Tag Archives: Gay marriage

For 7th time in 3 years, poll shows most Texans support legal gay unions

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Yet another poll has found that a solid majority of Texans support legal recognition — where it be marriage or civil unions — for same-sex couples.

Results from a University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll released today show that 36 percent of Texans support same-sex marriage, while another 33 percent support civil unions but not marriage. Twenty-five percent said they oppose all forms of legal relationship recognition — both marriage and civil unions — for same-sex couples.

The UT/TT poll surveyed 800 voters from Oct. 15-21 and has a margin of error of 4.22 percentage points.

It’s at least the seventh poll since 2009 that has showed that a solid majority of Texans  support civil unions or marriage — with the figure consistently hovering around 60 percent — which might lead one to wonder why they don’t ask a new LGBT-related question.

In case these pollsters haven’t noticed, Texas has a constitutional amendment banning both same-sex marriage and civil unions. Overturning the amendment would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, as well as a simple majority of voters,  which is extremely unlikely to happen anytime in the foreseeable future.

Therefore, we’d suggest they ask something more relevant, such as, “Would you support a law banning employment discrimination against LGBT people?”

—  John Wright

AUDIO: Kluwe’s marriage equality PSA

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Chris Kluwe, the one straight athlete every gay person should know, recorded a promo for marriage equality in his home state of Minnesota, where he plays for the Vikings. Gay.net has the audio. Listen here.

P.S. Who else thinks Ryan Gosling has to play him in the movie?

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Texas GOP congressman smears opponent with false, anti-gay ad

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Francisco “Quico” Canseco

The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart has a post up today in which he argues that the absence of LGBT issues from the presidential debates — which conclude tonight — is actually a good thing because it signals that gays no longer make an effective political wedge.

Unfortunately, that’s still not always the case in places like Texas — as evidenced by a recent attack mailer in a hard-fought congressional race.

The mailer from tea party freshman Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, accuses his opponent, Democratic state Rep. Pete Gallego, of saying “no to God,” supporting “abortions for underage girls” and wanting “marriage to be between man & man.” Canseco and Gallego face off Nov. 6 in District 23, Texas’ only swing congressional district, which stretches along the Mexican border from San Antonio to El Paso.

The charges brought by Canseco in the mailer are mostly false, according to reports in the Texas Tribune and the Huffington Post.

Continue reading “Texas GOP congressman smears opponent with false, anti-gay ad” »

—  John Wright

Beau and Major marry!

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After sparking an international movement for marriage equality with local protests and arrests, Beau Chandler and Mark “Major” Jiminez married Thursday night.

The two looked rather dapper dressed in white tuxes with yellow bow ties and rose flourishes. Among their closest friends and family, the couple married at a friend’s home near Bachman Lake and exchanged their vows in an intimate ceremony.

The reception that followed at the Dallas Eagle raised $788 in addition to a $200 anonymous donation before the event. The money will be divided among Youth First Texas and 89.3 KNON’s Lambda Weekly and the Sonic Assembly Hour programs.

Read more about their love story in last week’s cover story.

Congrats, you two!

—  Anna Waugh

Would a resolution backing marriage equality pass the Dallas City Council?

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Equality Texas has posted a petition calling for the Austin City Council to approve a resolution in support of marriage equality. As far as I know, Austin would be the first city in Texas to do so.

According to the petition, the resolution is sponsored by Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and Councilwoman Laura Morrison, and backed by Equality  Texas, the Human Rights Campaign, the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The resolution will be voted on in September.

“Marriage provides legal and economic protections including access to health care, recognition of parental and custodial responsibilities, property rights, and other protections which are vital to the safety and security of every family, and is a powerful and important affirmation of love and commitment and a source of social support and recognition,” the petition states in part. “As the Supreme Court said in the 1967 landmark case Loving v. Virginia, ‘Marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival. Thank you for your leadership in support of the freedom to marry and for sending the message nationwide that the City of Austin values equality.”

The petition currently has 326 signatures, with a goal of 1,000. Especially if you live in Austin, but even if you don’t, sign it by going here.

On a side note, one can’t help but wonder how long it will be before a similar resolution is proposed in Dallas. Leffingwell is among the six mayors from Texas who signed a Freedom to Marry “pledge” earlier this year. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, of course, is not — even though Rawlings has said he would vote in favor of marriage equality if he had the chance.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that with Rawlings’ support, the votes are there right now, today, on the Dallas City Council to pass a similar resolution. Can you guess who my other seven votes are?

UPDATE: Daniel Williams at Equality Texas sent over a copy of the resolution that will be voted on by the Austin City Council in September, and I’ve posted it below. The resolution is a powerful statement in support of equality, and one that pro-LGBT council members in every progressive city in this state should consider putting forward.

Continue reading “Would a resolution backing marriage equality pass the Dallas City Council?” »

—  John Wright

WATCH: Dallas LGBT couples kiss amid harassment at Chick-fil-A

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Couple Tyler Savage, left, and Larry Farris kiss at a Dallas Chick-fil-A Friday, Aug. 3, for National Same-sex Kiss-in Day. (Anna Waugh/Dallas Voice)

Couple Tyler Savage and Larry Farris arrived at Chick-fil-A off Northwest Highway Friday afternoon to quietly protest the company’s anti-gay stance – and to kiss.

Various media outlets swarmed the couple and two others who were present when Instant Tea was there for the noon hour.

Farris, known as “Larry The Fairy” in the Dallas LGBT community, said the National Same-sex Kiss-in Day at Chick-fil-A Friday was not about the company President Dan Cathy’s remarks about gay marriage, but about the company giving funds to anti-gay groups.

“I’m not going to spend money here anymore. Why would I want to fund companies that are anti-me?” he said. “Free speech is free speech. I don’t care what he says, it’s the money that he’s donating.”

For Savage, it’s a not about the chicken chain.

Continue reading “WATCH: Dallas LGBT couples kiss amid harassment at Chick-fil-A” »

—  Anna Waugh

BREAKING: Jiminez arrested again for protesting gay marriage

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Chandler and Jiminez hug before Jiminez’s arrest at 4:30 this afternoon

Mark Jiminez was arrested for criminal trespassing at the County Records Building after he refused to leave the building.

Jiminez handcuffed himself to rope in the waiting line on the second floor of the County Records Building in protest of four Dallas same-sex couples denied marriage licenses.

Jiminez and Beau Chandler went back to the County Records Building this afternoon after their court hearings this morning. The two were arrested for criminal trespassing July 5 after refusing to leave the records building without a marriage license.

Chandler didn’t handcuff himself in order to get the bail money in case Jiminez is arrested.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jiminez and escorted him out of the building when it closed at 4:30 p.m.

—  Anna Waugh

Equality TX rakes in $4k in donations on Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day

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Equality Texas utilized Wednesday’s Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day as a donation day for those who do not support the chicken chain.

Donors were encouraged to give $6.50, the cost of a chicken sandwich meal, to the organization, but other amounts could also be donated.

Deputy Executive Director Chuck Smith said 281 donors gave money Wednesday totaling $4,350. In addition, five new donors signed up to give monthly.

He said the funds would most likely go to fund the Equality Project, which is a public education program that travels across Texas.

Smith said he was surprised with the media coverage about the appreciation day that focused primarily on the company’s right to freedom of speech. He said members and allies of the LGBT community are not criticizing the freedom of speech, but the message that was behind the president’s recent comments and the actions of the company by donating to anti-gay organizations.

“No one is questioning Chick-fil-A or Dan Cathy’s right to free speech,” he said. “This is about disagreeing with them giving millions of dollars to fund discrimination and homophobia.”

Tomorrow is a national same-sex kiss-in day at Chick-fil-A. Smith said the organization wasn’t planning another donation day, but people can donate anytime online.

—  Anna Waugh

Anti-gay Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress urges congregation to eat mor chickin

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Robert Jeffress

Amid the gay marriage and chicken chain controversy, the Rev. Robert Jeffress, the anti-gay senior pastor of First Baptist of Dallas, encouraged his congregation Sunday to eat more Chick-fil-A.

Jeffress, who has a long history of anti-gay activism, told his congregation that “this is not about bashing homosexuals,” the CW33 reports.

Instead, Jeffress said supporting the company and the president’s comments supporting only the traditional family was “to support religious freedom in America.”

Upset about the angry reaction from LGBT advocates, Jeffress said “the liberals have gone into a frenzy.” Indeed, they have, with a same-sex kiss-in day planned for Aug. 3. That nationwide event is only two days after Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day Aug. 1, of which you’ll be sure to find Jeffress and his many followers.

When he was pastor at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls in 1998, he tried to eliminate gay-themed books from the city’s public library. And after joining First Baptist in Dallas in 2008, he sparked protests with a controversial sermon advertised on the church’s marquee, “Why Gay is Not O.K.”

But supporting Chick-Fil-A isn’t about gay bashing for Jeffress. Sure, it’s not.

Watch the video below.

—  Anna Waugh

Plano Chick-fil-A claims safety issues with Muppets toys; former Dallasite organizes same-sex kiss-in

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A Chick-fil-A location in Plano reportedly is among those that have posted signs announcing an alleged Muppets toy recall, after the Jim Henson Co. severed its ties with the chicken chain over its opposition to gay rights.

The above photo from a Chick-fil-A store announcing it “voluntarily recalled all of the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Puppet Kids Meal toys due to a possible safety issue” is from a Plano location.

Human Rights Campaign board member Meghan Stabler, who lives in Round Rock, told Instant Tea the sign is from the Plano store at the Willow Bend Mall, where servers were instructed to tell customers that there were safety issues with the toys.

The sign states that “there have not been any cases in which a child has actually been injured, however there have been some reports of children getting their fingers stuck in the holes of the puppets.”

Phone calls to the restaurant were not answered.

The Jim Henson Co. announced that it would sever ties with Chick-fil-A after its President Dan Cathy again made anti-gay comments last week and expressed continued support for “traditional family values.” Henson Co. CEO Lisa Henson is a supporter of marriage equality and announced that the company would donate money from Chick-fil-A to GLAAD.

Meanwhile, former Dallasite Carly McGehee, who attended Flower Mound High School, has created the event “National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick Fil A,” scheduled for Aug. 3. McGehee, who now lives in New York, said she has boycotted the company since 2010 when she found out it funds anti-gay groups.

Continue reading “Plano Chick-fil-A claims safety issues with Muppets toys; former Dallasite organizes same-sex kiss-in” »

—  Anna Waugh