Tag Archives: San Antonio

San Antonio religious leaders threaten lawsuits to end city’s DP benefits

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Philip Sevilla

Two religious leaders are threatening lawsuits if the city doesn’t stop offering domestic partner benefits in light of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s advisory opinion saying they violate the state Constitution.

Pastor Gerald Ripley of Voices for Marriage and Philip Sevilla of Texas Leadership Coalition addressed the San Antonio City Council Wednesday, threatening lawsuits in order to stop the benefits from being offered if the city doesn’t end them by June 30, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

“Lawsuits will be filed if necessary,” Ripley said.

“We cannot allow this in San Antonio. We are not San Francisco,” Sevilla said.

City attorney Mike Bernard told the newspaper the city won’t change its policy until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in two key marriage equality cases.

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro has supported the benefits and said last month Abbott’s opinion to take away the benefits would hold Texas back.

Meanwhile, Fort Worth officials aren’t changing anything to the city’s DP benefits program because of Abbott’s opinion, according to an employee newsletter sent out yesterday.

—  Anna Waugh

San Antonio man beaten unconscious in apparent anti-gay hate crime

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From left, Aurelio Huerta-Gonzalez, Filiberto Huerta-Gonzalez and Juan Huerta-Gonzalez.

San Antonio police arrested three brothers over the weekend for the brutal beating of their gay neighbor.

Juan Huerta-Gonzalez, 35, Aurelio Huerta-Gonzalez, 33, and Filiberto Huerta-Gonzalez, 30, allegedly beat their neighbor, 48, while he was doing laundry at their apartment complex, San Antonio’s KENS-5 reports.

The victim told police one of the three men called him a derogatory name in Spanish before one of them punched him in the face. The others then allegedly held him down, beating him until he was unconscious. He then called police when he woke up.

Aurelio Huerta-Gonzalez allegedly told officers that he didn’t like the victim looking at them all the time and calling him and his brothers “baby” and “sweet thing” all the time. He also said a fourth man punched the victim first because of the way he was looking at him and the brothers pulled the man off of him.

But the victim was only able to identify the three brothers and not the other man.

The men were charged with assault and police are investigating it as a hate crime.

—  Anna Waugh

Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio withholds endorsement of Julian Castro

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Mayor Julian Castro

Mayor Julian Castro

Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio did not endorse Mayor Julian Castro in his re-election bid.

Castro signed a Freedom to Marry pledge last year along with mayors from Austin, Houston and several San Antonio suburbs. In his keynote speech at the Democratic Convention, he said gays and lesbians have a right to marriage equality. And he was the first mayor of his city to march in a Pride parade, serving as grand marshal.

But when Stonewall sent him a questionnaire this year, the mayor refused to sign it. According to the San Antonio Express News, Castro just doesn’t like these type of surveys.

“First, I don’t like those surveys, the ones that say, ‘Yes or no,’” Castro told the newspaper. “They don’t need to read a survey. They just need to read my record.”

Continue reading “Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio withholds endorsement of Julian Castro” »

—  David Taffet

Activists plaster windows of Chick-fil-A with pro-equality signs in San Antonio

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Activists in San Antonio plastered the windows of a local Chik-fil-A with pro marriage equality signs last night. Watch video from KENS 5 below.

Continue reading “Activists plaster windows of Chick-fil-A with pro-equality signs in San Antonio” »

—  John Wright

San Antonio student fights to get photo of her and girlfriend back in yearbook

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This photo of Felicia Rivera, right, and her girlfriend, Lialani Hernandez, was removed from a San Antonio yearbook.

This photo of Felicia Rivera, right, and her girlfriend, Lialani Hernandez, was removed from a San Antonio yearbook.

A 16-year-old San Antonio student is petitioning Brennan High School to allow a photo of her and her girlfriend to be printed in the school’s 2013 yearbook.

The picture, above, depicts Felicia Rivera holding her girlfriend at school. The photo was selected to run on the Valentine’s Day page but the yearbook adviser removed the image from the page after she found out it was two girls.

The couple has been dating for a year and Rivera has gathered more than 200 student signatures to have the photo placed back on the yearbook page.

“You shouldn’t be discriminated against just because you’re gay,” she told KENS 5. “You shouldn’t worry about people bashing you or talking behind your back just for you to be you.”

Pascual Gonzalez, director of public information for the school district, said the photo wasn’t like other photos selected for the page where students were looking directly at the camera and was “too intimate” and  “a little bit too much, exaggerated public display of affection.” The student handbook prohibits public displays of affection on campus.

But Rivera’s father isn’t buying the school’s reasoning behind pulling the photo after it’d already been placed and approved, until the two girls were identified.

“They were fine with it until they realized it was girl-girl,” Felix Rivera said. “It got placed, it got set and it was going to print and then it got pulled.”

Even if the photo isn’t put back in the yearbook, Rivera said the experience has made her want to start a Gay-Straight Alliance on the campus to prevent further discrimination from occurring.

Watch KENS 5’s report below.

Continue reading “San Antonio student fights to get photo of her and girlfriend back in yearbook” »

—  Anna Waugh

Male instructor accused of sexually abusing 2 male recruits at Lackland

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The list of victims in a yearlong sex-abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio now includes three men.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that a male instructor at Lackland is accused of abusive sexual contact with two men in boot camp, while a female instructor is accused of having consensual sex with a male student. Abusive sexual contact involves incidents in which the perpetrator is accused of touching parts of a person’s body for sexual gratification. The male instructor faces up to 14 years in prison.

Until now, all 56 victims in the Lackland scandal had been women. The latest report brings the total number of victims to 59 and the number of instructors under investigation to 32, with six already found guilty of misconduct. Lackland is home to all Air Force basic training, and the scandal has drawn national attention to the issue of military sexual assault. Congress will hold a hearing on the scandal next week.

“We’re not at all surprised that the investigation has turned up male victims. Sexual assault in the military affects men as well as women,” said Greg Jacob, policy director for Service Women‘s Action Network, told the Express-News. “The VA reports that 40 percent of all veterans seeking care for sexual trauma are men. Because of the hostile climate in the military, sexual assaults are underreported to begin with, and among men under reporting is even more widespread than it is for women.”

Read the full story here.

—  John Wright

DNC keynoter Julian Castro has been strong LGBT ally in San Antonio

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Mayor Julian Castro at San Antonio’s gay Pride in 2009 (via the San Antonio Express-News).

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who keynotes the Democratic National Convention tonight, has been a friend to the LGBT community since he was elected in 2009.

Soon after he was elected, Castro became the first mayor of that city to serve as grand marshal of the Pride Parade.

When a Christian radio station talk show host organized a protest of Castro’s participation in Pride, Castro responded firmly about where he stood.

“To equate lesbians and gays with something immoral is just wrong,” he said.

Earlier this year, Castro signed the Freedom to Marry Pledge.

“Today I proudly joined the mayors of Houston, Austin, New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and more than 60 other American mayors of cities big and small in support of the ‘Mayors for the Freedom to Marry’ petition for same-sex marriage equality,” Castro wrote on his Facebook page the day he signed the pledge.

Last September, Castro spearheaded a push to offer domestic partner benefits in his city, which passed the City Council on a 8-3 vote. The item was originally part of the general city budget but was pulled out as a separate item and council members were able to comment on it.

“This is not a new issue — this should have be done some time ago,” Castro said, speaking in support of DP benefits.

Speaking to Stonewall Democrats in 2009, Castro told the group there are no second-class citizens in San Antonio.

When he speaks tonight, Castro will become the first Hispanic keynote speaker at a national Democratic or Republican convention. His 15-minute speech is being compared to President Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention that began his rise to the White House even before he was elected to the Senate that November.

In his keynote address, Castro is expected to talk about striving for the American Dream. Earlier in the evening, delegates are expected to approve a platform with a number of pro-LGBT planks, including marriage equality. Castro will be speaking to a crowd that includes more LGBT delegates than have ever attended a Democratic convention. There was no advance word about whether Castro would include LGBT issues in his speech, which is set for 9 p.m. Central time.

—  David Taffet

Hey Tom Goss, where’s Dallas’ song?

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While posting Today’s Best Bet, a little bit of jealous hometown pride kicked in when I saw that out singer Tom Goss posted this ode to San Antonio on his YouTube. And he even put an exclamation mark at the end of “I Can’t Wait To Get To San Antonio” title.

Oh sure, Mr. Goss. Build up your buzz for your upcoming fancy benefit reception on Saturday to raise scholarship money for LGBT youth. And go ahead and ask for your donations for LEAGUE who has given financial aid to 93 students totaling more than $157,000.

Our Dallas hearts still hurt a little.

We love you, too, Tom Goss, but clearly you’ve chosen San Antonio. Our eyes are on you tonight to make up for it. We might even send in our own donation so nyah.

Probably what Goss will be wearing tonight.

—  Rich Lopez

Gonzalez issues statement on marriage equality plank, as San Antonio continues to lead the way

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Charles Gonzalez

U.S. Rep. Charles Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, a national co-chair for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, is also the only member of Texas’ congressional delegation who’s signed Freedom To Marry’s petition in support of a marriage equality plank in the 2012 Democratic Party platform.

Gonzalez is one of several Obama campaign co-chairs who’ve endorsed the marriage equality plank. In response to a request from Instant Tea, spokesman Drew Stout sent over a statement from Gonzalez explaining his position. Here’s the full statement:

“The Democratic Party has been and always will be the Party committed to fighting for equality for all Americans,” Gonzalez said. “As an individual Member of Congress, marriage equality is an issue which I support. During the platform writing process, ideas and opinions will be considered from our diverse Democratic Party family, and I understand that the President and the Party are committed to crafting a platform that reflects our values and a belief that America is a nation in which everyone deserves a fair shot and hard work is rewarded. I fully expect that my opinion, and the opinions of others, will be an important consideration in reaching a consensus in drafting our party’s platform. The time will come to consider the content of the platform, but at this time, not a single platform committee member has been chosen and the process has yet to begin. As the election season moves forward, my chief objective will be for President Obama and our candidates in every part of the country to prevail in November so that we continue to make this country a better place for everyone.”

Interestingly, Gonzalez’s public support for the marriage equality plank continues a recent trend of politicians from the San Antonio area leading the way on this issue in the Lone Star State. Of the six Texas mayors who’ve joined Mayors for the Freedom to Marry campaign, three are from Bexar County.

—  John Wright

San Antonio SBOE candidate who created 10-step plan to prevent GSAs thanks anti-gay hate group

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David Williams

Texas State Board of Education candidate David Williams, a Republican running for the seat held by Democrat Michael Soto, has made public his view that gays can change their sexuality.

The buzz about Williams’ remarks started last week when the Texas Freedom Network reported that he had posted a comment on the Family Research Council’s Facebook page about being proud of the fact that a Gay Straight Alliance at his son’s school in 2006 was rejected as a new club by the student council. Williams was then a public school teacher in Oklahoma. He is now a middle school math teacher at a private school in San Antonio, according to his campaign website.

FRC’a anti-gay views have led it to be identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In the post, Williams thanks the organization for its “support for the traditional family” before mentioning that “prayer and community action” led to the GSA’s rejection, mentioning that God has led him to run for the SBOE seat. “The Lord has given me a new mission, to run for the Texas State Board of Education. Please pray for me and thank you for being a voice up there for those of us out here.”

Williams emailed TFN on Monday in response to the report that he was anti-gay because he was happy the GSA’s creation was blocked, writing that the “GSA was voted down by students in order to be fair to ex-gays that found change is possible. Students were presented the several scientific views on the origins of same sex attraction and did not think a GSA to support one view only was needed.”

In the email to TFN, Williams also linked to an article on the website of Parents and Friends of Exgays and Gays about the GSA situation years ago, mentioning his leadership position as mid-Oklahoma representative for Christian Educators Association International and his creation of a 10-step plan “to deal with homosexual activism in schools.”

—  Anna Waugh