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Five
activists to receive Stonewall awards
QSanAntonio.com, August 20, 2010
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio this week named five local activists
who will receive awards at their annual banquet set for September 25 at
the Airport Hilton Hotel.
The banquet will also mark Stonewall’s tenth anniversary. The occasion
will serve to honor the group’s remaining "living founders"
which include Roberto J. Flores, Daniel Graney, Dee Villarrubia, Norma
Martinez Rogers, and Nancy Russell
Following is the list of Stonewall’s 2010 awards and recipients.

Roberto Flores with Dan Graney, his partner of 36 years.
Special Achievement Award - Roberto
J. Flores
Roberto J. Flores is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas and was ordained
a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan order in 1965. He served in
various parishes and administrative posts and was a founder of PADRES,
an organization of Chicano priests. He met his partner, Daniel Graney,
in the lower Rio Grande Valley in 1974 and the couple has been together
36 years.
Flores obtained his masters degree in psychology at Washington University
in St. Louis, Missouri and then he and Graney moved to San Francisco where
they lived and worked from 1975 to 1977. They then moved to Houston where
they lived for 15 years until moving to San Antonio in 1992.
Flores worked as an adjunct faculty and counselor in the Disability Services
Center at San Antonio College before retiring in 2006. He was a founder
of Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio and has served as co-chair of SDSA
the past two terms. He was a Democratic Party precinct chair in Bexar
County from 1999 to December of 2009, when he was elected the first openly
gay County Chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party on an interim basis
and served in that capacity until May of this year. He has been a delegate
to every Texas Democratic Convention since 2000. He also has many years
experience as an election judge.
Flores was a member of the Board of Directors of Equality Texas, a singing
member of the Alamo City Men’s Chorale and member of the Alamo Business
Council and the Rainbow Garden Club. For the past three years, he has
been a faculty member of the GLBT sensitivity training for cadets in the
San Antonio Police Academy. On October 15, 2009, Flores and Graney celebrated
their 35th anniversary by getting married in a civil ceremony in Vermont.

Nickie Valdez and Deb Meyers
Community Leadership Award- Nickie
Valdez and Deb Myers
Nickie Valdez and Deb Myers have been partners for 24 years.
Valdez was one of five founders of Dignity San Antonio, a GLBT Catholic
advocacy and support group. In the 1970's, she was a founding member of
Forward Foundation, which organized the first Gay Pride Parade and ministered
to inmates at the Bexar County Jail.
In the 1980's, Valdez worked to create the Trinity Council to bring together
local GLBT friendly churches and educate the community in self-acceptance
and self-worth. She was a founder of the San Antonio Lesbian/Gay Assembly
to advance GLBT issues at the local and state level.
Valdez’ work extended beyond religious issues, into HIV/AIDS awareness,
Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, the National Organization for Women
and the advancement of people of color. She organized PRO San Antonino,
an interfaith network of GLBT friendly clergy, churches and lay people.
Myers has served on the local, state and national levels of Dignity USA
for the last 24 years. The majority of her time has been spent on the
Liturgy Committee that organizes the liturgy and music for the weekly
mass. She is a moderator for the Progressive Religious Organizations of
San Antonio and has worked with the group since it's founding in 2006.
In addition to her advocacy work, Meyers served on the Archdiocesan Justice
and Peace Commission, the Archdiocesan Anti Violence Effort Committee
and the Mayor's Commission for a More United San Antonio under former
Mayor Ed Garza. She is a physical therapist at University Hospital.
Volunteer Appreciation Award- John
Courage and Zada True Courage
John Courage and Zada are straight allies to the GLBT community and have
given much to the Democratic Party and to Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio.
Both have served as Precint Chairs to the County Executive Committee.
John has run for public office three times. Zada is a former SD 25 committeewoman
and helped to develop a grassroots handbook for the Texas Democratic Party.
Both have given presentations at the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio
meetings. John is a public school teacher in the San Antonio Independent
School who works with special needs children.
Zada works as a treasury professional at a financial services company.
John and Zada have four children and are especially close to the GLBT
Community through their close relationship with Zada's lesbian cousin
Martha and her partner Margaret.
The Courages are community leaders who say they are working
to turn Texas blue.
Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio Awards Banquet, September
25, 2010 at the Airport Hilton. Tickets are $75 each. There is a maximum
of 10 people per table.
Click here to purchase tickets. Send inquiries to ChrisForbrich@stonewallsanantonio.org.


Bexar ‘United Democrats’
to open headquarters
QSanAntonio.com, August 7, 2010
A coalition of Democratic clubs from across San Antonio (including the
Stonewall Democrats) have banded together as the Bexar County United Democrats
and will open their official headquarters at 1101 Broadway on August 9.
The BCUD offices will have all of the trappings of a campaign headquarters
where local candidates can rent an office and take advantage of perks
like phone banks, mailing services and a staff of volunteers.
Already, about 41 Democratic candidates have moved into offices in the
facility including Nico LaHood, the candidate for District Attorney. Office
manager for the new headquarters is former City Councilwoman and Stonewall
Democrats Co-chair Elena Guajardo.
"The idea, kind of, is for us to take care of the base vote and allow
candidates to go out into persuadable areas and swing voters and convince
them," Northwest Democrats Chair Jacob Middleton, one of three people
who helped organize the BCUD, told the San Antonio Current last July.
Funding for the BCUD office is coming from the Vote Texas PAC. Democratic
campaign veteran Christian Archer told the Current he "predicted
a six-figure kitty for this fall’s elections."
The idea for an organization like the BCUD was hatched this Spring after
the Bexar County Democratic Party suffered a couple of major setbacks
-- the first being the embezzlement of over $200,000 from the party’s
back account by its former treasurer. (See related story -- A
Troubled Organization -- below.)
The party is now deeply in debt with hardly enough money to pay its bills,
much less fund campaign efforts for local Democrats.
A second setback is the rift that immediately developed between party
leaders and newly elected Party Chair Dan Ramos, a grassroots organizer
who’s expressed little interest in taking direction from party stalwarts.
Ramos is the leader of a coalition of South Side community organizers
and precinct chairs called the Barrio Boys.
Ramos stunned Democratic honchos last March when he proved victorious
against Choco Meza, a longtime party insider and aide to former Mayor
Henry Cisneros. With the vigorous endorsement and commitment of support
from party leaders, Meza ran on a promise to get the party out of debt.
After Ramos was elected, those same Democratic leaders expressed concern
about putting money into party coffers given the new Chair’s promise
to clean house, to make changes autocratically and without the counsel
of party elders.
In a March 3 interview with the San Antonio Express-News, County Judge
Nelson Wolfe said, "I get the feeling that no one is going to be
writing checks until there is a damned good sense of where (the incoming
chairman) wants to take the party. I know I won't be writing any."
In the same article, Ramos tells the Express-News, "Henry (Cisneros),
Nelson Wolff, Leticia (Van de Putte) — all those power players were
presuming Choco would take over. Well, I got news for them: Instead of
grandstanding, maybe they should do what they said — come up with
the money like they said they would."
Although no one with the organization will say as much, by opening a new
headquarters office the BCUD circumvents Ramos and the Party’s financial
problems and sets about the business getting Democrats elected this November.
The organizations that have signed on to be part of the BCUD represent
Democratic constituencies from all parts of the city. They are the Northwest
Democrats, the Northeast Democrats, Democratic Women of Bexar County,
the Alamo Democrats, the Mission Democrats, the Young Democrats and the
Stonewall Democrats.
Middleton told the Current that the BCUD is a "short term alliance."
He said the group will deliver updated phone and address lists to the
party as well as rosters of newly elected officials. "Hopefully BCUD
can serve as a model for the party," Middleton told the Current.
‘This is what the party should be doing every year."
Bexar County United Democrats Grand Opening & Campaign
Kickoff, Monday, August 9, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. at 1101 Broadway
(at Jones). For more information or to volunteer call office manager Elena
Guajardo at 210-369-9071.


Victory Fund president is keynote
speaker for Stonewall Dems banquet
QSanAntonio.com, July 30, 2010
Chuck Wolfe, the president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
and Leadership Institute, will be the keynote speaker at the Stonewall
Democrats of San Antonio Awards Banquet on September 25.
Wolfe served on the Victory Fund's board of directors for four years prior
to joining the staff. During his tenure as CEO, hundreds of openly GLBT
candidates have been elected to public office, and the list of states
with no out elected officials has dropped from 13 to just five.
Wolfe was previously the executive vice president and chief operating
officer of the American Legacy Foundation, which was created as a result
of the 46-state settlement with the tobacco industry. He entered the public
sector as an appointee to the late Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, where
he served the governor for seven years in such capacities as director
of external affairs, director of tobacco control and executive director
of the Miami Financial Oversight Board.
Wolfe was an Eagle Scout and has a long history of leadership within the
Boy Scouts of America, including a two-year term on the National Executive
Board. For more than ten years he was active and outspoken in the effort
to rid scouting of its discriminatory policies towards gays and lesbians.
In addition to Wolfe, the banquet also will feature an address by Linda
Chavez-Thompson the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor. Carlos Guerra,
a former columnist with the San Antonio Express-News, will serve as master
of ceremonies.
Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio Awards Banquet, September 25, 2010
at the Airport Hilton. Tickets are $75 each. There is a maximum of 10
people per table.
Click here to purchase tickets. Send inquiries to ChrisForbrich@stonewallsanantonio.org.


Texas Democrats adopt pro-GLBT platform
and resolutions
QSanAntonio.com, June 30, 2010
Delegates meeting at the Texas Democratic Convention this
past weekend in Corpus Christi adopted a platform and resolutions that
champion gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality and nondiscrimination
on a variety of levels.
For the first time ever, the 2010 State Democratic Party platform uses
the words "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender" in calling
for the repeal of discriminatory laws and policies against the GLBT community.
The platform also advocates for anti-bullying policies in public schools,
diversity in institutions for higher learning, passage of the Employment
Non Discrimination Act, increased education initiatives and services to
address HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, an end to discrimination in the state
foster care system, strong enforcement of both federal and state hate
crimes laws and repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.
Four pro-equality resolutions proposed by Equality Texas, and which passed
numerous senate district and county conventions, also were adopted on
the floor of the convention without opposition.
These resolutions included: (1) a state employment nondiscrimination policy
that includes GLBT protections, (2) competitive insurance benefits for
GLBT employees at Texas universities, (3) accurate birth certificates
for same-sex parents of adopted children and (4) policies that would prohibit
bullying and harassment in Texas public schools,
Two other GLBT resolutions were adopted. One supported GLBT
foster and adoptive parents and the other called for the repeal of the
Defense of Marriage Act. Another resolution calling for the repeal of
the discriminatory Texas Constitutional Marriage Amendment was not passed.
Similar resolutions had been approved by previous convention resolutions
committees but never made it to the floor of the convention for a vote.
The new Texas Democratic Party platform stands in stark contrast to the
State Republican Party Convention two weeks ago, which adopted a platform
that denounces homosexuality as "tearing at the fabric of society"
and calls for the felony prosecution of anyone who performs a marriage
ceremony for a same-sex couple in Texas.
Gay delegates flood convention
Hundreds of GLBT Texans were among the 5,000 delegates and alternates
who attended the convention. The Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, which
is the official GLBT Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party, hosted a reception
on June 24 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of its founding.
The TSDC also held an Executive Board meeting and Caucus membership meeting
at the convention, both of which were well attended. Dan Graney of San
Antonio was re-elected President, Erin Moore of Dallas was re-elected
Vice President and Carol Cappa of Fort Worth and Shaun Nelson of Houston
were respectively elected the new Secretary and Treasurer of the Caucus.
Graney and Moore will represent the TSDC on the State Democratic Executive
Committee or SDEC, which is the governing body of the State Democratic
Party between conventions
Also elected to the SDEC were four openly GLBT members of Stonewall Democrats
chapters in Texas: Eli Olivarez of McAllen, Garry Brown of Austin and
DeeJay Johannessen and Mary Edwards of Tarrant County. Stonewall Democrats
members were also elected to all five of the permanent committees of the
convention, which includes credentials, rules, platform, resolutions and
nominations.
"The 2010 State Democratic Convention proved beyond a reasonable
doubt that GLBT Texans have a place at the table of the Democratic Party",
exclaimed Graney. "As for the Republican Party of Texas, it might
as well call itself the Republican Party of Uganda because of all the
hate and bigotry that is dripping from its platform."
Texas Democrats are gearing up for the midterm elections this November
and are hoping to elect Bill White the first Democratic governor of this
state in 16 years. The 2012 Texas Democratic Convention will take place
in Houston.


Photo by Rosie Gonzalez
Stonewall Dems endorse three for
school boards
QSanAntonio.com, April 14, 2010
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio announced endorsements this week
for the Alamo Colleges board of trustees and for NEISD District 7. The
election is on May 8.
For the Alamo College board, Stonewall endorsed Tyler Ingraham, a St.
Mary’s University student running in District 1 and attorney Blakely
Latham Fernandez, who is running in District 7. Both candidates will receive
a $100 contribution to their campaigns from SDSA.
At the endorsement meeting which was held on April 12, both of the endorsed
candidates said they would support a request made by GLBT students and
professors to include sexual orientation and gender identification in
the Alamo Colleges anti-discrimination policy.
Three of Ingraham’s opponents, Joe Alderete, Jr, Rowland Marting
and Thomas Hoy attended the endorsement meeting as well.
Stonewall also Tammy L. Wincott for the Northeast Independent School District
school board District 7. She also will receive a $100 contribution to
her campaign.
In other business, Stonewall presented a $200 check in support of the
Gay and Lesbian Association of San Antonio College. (See above photo)

Bexar Dems approve GLBT resolutions
in three of four senatorial districts
QSanAntonio.com, March 26, 2010
At least three of the four Democratic senatorial district conventions
in Bexar County adopted resolutions calling for equal treatment of gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender Texans. One local district also adopted
a marriage amendment repeal measure.
The resolutions were approved on March 20 when Texas Democrats held their
county and senatorial district conventions. According to reports received
by Dan Graney, President of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, at
least 14 conventions across the state adopted the resolutions including
conventions in Dallas, Denton, Tarrant, Harris, Travis, and Hidalgo counties.
In Hidalgo County, located in the lower Rio Grande Valley along the Mexican
border, all five resolutions were unanimously adopted. Graney attributes
the successful passage of the resolutions in socially conservative Hidalgo
County to the hard work of the Stonewall Democrats chapter in the Valley
and its President, El Olivarez.
Four of the resolutions were drafted by Equality Texas and call for: (1)
A state employment nondiscrimination policy that includes GLBT protections.
(2) Domestic partner benefits for employees at Texas universities. (3)
Accurate birth certificates for same-sex parents of adopted children.
(4) Policies that would prohibit bullying and harassment in Texas public
schools. One other resolution calling for the repeal of the anti-gay Texas
constitutional marriage amendment was adopted by at least 5 conventions.
The resolutions were initially adopted by precinct conventions held on
March 2, the night of the Democratic primary election. The resolutions
were then sent to county and senatorial district conventions, where delegates
and alternates to the state convention are selected.
Resolutions that pass multiple county and senatorial district conventions
are given priority consideration by the Resolutions Committee. If the
Resolutions Committee approves the resolutions, they are sent to the floor
of the convention for a vote.
The resolutions now advance to the State Democratic Convention that will
take place in Corpus Christi on June 25 and 26. GLBT delegates and visitors
to the convention will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the recognition
of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus as the official GLBT Caucus of
the Texas Democratic Party.
The celebration will feature a reception at a restaurant on the Corpus
Christi bay front on Thursday, June 24, honoring the founders of the Caucus.
The weekend will also include the biennial meeting of the Caucus, which
drew over 500 attendees at the State Democratic Convention in Austin in
2008.At the biennial meeting, Graney will seek re-election to a second
two-year term as President of the Caucus.


Bexar Democrats will vote on GLBT
resolutions
QSanAntonio.com, February 25, 2010
Voters in Democratic primaries across Bexar County and the state Texas
will assemble in precinct conventions after the polls close on Tuesday,
March 2 and vote on a number of resolutions related to GLBT issues. According
to Daniel Graney, President of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus,
the four GLBT resolutions drafted by Equality Texas will appear in the
precinct convention packets of all 603 voting precincts in Bexar County.
Graney says that including the resolutions in convention packets "assures
maximum exposure of our issues to as many Democratic voters as possible."
Graney adds that efforts are being made by Stonewall Democrats chapters
in other Texas cities to introduce these resolutions in as many precincts
as possible so that they will receive priority consideration at the State
Democratic Convention which will take place in Corpus Christi on June
25-26.
The four resolutions developed by Equality Texas, ask that the Texas Democratic
Party support legislation calling for: (1) employment nondiscrimination;
(2) competitive insurance benefits for same-sex partners of faculty and
staff in Texas universities; (3) accurate birth certificates listing both
parents of a child adopted by a same-sex couple and; (4) a statewide policy
protecting all children from harassment and bullying in public schools.
The text of the four resolutions can be obtained in PDF format from the
web site of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio (stonewallsanantonio.org).
At least one other resolution being circulated by members of Stonewall
Democrats would call on the Texas Democratic Party to support the repeal
of the anti-gay Texas constitutional marriage amendment that was approved
by voters in 2005.
In even-numbered years, voters in both Democratic and Republican primary
elections meet in precinct conventions the night after the polls close
on election day to elect delegates and alternates to their respective
senatorial district conventions, which in turn elects delegates and alternates
to each party’s state convention. Additionally, participants in
these precinct conventions may present resolutions on an assortment of
issues that they hope will eventually be adopted on the floor of the state
convention.
The 2010 Republican Primary ballot statewide includes five ballot propositions
that are similar to resolutions. One proposition calls for the use of
the word "God," prayers and the Ten Commandments in public gatherings,
schools and buildings. Another proposition would require a sonogram to
be performed on a woman who is about to undergo an abortion.
Although the rules of the Texas Democratic Party allow for a petition
process to place propositions on its statewide primary ballot, the 2010
Democratic Primary ballot includes only candidates and no propositions.
Instead, Democrats utilize resolutions during the convention process to
influence important Party actions on issues.
Front row: Roberto Flores (Bexar County Democrtic
Party Chair), Elena Guajardo (staff), Rosemary de Hoyos (staff). Back
row: Minerva Mendoza (volunteer) and Cheryl Novak (Primary Elections Manager)
at party headquarters.

Politicians seek GLBT vote in San
Antonio
Photos by Antonia Padilla, QSanAntonio.com, February 1, 2010
Over 70 politicians sought the endorsement of the Stonewall
Democrats of San Antonio on January 31. Below are photos of some of the
candidates who attended the meeting.

Lainey Malnick (U.S. House Dist. 21), Ciro Rodriguez
(U.S. House Dist. 23), Hank Gilbert (Agriculture Commissioner), Hector
Uribe (General Land Office Commissioner), Linda Chavez-Thompson (Lt. Governor).

Jeff Weems (Railroad Commissioner), Masarrat Ali (Rep.
Dist. 122), Margaret Montemayor (Bexar County Dist. Clerk), Esmeralda
Montez (Bexar County Dist. Clerk), Tim Ybarra (Bexar County Clerk.).

Delicia Herrera (Bexar County Commissioner Pct. 2),
Paul Elizondo (Bexar County Commissioner Pct. 2), Tommy Adkisson (Bexar
County Commissioner Pct. 4), Shiela McNeil (Bexar County Commissioner
Pct. 4), Roberto Rios (073 Dist. Court).

Catherine Torres-Stahl (144 Dist. Court), Aida Rojas
(150 Dist. Court), Maria Teresa Herr (186 Dist. Court), Peter Sakai (225
Dist. Court), Paul Vasquez (227 Dist. Court).

Rosie Alvarado (285 Dist. Court), Milton Fagin (285
Dist. Court), Lawrence Morales (285 Dist. Court), Paul Talamantez (285
Dist. Court), Tina Torres (288 Dist. Court).

Stephanie Boyd (290 Dist. Court), Norma Gonzalez (290
Dist. Court), Sylvia Marie Lopez (290 Dist. Court), Rosa Maria Gonzalez
(436 Dist. Court), Pamela Gabriel Craig (437 Dist. Court).

Rebecca C. Martinez (4th Court of Appeals Pl. 2), David
Rodriguez (County Court 3), Alfredo Ximenez (County Court 4), Ina Castillo
(County Court 5), Linda Penn (County Court 5).

Ray J. Olivarri (County Court 6), Monica E. Guerrero
(County Court 7), Deborah Sandheinrich (County Court 7), Karen Crouch
(County Court 8), Liza Rodriguez (County Court 8).

Michael Mery (County Court 12), Monica Gonzalez (County
Court 13), Barbara Schraf-Zeldes (County Probate Court 2), Travis Cox
(J.P. Court Pct. 2 Pl. 2), Roberto Vasquez (J.P. Pct. 2 Pl. 2).

William Peche (J.P. Court Pct. 3), Albert G. Lopez
(J.P Court Pct. 4), Roegelio Lopez, Jr. (J.P. Court Pct. 4), Choco G.
Meza (Bexar County Party Chair), Dan Ramos (Bexar County Party Chair).


Gay activist elected chair of Bexar
County Democratic Party
QSanAntonio.com, December 16, 2009
A little bit of gay political history was made on December 15, when Roberto
J. Flores, Co-chair of the Stonewall Democrats, was elected interim Chair
of the Bexar County Democratic Party by members of that group’s
Executive Committee.
Flores was elected to fill the vacancy left by the outgoing County Chair
Carla Vela who resigned because she intends to run for County Clerk. Flores
was one of two candidates nominated at the meeting. He was elected by
a vote of 101 to 30.
Flores will serve as interim chair until a new County Chair is elected
by the voters of Bexar County in the March Democratic Primary and possibly
will remain chair until the end of April after the primary runoff election.
He is not a candidate for a full two-year term on the March primary ballot.
His primary responsibility as interim Chair will be to oversee the Democratic
Primary Election that takes place on March 2.
Flores is the first openly gay person ever elected County Chair of the
Bexar County Democratic Party. He has been co-chair of Stonewall Democrats
of San Antonio since 2007, is a former member of the Board of Directors
of Equality Texas and has been the Chair of the San Antonio Peace Officers
Training Committee, which provides GLBT sensitivity training to San Antonio
police cadets. He has served as Democratic precinct chair of Bexar County
Precinct 3122 since 2000 and resigned his precinct chair position after
he was elected interim County Chair.
In his speech after being nominated, Flores recounted his lifelong involvement
in the Democratic Party and his participation in various civil rights
movements, including the GLBT equality movement. He pledged to do whatever
he could to unite the local party to turn Bexar County a deeper shade
of "blue" in 2010.
A troubled organization

Carla Vela made a tearful announcement
of embezzeled funds. Vela said Treasurer Dwayne Adams drained the Bexar
County Democrats bank account of $202, 000. (Photo courtesy of WalkerReport.net.)
Flores inherits an organization that is plagued by an internal scandal.
On the night when Flores was elected, outgoing Chair Carla Vela opened
the meeting with a tearful announcement that the organization’s
Treasurer, Dwayne Adams, had embezzled $202,000 from a bank account that
contained funds left over from the Democratic Primary in 2008 and owed
back to the State.
Adams was to have finished a report that was to accompany the funds being
returned to the State. Vela says she did not learn of the missing money
until a check she had written bounced and she went to the bank to investigate.
Vela said that Adams had added his name a signatory on the account and
over time had been withdrawing cash. Vela was supposed to be the only
person with access to the funds in that account. In an interview with
WOAI-TV Vela said that she had spoken to Adams and that he had told her
he would be returning the money.
However, attempts to reach Adams since then have proven futile so Vela
and Flores decided to meet the District Attorney on December 16 to press
charges.



Photos -- Gay activist couple weds
in Vermont
QSanAntonio.com, October 24, 2009
San Antonio activists Dan Graney and Roberto Flores were married on October
15, 2009 in a civil ceremony held at the Lilac Inn, a bed and breakfast
in Brandon, Vermont. Justice of the Peace Joyce Heath officiated at the
ceremony.
Graney is the President of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus and Flores
is Co-chair of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio. The couple has
been together for 35 years. The wedding was part of a trip to the Northeast
that included a visit to New York City and participation in the GLBT March
on Washington D.C. on October 11.


Roberto Flores (left), Stonewall Co-Chair, and Deputy
Chief Jose Banales of the San Antonio Police Department at the meeting
of the Stonewall Democrats on August 17. (Photo by Antonia Padilla)
Deputy Police Chief fields questions
at Stonewall Democrats’ meeting
QSanAntonio.com, August 18, 2009
Deputy Chief Jose Banales, the San Antonio Police Department’s GLBT
liaison, made a quick appearance at the August 17 meeting of the Stonewall
Democrats and offered a progress report on the department’s efforts
to respond to the community’s concerns.
Banales had no prepared comments. He did however offer an update on the
Internal Affairs investigation of a drug raid made on the home of a lesbian
couple (click here for related story)
that found no evidence of wrongdoing but left the women traumatized and
shaken for months afterward.
According to Banales, the investigation is almost complete and that the
findings would be presented to a review board. He said that Police Chief
William McManus would take the lead in making sure the case would be resolved
to the "satisfaction of all parties."
Banales also outlined a service initiative the SAPD has undertaken to
survey citizens of San Antonio asking them to rate the performance of
the department. Over 300 calls have been made and the SAPD eventually
hopes to post the results of the survey on their web site. The SAPD is
hoping to include the survey twice a year in City Public Service invoices.
The surveys are a reaction to widespread belief that policemen are callous
and indifferent toward citizens. Banales said that 90 percent of the 300
surveys rated the police as doing a good job. He added that it was not
good enough and the department wanted to bring up that rating.
During the question and answer session, two questioners, Nancy Russell
and Dr. Lynne Armstrong admonished Banales on the treatment of GLBT citizens
and the reluctance of senior SAPD officers to take and endorse sensitivity
training.
Dr. Armstrong, who is a member of the Peace Officers Liaison Committee
and helps conduct sensitivity training at the Police Academy, told Banales
that when senior officers were offered the training very few signed up
and those who did complained that they felt it was unnecessary.
Banales admitted that there was work to be done and that Chief McManus
was committed to improving the SAPD’s relationship with the community.


Phyllis Guest, Reynaldo Garcia and Raymundo Garcia
(seated) circa 1969. Phyllis and Raymundo at the Stonewall Democrats of
San Antonio meeting on July 20, 2009.
Speakers evoke memories of Stonewall
1969
QSanAntonio.com, July 21, 2009
Two Texans who were living in New York City in June of 1969, at the time
of the Stonewall riots, offered up their personal recollections of those
historic days at the July 20 meeting of the Stonewall Democrats of San
Antonio.
Though their experiences were different Phyllis Guest from Dallas and
Raymundo Garcia of San Antonio both say that the time was right for GLBT
people to fight back against a system that routinely persecuted sexual
minorities.
"Gay people were tired of being shoved aside," Guest said. "In
49 states gay sex was illegal, there was no law protecting a gay person’s
job, housing or insurance."
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations
against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June
28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood
of New York City.
Guest, who worked in NYC as a writer and proofreader, explained that late
night raids on gay bars were not unusual in the city. "They would
just come in turn out the lights and send everybody home," she said.
On June 28, the day the riots began, Guest stopped by the Stonewall Inn
early in the evening to have a quick beer with friends. "It was a
hot Friday afternoon and the day of the Judy Garland funeral," she
recalls.
"The Stonewall was kind of a down and dirty place, mostly younger
street kids, drag queens — a more flamboyant, open crowd,"
said Guest. Yet despite the altercation with police, Guest says that the
disturbance was not as violent as it could have been. "There were
no gun shots or fires started."
Garcia had only been in New York City a short time before the events of
Stonewall. He moved to the city in 1969 at the urging of his twin brother,
Reynaldo, who was studying ballet. The brothers shared an apartment on
the city's Upper West Side.
In the first few days of his time in New York, Garcia took in the original
Broadway production of "Hair," his first opera at the Metropolitan
Opera House, his first ticker tape parade and the Stonewall riots. "It
was phenomenal," he said.
Garcia recalls on June 27, 1969, he spent three-and-a-half hours waiting
in line to see Judy Garland’s casket. He said that the crowd was
colorfully dressed in hippie and mod fashions and that the gays were out
in full force.
While he waited in line, Garcia remembers a man who was sobbing uncontrollably
was helped out of the funeral home by two people. "My friend asked
if he was a good friend of Judy’s. One of the people replied ‘No,
but he has all her albums.’"
When Garcia finally got into the funeral home he recalls that Garland
looked like Snow White laid out in her glass coffin.
Garcia said that later that evening he went down to the Village to meet
up with his brother but when he arrived at the subway stop at Christopher
Street he was not allowed by police to exit to the street. He had to go
around to another exit a couple of blocks away before he could reach street
level.
He says that when he arrived at Sheridan Square, which is across the street
from the Stonewall Inn, the worst of the riot was over. His brother was
there and had gotten a minor laceration to his head.
"The gay club kids were strutting around like angry peacocks,"
Garcia said. "There were bricks, and broken glass everywhere."
He says the civil disturbances continued on for weeks.
One year later, the Garcia brothers participated in the first Pride March
in New York City. Garcia says that police never released official estimates
of crowd size, but activists estimated that the march attracted over 150,000
participants. "We marched up Fifth Avenue to Central Park where another
100,000 people were waiting to have a rally."
Garcia believes that the years since Stonewall have not brought the change
that GLBT people need. "Forty years later and we’re still fighting
for the same things. There have been some advances but we need more. Change
will come but it will take a long time."


Ciro Rodriguez non-committal when
questioned on "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell"
QSanAntonio.com, October 24
Speaking before the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio’s monthly
meeting on October 20, Democratic Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23rd
District) was caught speechless when questioned about his failure to sign
on as a co-sponsor for the Military Readiness Enhancement Act that seeks
to repeal the anti-gay policy of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."
It did not help the Congressman’s dilemma that the question was
posed by retired Marine sergeant and HRC spokesman Eric Alva.
Congressman Rodriguez’ talk was one of many given by Democratic
candidates making one last pitch for votes from Stonewall members before
the November 4th election. The mood in the meeting room was one of pre-election
elation and bonhomie. About a half-dozen politicians spoke before Congressman
Rodriguez, who’s been endorsed by Stonewall, took the floor to make
his case for re-election.
The Congressman spoke passionately and garnered several rounds of boisterous
applause. He talked about education, veteran’s rights, the border
fence, the economy, and Iraq. However, he did not mention any GLBT issues.
‘I’ll look into it"
It was when the floor was opened for questions that Alva stood to ask
Rodriguez about "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."
In March 2003, Alva became the first soldier injured in the Iraq War when
he stepped on a landmine resulting in the loss of his right leg part of
an index finger. On February 28, 2007, he joined Rep. Marty Meehan, (D-Mass.),
in calling for an end to the government’s "Don’t ask,
Don’t Tell" policy.
At the invitation of Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), chair of the personnel
subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, Alva again testified
before Congress on July 23, 2008.
"Congressman Rodriguez," said Alva, "I think you were in
Iraq longer than I was." "I was there three days," said
Rodriguez, holding up three fingers. "I was there only three hours,"
replied Alva, "I was the first soldier injured in the Iraq War and
I’m gay."
The Congressman stood there and stared blankly. He did not recognize Alva
even though the ex-Marine tells QSanAntonio that he has met with Rodriguez
twice to make a pitch for repealing "Don’t Ask."
Alva went on to list four Texas Democratic Congressmen who had co-sponsored
the Military Readiness Enhancement Act: Al Green (9th District), Sheila
Jackson Lee (18th District), Eddie Jackson (30th District) and Lloyd Doggett
(5th District). Alva added that more than 140 in Congress have signed
on as co-sponsors for the bill. He then asked Rodriguez why he was not
a co-sponsor.
After a long, awkward silence Rodriguez replied that he would "look
into it" and added that if the "votes weren’t there,"
he would not support the legislation. He then quickly went on to other
questions.
From liberal to moderate
Many in the room were disappointed with Rodriguez’ response. The
Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio and the local chapter of the Human
Rights Campaign both strongly supported Rodriguez with money and manpower
during his previous run for the 23rd District House seat. As Alva put
it, "We don’t want his Republican opponent to win, but the
Congressman could have at least been prepared to answer questions relating
to GLBT issues."
A September 15, 2008 article in the San Antonio Express-News explains
why Congressman Rodriguez may be reticent to address "Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell" and other GLBT concerns:
Once one of the most liberal lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Rep. Ciro
Rodriguez has taken a substantial shift to the political center and
heads into the November election as a moderate in a Democratic district
with strong conservative enclaves.
"I'm responding to needs," Rodriguez said of his political
metamorphosis. "Part of it is looking at your district and who
you represent."
Rodriguez once represented the heavily Democratic 28th Congressional
District that includes San Antonio 's South Side and Laredo. But he
lost that seat in 2004 to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.
Two years later, Rodriguez returned to Congress by defeating Rep. Henry
Bonilla, R-San Antonio, in a special runoff election after the U.S.
Supreme Court ordered the 23rd Congressional District redrawn to include
more minority voters.
The new district — sweeping from San Antonio to El Paso —
includes areas with conservative voters on San Antonio 's Northwest
Side and in Val Verde County and rural towns in West Texas.
Dan Graney, President of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus and a San
Antonio Stonewall member, put it this way: "Since being elected to
the 23rd District, Ciro Rodriguez has been AWOL in our community."
Graney says he can only conclude that Congressman Rodriguez is hoping
to keep a low profile on issues that alienate conservative voters in his
district.
Congressman Rodriguez’ relationship with GLBT voters in San Antonio
was best summed up when Darrell Parsons, President of the San Antonio
LGBT Chamber of Commerce, stood up at the Stonewall meeting and followed
up on Alva’s question saying, "Congressman, we’ve endorsed
you and helped your campaign. We need you on our issues and we need to
see you at our events."
All the Congressman could do is shrug and nod.


Mayor Hardberger pays a call on the
Stonewall Democrats
QSanAntonio, March 20, 2007
Mayor Phil Hardberger made an election season visit to the March 19 meeting
of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio where he received a standing
ovation and a very warm reception. For his part the Mayor seemed at ease
and projected the confidence of a popular incumbent whose re-election
to office seems almost certain.
The Mayor’s appearance at the Stonewall meeting was made possible
through the efforts of District 7 City Councilwoman Elena Guajardo who
was on hand to introduce him to the group. Hardberger had warm words for
Guajardo. He commended her for helping him convince the rest of the City
Council to get behind a $550 million bond proposal. He called her a "forward
thinker" who was "out in front" of the issues.
The rest of Hardberger’s talk dealt mostly with the progress the
city has seen under his watch and with the bond proposal that's on the
ballot for the May 12 election. The Mayor described how bond money would
be used for street and sidewalk repairs, for improved drainage and for
new parks. He talked about the $200 million San Antonio Riverwalk extension,
the 4.4 percent unemployment rate and the 40,000 new homes that were built
last year. He said the city would soon see a new homeless facility, a
no-kill animal shelter and a new Federal courthouse.
At the end of his talk Hardberger said that he had a vision of San Antonio
as a "humane and non-discriminatory" place -- a "beacon
to other cities." He thanked everyone for their support and reminded
them to vote for him and the bond proposal. The applause was enthusiastic.
Afterwards, Hardberger took questions from the audience.
One of the questions dealt with a 1999 ruling Hardberger made when he
was Chief Justice of the 4th Court of Appeals. In that case, Chistie Lee
Littleton, a San Antonio transsexual woman who had been legally married
to a man in Kentucky, was denied the status of a surviving spouse after
her husband's death. Hardberger agreed with 285th District Court Judge
Frank Montalvo in his ruling that, because of chromosomal evidence, Littleton’s
marriage to Jonathon Littleton was a same-sex marriage and therefore illegal.
In the only tense moment of the evening, Hardberger defended his opinion
in the Littleton case by saying that he had followed the rule of law,
inferring that it was a clear cut legal decision. However, the Mayor did
not offer any clue as to what his personal thoughts on transgender and
transsexual rights might be. (Click
here for more information about the Littleton case.)
The Stonewall Democrats did not endorse Mayor Hardberger in the previous
election and he did not seek their endorsement. According to Dan Graney,
ex-officio member of the group’s board of directors, Hardberger
indicated that he would fill out the necessary forms so that this year
he could be considered for a Stonewall endorsement.

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