LGBTs help make history at Democrats' state convention
QSanAntonio.com, June 14, 2012

It was early in the afternoon of June 8 when QSanAntonio got the word from San Antonio political activist Ann Marie Schroeder that the Texas Democratic Party had approved a marriage equality plank in the party platform. Schroeder was in Houston at the party convention where she was elected to the Permanent Platform Committee, which was charged with crafting the final draft of the new platform.

Once it was passed, Schroeder sent the text of the plank, making QSanAntonio one of the first media outlets to publish it. Here's the language of the marriage equality plank:

"Texas Democrats join President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in calling for and affirming equal rights including marriage equality for all Americans. We, along with our President and Vice President, recognize that same sex marriages should be valid and legal in America.

"Texas Democrats support President Obama and the United States Justice Department in recognizing that the Federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in refusing to defend DOMA in any Federal Court proceeding. We call for the total repeal of DOMA.

"Eight states and the District of Columbia have now recognized marriage equality and have legalized same sex marriages.

"Texas Democrats support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our state, with equal respect, responsibility, and protection under law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the repeal of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, the Texas Defense of Marriage Act and the Texas Constitutional Marriage Amendment and oppose other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving same sex couples."

Shroeder credits Erin Moore, outgoing Vice Chair of Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, for helping the draft of the Platform. "She worked extremely hard on the Platform Advisory Committee and put in a ton of hours on it."

Shroeder credits Erin Moore, outgoing Vice Chair of Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, for helping draft the platform. "She worked extremely hard on the Platform Advisory Committee and put in a ton of hours on it."

In an email to QSanAntonio, Moore wrote: "Thank you for the credit but it is credit that must be shared. Don Bankston from Richmond Texas, a straight ally, wrote the words. Indeed it was the effort of a lot of people pulling the rope in the same direction that got us the most progressive Texas Platform in decades. Terri St. Clair of the Young Democrats, Jackie Soliz-Chapa from Austin, Teresa Klein from Corpus Christi, Carol Wright from Houston, Dan Graney from Texas Stonewall Democrats and, most especially, JC Dufresne from Cibolo got this done."

"I believe this and other LGBT language in our platform is unprecedented, good and strong," says Schroeder. "We can always propose changes later if we feel we need broader language. This is one heck of a good start."

In other news from the convention, three members of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, -- Dan Graney, Olga Hernandez and Eduardo Juarez -- were elected as Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC in September.