Local Stonewall, LULAC president will help lead grassroots efforts

Jesse Garcia

Dallas activist Jesse Garcia has been selected as one of five national co-chairs for Obama Pride, the grassroots network charged with mobilizing LGBT voters in support of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The five co-chairs were announced Wednesday, Aug. 6 by the Obama campaign in a press release.

Garcia is president of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, North Texas’ largest LGBT political organization, and a board member for National Stonewall Democrats. Garcia also serves as president of LULAC Council 4871, the Dallas Rainbow Council.

“I’m floored that I was selected because I was a Clinton supporter,” said Garcia, who served on Clinton’s National LGBT Steering Committee for the primary. “I’ve got to credit the LGBT campaign of Barack Obama. They know it’s time to come together and get the LGBT vote out.”

According to Wednesday’s press release, Obama Pride will build upon work that started in the primary, when supporters participated in gay Pride festivals nationwide and organized leadership networks in 40 cities. “Obama Pride will organize networks of activists in all 50 states who are committed to identifying, registering and turning out lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters.”

Garcia said he expects to work in neighboring battleground states, such as New Mexico and Colorado. He said one of the goals will be to duplicate LGBT events that already are planned in Dallas, including an Obama fundraiser and a watch party for the senator’s nomination acceptance speech.

“We’re going to be sharing with other communities our best practices,” Garcia said.

The other four Obama Pride co-chairs are Marsha Botzer, a co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Board of Directors; Mandy Carter, an African-American LGBT activist from North Carolina; Campbell Spencer, who heads grassroots efforts for the LGBT group One Iowa; and Eric Stern, a former president of National Stonewall Democrats.

The Obama campaign also announced that Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, who was the chair of Clinton’s National LGBT Steering Committee, has been named co-chair of Obama’s National LGBT Steering and Policy Committee.

The Steering and Policy Committee is charged with making sure people are aware of the differences between Obama and Republican nominee John McCain on issues important to the LGBT community, according to the press release.

Tammy Baldwin, left; Tobias Wolff, right

Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, is the only out lesbian in Congress.

“I am proud to support Barack Obama for president and work hard for his election because we share a commitment to equality for all Americans. This is our quest and our common goal,” Baldwin said. “From now through November, we will reach out aggressively to our fellow LGBT Americans to ensure that they know there is only one candidate in this race who will stand up for equal rights and build a coalition that can deliver change that we desperately need.”

The other co-chair of the Steering and Policy Committee is Tobias Wolff, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania who chaired Obama’s LGBT Policy Committee during the primary. Joan Garry, former executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and Kevin Jennings, founder and executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education network, will continue to lead Obama’s LGBT Finance Committee.

“I’m proud to have the support of Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, the Obama Pride co-chairs, and so many leaders across the LGBT community,” Obama said. “I believe that we can achieve equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country, and with this team I know that the LGBT community will play a major role in our campaign to bring change to Washington.”

E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com


This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 8, 2008.