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…
News
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…
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…
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,…
Ron Nirenberg: LGBT Ally in the Mayor’s Office
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. It’s been three years since San Antonio’s LGBT community has had an ally in the mayor’s office. During her time in office, former Mayor Ivy R. Taylor did little to recognize the existence of her LGBT constituents, let alone support them. She called 2013’s non-discrimination ordinance — a…
Activists to Paint Rainbow Crosswalk in Chalk on Main Avenue Strip
Just hours before the Pride Bigger Than Texas Parade steps off on July 1, local LGBT activists plan to paint rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of North Main and East Evergreen. The effort, dubbed Pride 2017 Chalk It Up, is being organized by local attorney Rosie Gonzalez who is urging volunteers to “go buy all…
Citing Religious Refusal of Adoption Rule, California Bans State Travel to Texas
By Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune June 22, 2017 Saying that a new Texas law allowing child welfare providers to deny adoptions to parents based on “sincerely held religious beliefs” is discriminatory, California’s attorney general on Thursday banned state-funded travel to Texas. The attorney general’s office said in a news release that Texas’ House Bill…
Local LGBT LULAC to Offer Workshops at National Convention in SA
The local LGBT LULAC chapter, Orgullo de San Antonio Council #22198, will be offering two LGBT workshops during the 88th LULAC National Convention and Exposition in San Antonio from July 4 through 8. Over 15,000 LULAC members, members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, local elected officials, and academic experts from across the country are expected at…