This weekend there will be multiple Pride celebrations across San Antonio. I want to express my support for inclusion and respect for all who call San Antonio home. As one of several new faces to City Council, we will be asked to vote on issues and begin to express our own individual views. We will…
Texas Supreme Court Throws Out Ruling That Favored Same-Sex Marriage Benefits
By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune June 30, 2017 Editor’s note: This story has been updated throughout. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a lower court ruling that said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to government-subsidized same-sex marriage benefits. The state’s highest civil court ordered a trial court to…
‘Drag Race’ Starlet Peppermint Is Celebrity Grand Marshal of SA’s Pride Parade
Peppermint, the drag queen and songwriter who recently came in as the runner-up on the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, will be in San Antonio to serve as the Celebrity Grand Marshal of the Pride Bigger Than Texas Parade and to perform at the Pride Festival on July 1. Peppermint will join the other…
Eclectic by Design: The Unusual Interiors of Gregorio Mannino
When it comes to ambience, what is your favorite local restaurant or bar? Consider the over-the-top Asian market theme of Hot Joy, or perhaps the Victorian family groove of Barbaro. Then there’s the eclectic and cave-like basement at the Esquire, where myriad mounted fish greet guests after they traverse a darkened hallway paved with Rose…
‘You’re in the Wrong Bathroom!’ Dispels Myths Undermining Transgender Identity
The first time I heard about transgender people, it was the mid-1990s. The Crying Game had been out for nearly half my life, but I’d never been able to understand the hushed conversations around the movie. My parents didn’t want to talk too much about the “twist” in the middle, but they assured their friends…
Metro Health Hosts Trans Health Discussion
The City of San Antonio’s Metropolitan Health District is hosting a transgender panel discussion which will seek to shed light on health disparities that affect the trans community in San Antonio. The event, which is co-sponsored by Pride San Antonio, will be held on June 30 at the San Antonio Garden Center. According to a…
Civic Groups Team Up to Register Voters at SA Pride Events
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio have organized a group of over 45 volunteers from four local civic organizations to register voters during the Pride Bigger Than Texas Festival and Parade on Saturday, July 1. The volunteers come from the membership rolls of the Stonewall Democrats, the League of Women Voters, Move San Antonio and…
Southtown’s New Flame: Battalion Lights Up a Historic Fire Station
In an interview for a previous article on the Lavaca neighborhood, resident Suzanne Martinez expressed a certain nostalgia for the time when the firehouse on South Alamo was operational: “The men were always there, playing basketball outside … they were [effectively] in charge of safety.” They watched over the kids, she indicated — and the…
Passing: How Transitioning Changed the Way I’m Perceived
“Some say you must look the part in order to play the part, but as much as gender can be performative, ultimately, it is derived from the individual’s self-determined identity regardless of appearances.” Recently, I visited my local sexual health clinic for a routine STI screening, and despite having gone to the same clinic for…
Why a Colorado Case Over “Religious Refusals” Could Matter to Texas
By Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune June 26, 2017 When the U.S. Supreme Court rules next year on a religious refusal case that started in 2012 at a bakery in Lakewood, Colorado, its decision could have reverberations in Texas. The court announced Monday that it will take up Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,…