“I see this as a small-scale movement to bring girls to the front.” When Claudia Saenz, aka DJ Tear Drop, went to her local record store to purchase Chicano Soul records, she kept noticing that she was the only woman in the store. Thus was born Chulita Vinyl Club. The 27-year-old Austin resident lived in…
Arts & Culture
Most Influential 2015: Jesse Mata
Fans (read: short for fanatics) of Fiesta Cornyation, know Jesse Mata as the mercilessly acerbic pen behind the emcees’ script, and the pleasant papa-bear voice that reminds audience members to, “sit back, relax, and return your date to their full, upright position” before the show begins. That’s the icing; he also bakes the Corny cake…
Most Influential 2015: Gerard Rickhoff
Bexar County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff could have just said he was prepared to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling. He’s a Republican after all, and an elected one at that. In fact, elected to a position where he’s not had much competition in his two-decade career, in part because it’s the sort of job no one…
Transgender prisoner claims mistreatment at Crosspoint
“I want to end the torture and abuse of all incarcerated transgender people.” A chief technology officer for a health-care consulting firm, Mikia Storm oversees the IT Department as part of her new life since she was released from federal prison and subsequent time in a San Antonio halfway house after a conviction for conspiracy…
Most Influential 2015: Marsha Warren
Mayor Ivy Taylor lost the support of SA’s gay community in 2013 when, as a councilmember representing District 2, she voted against expanding the NDO to include LGBTQ protections. She doubled down on that position in this year’s mayoral race, but she won the election nonetheless, and it wasn’t without the help of her LGBTQ…
Most Influential 2015: Sandra Whitley
Thanks to the efforts of Whitley—a self-described survivor of a tough West Texas childhood—and her small but dedicated team, San Antonio is one of the few cities in the U.S. to offer shelter and support to homeless LGBTQ youth, who are often homeless precisely because they have been rejected or persecuted by family and peers.…
Leighton W. Couture softens up with ‘Je Suis Une Femme’
“I figure my way to maintain our family’s history and legacy is to do what I do.” After living in Los Angeles and New York and working as a model, ballet dancer and hair stylist, San Angelo native Leighton Whittington found his calling as a fashion designer. Presented to the public in September of 2014…
Most Influential 2015: Eli Garza
We surveyed local LGBTQ leaders to come up with our 2015 Most Influential list: 16 individuals who made particularly notable contributions to our community in the past 18 months. We’re going to roll them out one at a time at outinsa.com this month, or you can get the entire list all at once by picking up our…
Photography exhibit for SA women, by SA women
“San Antonio was and is being built by the hands of women. I dreamt up the vision for this show because of a longing I have for these women to be honored and showcased in the elegance and rawness of photography,” says Anel Flores, lesbian artist, author, and co-curator of the upcoming photography exhibit Women…