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San Angelo mayor’s saga puts yet another human face on anti-gay immigration laws
September 2nd, 2009
- J.W. Lown
Remember J.W. Lown, the former mayor of San Angelo who abruptly left office in May to be with his gay lover, an undocumented immigrant? Texas Monthly has a nice follow-up piece on Lown in its September edition, which you can read by going here. The story talks about how most people in the conservative West Texas city — including Lown’s evangelical Christian campaign treasurer, a Bible-thumping colleague on the City Council and even the little old ladies at the bridge club — weren’t really surprised to find out he was gay, and didn’t really care because he was such a good friend and mayor. The author also managed to get in touch with Lown, who recounts from Mexico the touching love story that led to his disappearance just a few days before he was to be sworn in for a fourth term. Above all, Lown’s ordeal serves as a bitter reminder about immigration inequality and the need for the Uniting American Families Act.
“The laws of our country are harsh for illegal immigrants. And I understand that. But same-sex couples don’t have the same benefits as heterosexual couples. Otherwise we could simply have a civil union and cure the problem. That’s not possible.”
Tags: Immigration, J.W. Lown, San Angelo, West Texas
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
god that story is soooooooo freaking cute
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
My lover lives outside the United States, and yes it’s really difficult. I know all to well what this guy is thinking and the difficult choice he had to make to leave his position. For what it’s worth, if there’s a will, there’s a way.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Well that is a great story…rather cute. I surely beleive that same-sex couples don’t have the same benefits as heterosexual couples. Definitely there are prejudices in laws.