Top 10 GLBT NEWS STORIES IN SAN ANTONIO

1. H-E-B is targeted by homophobes
Christian radio talk show host Adam McManus staged three pickets against H-E-B after the grocer donated $300 to PrideFest. The GLBT community fought back with a wave of thousands of emails to H-E-B that eventually overwhelmed McManus’ efforts.

2. San Antonio is the gay adoption capital of U.S.
San Antonio has the highest percentage per capita of same sex couples with children.

3. SAPD responds to GLBT community outreach
After the release in 2005 of the Amnesty International report on police abuse of GLBT persons in San Antonio, the community used 2006 to make inroads at creating better relations with the SAPD. Community meetings, a police liaison and the formation of the Peace Officer’s Liaison Committee are all positive advances.

4. Census data estimates gay population of S.A.
A new study estimates that the gay, lesbian and bisexual population of the San Antonio metropolitan area is 46,188.

5. SAPD cop is convicted of raping a transsexual
A federal jury in August convicts Dean Gutierrez, a former San Antonio police officer who raped a transsexual while on duty, of willfully violating the civil rights of Gabriel Bernal, resulting in serious bodily injury and aggravated sexual abuse.

6. Controversy in District 7
San Antonio City Councilwoman Elena K. Guajardo confronts a long and bitter controversy when one of her constituents, George Dickerson, commits suicide after he is fired for sending her an inflammatory email from his office computer.

7. Bexar County bungles AIDS funding
Thanks to a problematic grant proposal written by Bexar County HIV Services coordinator Don Sharitz the County lost more than half a million dollars in federal funding, throwing some local HIV/AIDS service providers into a panic.

8. SAAF turns away the sick and dying
The San Antonio AIDS Foundation had to turn away seriously ill patients even while it worked with county and University Hospital officials to relieve the funding crisis that forced it to cut staff and leave beds empty. Luckily the agency rebounded by year’s end.

9. The Diversity Center goes under for the third time
On April 3, the board of directors of San Antonio’s Diversity Center published a "Letter to the Community" on its Web site. In it they blame the demise of the organization on apathy within the GLBT community and on a conflict of personalities.

10. Gay businessman Hap Veltman is honored
A gay entrepreneur and real estate developer who died of AIDS in 1988 is honored with a plaque on the Riverwalk, where he developed one of the first restaurants which began a trend that led to the river becoming the destination is has become today.

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF GAY S.A.

January

Christians picket WOAI
Several dozen protestors, led by Christian radio talk show host Adam McManus picket outside the News 4 WOAI studios on January 5. The group protests the television series ‘The Book of Daniel’ which features a gay character that is the son of an Episcopalian minister who pops pain pills and speaks directly to Jesus.

Knowing when to keep your mouth shut
KENS-TV anchorman Chris Marrou remarks after a report on the People's Choice Awards, "Why didn't they just give one of those guys from 'Brokeback Mountain' best actress?" The comment leads to complaints to the KENS newsroom and apologies to viewers from Executive News Director Kurt Davis.

Trans prostitutes and sex in Crockett Park
Elderly residents at the Aurora Apartments, a senior-living complex on Howard Street report instances of public sex and prostitution by transvestites and transsexuals in Crockett Park directly across the street from their building.

February

Editorial sting
The San Antonio Current publishes a "Gay Issue" in which editor Lisa Sorg writes in her commentary that San Antonio’s GLBT community is not unified or prepared to fight for its eroding rights.

Controversy in District 7
San Antonio City Councilwoman Elena K. Guajardo confronts a long and bitter controversy when one of her constituents, George Dickerson, commits suicide after he is fired for sending her an inflammatory email from his office computer.

Thumbs up or down
KSAT-TV posts a survey on its Web site which asks viewers: "Should councilwoman Elena Guajardo resign from office for the way she handled a citizen’s complaint that eventually led to the citizen getting fired and prompting him to commit suicide?"

March

One man’s Internet nightmare
A 19-year-old, mentally challenged man is lured to a Southeast Side home, where he endures a week of sexual assaults, beatings and robbery by an older man he met on the Internet.

Gay bar bomb threat
San Antonio police order the evacuation of The Saint and The Silver Dollar on March 23 after an anonymous call threatens that there is a bomb inside the Saint.

April

Diversity Center points fingers
On April 3, the board of directors of San Antonio’s Diversity Center published a "Letter to the Community" on its Web site. In it they blame the organization’s problems on apathy within the GLBT community and on a conflict of personalities.

Mayor demands civility
Since George Dickerson committed suicide in February, his close friend, Allen Ellebracht has been name-calling and yelling at Councilwoman Elena Guajardo during City Council meetings. As a consequence, the mayor invokes a rule: Those addressing the council can be critical, Hardberger says, but they have to remain civil. All violators, he adds, would be removed.

County bungles AIDS funding
Thanks to a problematic grant proposal, Bexar County loses more than half a million dollars in federal funding, throwing some local HIV/AIDS service providers into a panic. According to a federal review that noted far more weaknesses than strengths, the grant request written by Bexar County HIV Services coordinator Don Sharitz was severely lacking in several areas.

SAAF in financial trouble
The San Antonio AIDS Foundation continues to turn away seriously ill patients even while it works with county and University Hospital officials to relieve the funding crisis that forced it to cut staff and leave beds empty. The foundation learned it would lose $257,000 of its annual budget because of a poorly received grant proposal written by the county.

May

Joining the march
Representatives of Equality Texas, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Soulforce San Antonio and Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio participate in the Immigrants' Rights March on May 1.

The lady emperor
This year, during a May 6 election, The Royal, Sovereign and Imperial Court of the Alamo Empire marked a new first, the election of the fund-raising organization’s first lesbian Emperor, Annette Deleon.

SAPD liaison meets SDSA
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio played host on May 15 to Captain Larry Birney, the San Antonio Police Department’s liaison to the GLBT community. Speaking to a packed house of Stonewall members and guests, the Captain sought to create an aura of goodwill with an audience who listened attentively, then asked more than a few hard questions.

Community rallies for SAAF
Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson convenes a group consisting of about 25 community organizers, fundraisers and politicians met on May 24, to address the unexpected $500,000 shortfall in funding experienced this year by the San Antonio AIDS Foundation’s hospice care services.

June

Political clout
Several hundred LGBT Democrats, including 14 members of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, were among the 7,000 delegates that attended the Texas Democratic Convention in Fort Worth June 8 - 10.

Homophobes picket H-E-B
Scores of protestors picketed the H.E.B. at Highway 281 and Loop 1604 on June 16 because the grocery chain donated money to PrideFest 2006. Among the group were a dozen children whose ages ranged from about 5 years to 15 years old. Adam McManus, a San Antonio Christian radio talk show host for KSLR radio, organized the protest.

Pride proclamation
San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger signs an official proclamation that designates June 17, 2006 as "PrideFest Day" in San Antonio. "Promoting awareness of the diversity in our community helps build a bridge of understanding and tolerance . . . " the proclamation states.

SAPD Chief draws a GLBT crowd
San Antonio’s new Police Chief, William McManus, speaks before a standing room only crowd of GLBT citizens attending the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio meeting on June 19.

H-E-B is happy
H-E-B San Antonio City Councilwoman Elena Guajardo told QSanAntonio that she met with officials from H.E.B. in her office on June 22. "H.E.B. told me they got the message from the GLBT community and that the corporate office is very impressed with the response they received from the gay community," Guajardo said.

Another H-E-B picket
Christian talk show host Adam McManus, perhaps feeling a sense of defeat, staged another protest on June 23 at the H.E.B. on Blanco Road and Loop 1604.

July

A third H-E-B picket
Christian radio talk show host Adam McManus and twelve of his followers staged a third protest at an H.E.B. store on Friday, July 7. Among the picketers was San Antonio’s most well known homophobe Jack Finger.

Gay profiling?
On July 20, Edward Castillo, a gay, 40-year-old Navy veteran, is accused of driving under the influence after leaving The Saint. His car is searched and towed away by the police. He is handcuffed and taken to the police station where, after two Breathalyzer tests, it is determined that his blood alcohol level is well below the legal limit.

August

Living in fear
In a quiet middle-class neighborhood in Northeast San Antonio Dr. Hendrik B. Weyland lives in constant fear of his next-door neighbor, Alfred Valdivia, who for the past three years has taunted him with anti-gay slurs, pointed a pistol at him and threatened to kill him.

Protesting Cuellar
District 28 Congressman Henry Cuellar, who voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment denying marriage equality to same sex couples, is chosen to be the featured speaker at the BEAT-AIDS fundraising gala on September 8. His appearance prompts a letter of protest from a local GLBT activist asking the organization to reconsider Cuellar’s invitation to speak.

Cop guilty of transgender rape
A federal jury in August convicts Dean Gutierrez, a former San Antonio police officer who raped a transsexual while on duty, of willfully violating the civil rights of Gabriel Bernal, 23, resulting in serious bodily injury and that the conduct involved aggravated sexual abuse.

September

Community meets with SAPD
Over 20 community activists and gay club owners met with San Antonio Police Chief William McManus and GLBT liaison Captain Larry Birney on September 12 to address concerns about police-related activity in the area around the 1400 block of North Main Street.

Two perfect 100’s for corporate S.A.
Two S.A. based corporations, Clear Channel Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., are the only two companies in San Antonio and only two of four in Texas to receive a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2006 Corporate Equality Index. H.E. Butt Grocery Co., which operates H-E-B grocery stores, scored a 40 on the report.

October

Didn’t know there were so many of us
A new study estimates that the gay, lesbian and bisexual population of the San Antonio metropolitan area is 46,188.

City Manager meets the SDSA
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio played host to City Manager Sheryl Sculley at their October 16 meeting where she spoke about some of the accomplishments of her first year’s tenure, and of the many challenges that lay ahead in her newly-adopted city.

A banner conflict
The 20 members of the Gay Straight Alliance at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio say they feel hurt and discriminated against after two faculty members removed their homecoming banner prior to a pep rally at the school’s mall on Friday, October 27.

Police presence
Members of the San Antonio Police, the San Antonio Park Police and the San Antonio College Police met with bar owners and members of the GLBT community at the Saint on October 31 to discuss the crime that persists in the area around the bars on North Main Street. The meeting was notable in that of the 40 people in attendance, almost half were policemen who patrol the neighborhood.

November

Sweeps week hype at KENS
After two days of anxiety inducing, tabloid-style advertising on its Web site, in the Express-News and on-air, KENS-TV aired a report on November 18 about gay adoptions in San Antonio that surprised many in the GLBT community with its balanced presentation.

Winning the good fight
In the November 7 election, Judge Monica Guerrero, handily defeated her latest opponent, Genie Wright, by almost 20,000 votes. However the victory proved to be a difficult because Wright played dirty politics by using Guerrero’s sexual orientation as a smear tactic.

December

Gay pioneer
The San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association unveils a plaque on December 4 dedicated to the late Arthur P. "Hap" Veltman, one of the first entrepreneurs to open a restaurant on the river. Veltman, a gay businessman who developed the Blue Star Arts Complex and owned the Bonham Exchange, died of AIDS in 1988.

The wrong pickup
A San Antonio man says he was beaten and raped during the early morning hours of December 13 by a transvestite he picked up at The Saint.

Running off with a victory
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio and the Human Rights Campaign of San Antonio rally their members and others in the GLBT community, to support Ciro Rodriguez in his successful campaign against Republican Henry Bonilla in the December 12 runoff election for the District 23 seat in the U.S. Congress.

Adieu to Rev. Downer
On December 31, the Metropolitan Community Church of San Antonio bids farewell to interim pastor Rev. Kevin L. Downer who is moving to Chicago to start a new MCC congregation.

San Antonio Year in Review: Honorable and Dishonorable Mentions