Kiran Bains, who heads up the city’s Diversity and Inclusion Office, announced that the department, which Bains currently runs alone, is hiring a special projects manager. “As an office of one, I have deeply appreciated your support in ensuring the success of the Diversity and Inclusion Office. As the year comes to a close, I…
News
Pride Center Creates New Peer Support Groups
Since it was first established in 2012, Pride Center San Antonio has sought to offer resources to those who need support, whether they are coming out or want to connect with the LGBT community. One way the Center reaches out is through its community programs like the Peace Officer’s Training Committee, which conducts LGBT awareness…
Saying ‘Adiós’ to On Main Off Main
Originally published in the San Antonio Current Donning matching black T-shirts that read, “On Main Off Main, Adiós Amigos, 1983-2016,” Bill Davis and Oscar Camacho are laughing while reminiscing about some of the more colorful customer exchanges they have had over the past 33 years of owning the quirky and eclectic On Main Off Main…
Trans Woman Released on Parole from Texas Men’s Prison
A transgender woman named Passion Star was granted parole on December 6 after serving 14 years of a 20 year sentence at all-male detention facilities, most recently at the Telford State Prison in Bowie County, Texas. “Passion’s experience in custody has been punctuated by acts of interpersonal and institutional violence,” Demoya Gordon, an attorney with…
Judge Denies New Trial for Man Who Assaulted Lesbian Couple, Killed One
A judge has denied the motion for a new trial for a convicted killer who sexually assaulted a lesbian couple, shot them, killing one of them and leaving both for dead in Violet Andrews Park overlooking Corpus Christi Bay in Portland, Texas. On December 8, visiting Judge Philip Kazen from San Antonio denied the motion…
SAAF Closing Its Nursing and Hospice Care Unit
Thirty years after it began providing medical care to those who were sick and dying of AIDS, the San Antonio AIDS Foundation announced on December 9 that it will close its nursing and hospice care unit at the end of the year. It was in 1986, at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in San…
Dan Patrick Continues His Bathroom Bill Tap Dance
Despite warnings from companies across Texas that a “bathroom bill” would be bad for business, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick remains steadfast in his plan to support the proposed law in the upcoming legislative session. The bill would prohibit transgender people in Texas from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. Dubbed the Women’s Privacy and…
Menéndez Files Medical Cannabis Bill
On December 6, State Senator Jose Menéndez of San Antonio filed Senate Bill 269 which would increase the number of patients who would have access to medical cannabis under the Texas Compassionate Use Program. Current state laws only allow patients suffering from intractable epilepsy the use of specific strains of medical cannabis. “Doctors, not politicians,…
USAA Scores 100 on HRC Corporate Equality Index
The Human Rights Campaign released the results of their 2017 Corporate Equality Index on December 5. Of the six companies ranked in San Antonio, one company, the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) received a score of 100. USAA’s score this year is up from the 85 it received last year. Two other San Antonio companies…
Holiday Concert Marks Milestone for Live Oak Singers
When the Live Oak Singers take the stage for their holiday concert on December 10 and 11 it will represent a bittersweet milestone marking the retirement of the ensemble’s founder and first artistic director Ron Casola. Casola moved to San Antonio from Phoenix in 2014 to be near his family after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.…