Courtney Smith for District 2; Jamie Anne Christy, Thad Flowers, Rebecca King, and Thomas Worthy for District 7; and Toni Belin-Ingram, Stephen Dingle, and Harold Maurice Hardnett for District 11.

The candidates were questioned by Chanel Haley, the Deputy Director of Georgia Equality, and Dr. Daniel Driffin, the Chair of the Metro Atlanta HIV Health Services Planning Council. Topics included funding and supporting the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program, addressing homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth, Atlanta’s prospective LGBTQ+ community center, and more.

City Council President

The night began with Overstreet and Malhotra answering questions about the duties of City Council President and how they would find funding for HOPWA, address homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth, and approach transparency in the budgeting process.

Both Overstreet and Malhotra expressed support for mandatory LGBTQ+ sensitivity training for the Atlanta Police Department. The candidates have taken different approaches to public safety with their campaigns: Overstreet has been supportive of Atlanta’s controversial Public Safety Training Center, colloquially known as “Cop City,” while Malhotra’s platform emphasizes investing in alternative “proven violence prevention programs” to create a community-centered public safety strategy. However, while Overstreet “unequivocally” supported the training, Malhotra expressed frustration with the City Council for making Atlantans who were advocating for this training feel unheard when the public safety facility was first introduced.

“Unequivocally, yes, I think it’s necessary,” Overstreet said. “I think it’s absolutely paramount that that training is included at the Public Safety Training Center. I think that they should be trained, not one and done either, it needs to be current training. It needs to be a dynamic training, not static. We need to keep up with what is happening, trends, because they’re these things are waves, they’re up and down and up and down, and we want to make sure we stay on top of that.”

“When people were crying out to be heard in the beginning of the process and were ignored by the Council repeatedly, ignored by the people who had to represent them repeatedly, being told that they are the ones who are outsiders that should not actually be able to help voice in this process repeatedly, to now say that, ‘Yes, we’ll include that training’ is all we were asking for in the beginning!” Malhotra said. “Way too many people in these processes do not feel heard until the decision is made. Community engagement is not going to communities and telling them what you’re going to do to them. It is making sure that what they are saying changes fundamentally what you are doing.”

District 2

Four of the six District 2 candidates – representing Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Inman Park, and Old Fourth Ward – participated in Tuesday’s event. Since the district includes Midtown, with its high density of LGBTQ+ residents and businesses and notoriously high rent prices, the candidates were asked if they support the development of an LGBTQ+ community center, estimated to cost between $12 million to $50 million, as well as affordable housing initiatives.

 “There was actually a hate crime that took place in Midtown a couple weeks ago,” Bond said. “A few blocks from where I live, there were some rainbow flags on 10th Street that were vandalized. And as a queer person, this is very scary, but this is happening in Midtown Atlanta, in 2025, a space where most of us would consider a queer safe space… We are still fighting for our rights. We’re still fighting for trans healthcare, we’re still fighting for trans people being recognized as basic human beings, and we are fighting against our own federal and state government to gain those rights. And so using spaces like this to create community centers and educational opportunities is exactly what we need.”

 “[Lack of affordable housing] is not something that’s unique to District 2,” Jones said. “This is not something unique to Atlanta or its metropolitan areas. This is something that is going on all across the country right now… If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this entire process, the power of the city does not reside the mayor’s office, it doesn’t reside on city council, it resides in the developers, the folks with the cranes, the folks digging up lots and putting in skyscrapers. That’s who’s really in control of the city, right? Quite frankly, I think we citizens of the city need to have a much louder voice at that table, because if we really want affordable housing as part of these developments, we have to speak up and make it happen.” 

The candidates were also asked about addressing homelessness in their district and combatting stigma against HIV throughout the city.

 “The City of Atlanta has made historic investments, such as a $200 million plan, to address the homeless[ness] crisis,” Mack said. “These funds are designated for creating new housing and supporting record housing initiatives. Partnerships are a key element of Atlanta’s strategy and the collaboration between government partners in the private sector.” 

“I think we need to make more low cost and free clinics available to… make sure that Fulton County, as the health and human services provider, and that’s part of their charter, understands that they need to allocate resources for not just healthcare in the physical sense, but also mental healthcare,” Smith said. “The other thing that I hear from the queer community a lot is that they need physicians and doctors that are relatable and accessible and provide career affirming care, and it would be nice if that care was not necessarily in a clinic that was only focused on the queer community, but accessible to them throughout the city and part of just an overall healthcare plan for the community.”

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District 7

Four of the five District 7 candidates representing Buckhead were asked about their relationships with the LGBTQ+ community and support of transgender Atlantans before answering questions about funding HOPWA, making the budgeting process more transparent, and supporting affordable housing initiatives while protecting property values in the high-end neighborhood.

“We need more middle-class housing [in Buckhead],” Flowers said. “We need more places in Buckhead for young professionals who are starting out. We need more units for empty nesters that are downsizing. There are areas in Buckhead that are just right for that type of development and, frankly, smart density. Of course, [in] district seven, we want to protect the character of our established neighborhoods, but there are areas like Lindbergh that’s kind of the move to the district. That’s a perfect place… I would absolutely support my colleagues’ efforts [in developing affordable housing] throughout the entire city, and hopefully they will support my efforts in District 7.”  

“We’re severely underfunded,” King said. “For instance, the hotel tax. We only receive 14.27 percent of that, the rest goes to the Georgia World Congress Center, and that’s a legislative piece… I’m very much wanting us to look at everything in terms of not raising taxes, to use impact fees and reuse those so that we’re taking care of infrastructure and needed items. Then that frees up money for HOPWA and other programs. And audits; audits are a great thing to see where money is.” 

“The funding allocation formula change to reduce the HOPWA grant happened several years ago, and I know that Georgia Equality and Jeff [Graham] have put together this task force to look at how to best use those funds,” Worthy said of funding HOPWA. “So first and foremost, if elected, the first thing I would do is actively engage in that task force. But I think that so much about serving is just as much listening and learning as it is speaking and acting, so I know that Georgia Equality has done so much of that work on the task force, and I would actively jump in and be a part of it. We need a soup-to-nuts review of the Atlanta budgetary process. And I think that we can examine whether or not there is availability from the general fund to help close that gap.” 

 “Mental health is important in the trans community because I lost a friend from not being able to access mental health care and resources,” Christy said of her relationship to the LGBTQ+ community. “And this administration needs to recognize that these people are people, and they’re not ‘others.’ They’re actually humans. Just because they want to transition and be different doesn’t mean they are others… They’re trying to live their life and be part of this community, and we need to respect that.” 

District 11

Three of the eight candidates for District 11, representing southwest Atlanta, expressed their support of combatting HIV stigma and strengthening HOPWA.

“It’s really simple. For me, when you’re not necessarily a part of a community, you have to collaborate and partner with people to beat that initiative,” Dingle said. “So for me, it’s partnering with people who, if they deal with HIV or AIDS, or if they have a close relationship with someone who deals with that, it’s empowering them to where they’re put in a position to be uplifted and supported with the power I have always had, me personally, to support their theories, to know that we’re on the right track, doing the right thing for the people directly involved and impacted by HIV.”

The candidates were also asked about their support of an LGBTQ+ community center, knowing the $12 million to $50 million price tag may be more difficult to swallow for southwest Atlantans, many of whom are living on under $30,000 a year and facing significant infrastructural issues in their neighborhoods. All candidates were supportive.

“Having a place like that where, especially teen LGBTQ+ kids that are transitioning, this is a place where they could go and feel safe,” Hardnett said. “…I’m all for [an LGBTQ+ community center], I think we do need that, that would be very important… the LGBTQ+ community here is large and strong. Everybody needs their own safe haven, everyone needs their own place, and needs their place to feel secure.”

Haley also asked the candidates about bringing back the Dream Jamboree, a college and career fair for high school students created by Jean Childs Young in the ‘80s. Again, all candidates were supportive.

“If you don’t know what the possibilities are, it is very difficult to see yourself in your future,” Belin-Ingram said. “I think the Dream Jamboree allows young people to see themselves, to know who it is that they could possibly be. And I think it should be extended: not just college, not just tech, but also all the different vocations that are possible… It should have a mentoring capacity component, where they can learn a trade, they can learn what different opportunities are, they can connect with people.”

Early voting begins on Oct. 14 and runs through Oct. 31 before Election Day on Nov. 4. To register or check your registration, visit mvp.sos.ga.gov. Watch the full LGBTQ+ Candidate Forum here.