Out councilwoman on the job in Live Oak
QSanAntonio.com, November 7, 2009

Last May, gay voters in San Antonio were disappointed when none of the three GLBT candidates running for City Council were elected to office. However, just a few miles up IH 35 North, the small city of Live Oak was making history when it elected a lesbian mom to their City Council.

The election of Susan Kirschner, a 49-year-old registered nurse, came without any fanfare or media hype. That’s mostly because the candidate did not make her sexual orientation a part of the campaign.

"I am out and open about myself," she told QSanAntonio, "but I did not want my being a lesbian to be the focus of my run for office." As part of that strategy, Kirschner kept her 18-month old adopted daughter and her partner of 14 years out of the election limelight.

Kirschner was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in the Flatbush and Prospect Park neighborhoods. When she was 15, her family moved to San Antonio where she graduated from Robert E. Lee High School. She received her nursing degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

A call to serve

Kirschner bought her home in Live Oak 15 years ago. The city is located about 15 miles north of downtown San Antonio at the intersection of IH 35 and Loop 1604. Incorporated in 1960, Live Oak is comprised of seven suburban subdivisions with a population of about 12,000 people.

It was never Kirschner’s dream to hold public office. Her involvement with city government came from a somewhat mundane concern: Who was responsible for maintaining an alley that runs behind her home?

Kirschner says the alley was constantly overgrown with weeds and tall grass. She went to a City Council meeting and during the "citizens to be heard" portion she made her case. Not satisfied with the response she got from the Council she went on to study up on the rules and regulations that applied to her predicament.

In the course of working on that problem she eventually got herself appointed to the city’s Historical Committee and later to the Planning and Zoning Commission. It wasn’t long before two City Councilwomen noted her participation and suggested she run for office.

"At first, I was concerned with what was happening on one street," she says, "becoming a part of the City Council has made me look at the big picture and look at ways to move the city forward."

Despite her election victory, Kirschner’s time on the City Council has been marred by homophobic comments at some Council meetings.

In the initial weeks after her election, Kirschner says she felt isolated and rejected. She contemplated giving up her office. However, she says it was her partner who told her she could not give up and offered her a bit of advice that has proven valuable.

"She told me that I had to prove I was serious about my position on the City Council, that I had to do the best job possible. That I had to be better."

From adversity to diversity

Dismissing comments and cold shoulders, Kirschner embarked on a series of initiatives that she feels will help improve life for the citizens of Live Oak.

This includes the first ever city celebration of Arbor Day on November 14 where state and regional officials, including State Rep. Joe Farias and Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson, will participate in planting a tree at the Live Oak Civic Center and help give away 100 trees to local citizens.

"We live at the intersection of two major expressways," she says, referring to IH 35 and Loop 1604, "that means we are subjected to a lot of pollution from automobile exhaust. Trees help clean the air."

Kirschner is also working the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) to help initiate a program to help lower local utility bills by weatherizing homes in the area.

Other agenda items include a diversity workshop for city officials, working with the Texas Department of Transportation on road maintenance and improved signage, and a "Cool Neighbor" program that distributes outdoor thermometers to citizens as a reminder to look in on elderly neighbors during extremely hot weather.

When asked how she got past the adversity she faced Kirschner says that two things fueled her motivation to succeed.

"First of all I love my home. I’m proud of it. It’s paid for. I’ve worked very hard to remodel it, and I don’t want to move."

"I’m also doing this for my daughter, so that when she grows up she will know that her mother did not sit on the couch biting her nails asking ‘What should I do?’"