Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Last month, a flurry of reports from online and print media revealed potential Trump administration rule changes that would permit discrimination in housing, health care and adoption assistance against LGBTQ people. But television news largely ignored those apparent reversals of federal policy, according to recent analysis by the…
Randy Rainbow Brings His Satirical Songs of Resistance to SA
The election of Donald Trump as president has turned out to be a good thing for Randy Rainbow. “Every time something happens with this fakakta administration, there’s more material,” he told Mother Jones in an interview. For Rainbow (his real surname), resistance to “The Donald” takes the form of musical satires like “Desperate Cheeto,” set…
Trump Judicial Nominee from Texas Says Trans Kids Are Part of ‘Satan’s Plan’
One of President Donald Trump’s nominees for a federal judgeship in Texas is a notorious homophobe who supports conversion therapy, says marriage equality will lead to polygamy and bestiality, and maintains that trans kids are evidence of “Satan’s plan.” Jeff Mateer currently serves as the first assistant attorney general of Texas, a position he has…
Local Exhibitions Celebrate Diversity, Emphasize Humanity
In the wake of Kathy Griffin’s recent photo scandal, involving the fake severed head of President Donald Trump, artists around the country continue to speak out against the anti-immigrant and non-inclusive policies of the president’s administration. While most can agree that Griffin’s staged photo of a beheading crosses the line of decency, it no doubt…
Nascent|Nation Explores the Minority Experience in America
Nascent|Nation, an exhibition of visual and performance art, was presented with spectacular results on April 8 at Brick at Blue Star. The project was curated by dancer Tamara Adira and violinist Darian Thomas who are members of the local flamenco troupe Arte y Pasión. Thematically, the installations consisted of works which explore the realities of living…
SA Activists Set to Protest Reversal of Protections for Trans Students
A decision by the Trump administration to rescind protections for transgender students has hit home with San Antonio LGBT activists who are ready to take to the streets to protest the decision. The rescinded policy originated with the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. It emphasized there is no “medical or mental health diagnosis or…
Intimacy in the Face of Fear
I had been planning a column on rebuilding relationships after a particularly heinous election year. “Elephants Need Love, Too” or something silly like that. But something happened that I didn’t really expect. Donald Trump won the election and the already-strained relationships surrounding his candidacy began to fracture and crumble. I was working out of town…
Citing Trump and Taylor, SA Women’s Group Plans ‘March Against Hate’
Calling out what they say are similarities between President-elect Donald J. Trump and San Antonio Mayor Ivy R. Taylor, Mujeres Marcharan, organizers of the San Antonio International Woman’s Day March, are planning an event on January 21 dubbed, “From Trump to Taylor, SA Women March Against Hate.” The march, which takes place on the day…
Preparing Our Community for the Trump Years
By Justin P. Nichols, Guest Contributor This election didn’t end the way many people wanted, and even more didn’t expect. I’m not one to scream “the sky is falling,” but for the LGBT community, particularly the trans community, I’m saddened to predict cloudy skies with a strong chance of thunderstorms come 2017. We don’t know…
Artist Chris Sauter Talks Curators, Coming Out and Playing with Stereotypes
Chris Sauter’s big break came in 1999 when an Artpace curator told him to “go for it.” The San Antonio-born artist raised on his grandparents’ ranch outside Boerne proposed to cut pieces out of the gallery’s drywall and transform them into his childhood family dining room. Viewers had to walk through the oval circle in…