A select month-by-month recap of stories about our community reported here and elsewhere in 2018. JANUARY MCC SA Pastor Resigns From Denomination’s Board After Firing of Black Female Elder Rev. William of H. Knight, pastor of MCC SA, resigned from the governing board of the Universal Federation of Metropolitan Community Churches after the firing of…
Primary Election Night Snapshots
Almost 160,000 votes were cast in the March 6 Joint Primary Election in Bexar County. What is notable about this election is that nearly 56 percent of those were Democratic votes. It also was the first time in nearly a decade since Democrats outvoted Republicans in Bexar County early voting. It was a record year…
Local Candidate Claims Endorsement by LGBT Group Which May Not Exist
Manuel Medina, the chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party who’s running for re-election, sent out a mailer in which he claims the endorsement of an LGBT group which may not exist. In a glossy flyer that began arriving in voter’s mailboxes on February 1, Medina claims several endorsements, including one by the Bexar County…
Are You Ready? Early Voting Starts April 24
Early voting for the May 6 municipal election begins on Monday, April 24 and ends Tuesday, May 2. Polling sites include the Bexar County Justice Center along with scores of other locations. This year’s election includes races for mayor and all ten City Council districts. There are six candidates running in District 1; four in…
Is Manuel Medina’s Support of LGBT Issues Just a Smokescreen?
Since he became the Bexar County Democratic Party chairman in 2012, Manuel Media has emphasized his support of LGBT issues. He supported the nondiscrimination ordinance and went so far as to say the party would reject any candidate who did not support the measure. Now as a candidate for mayor, Medina continues to say he…
Guess Whose Political Forums Mayor Taylor Has Been Skipping
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Mayor Ivy Taylor has earned a tense relationship with San Antonio’s LGBTQ community. The rift dates back to the 2013 battle over an equal rights ordinance here, when homophobic and transphobic backlash from religious-right groups failed to stop City Council from passing protections against discrimination based on sexual…
Stonewall Dems Ready for Candidate Endorsement Forum
Members of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio are getting ready for the group’s candidate endorsement forum slated for Sunday, March 26. The event, which is open to the public, marks the first for newly-elected Stonewall co-chairs Chris Forbrich and Ellen Stephens. Stonewall sent invitations to all the candidates running in the May 6 municipal…
SA Already Losing Business Because of Texas Anti-Trans Bill
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. The big business argument against the anti-trans bill brewing at the Texas legislature has been that businesses and organizations will stop coming to a state whose leaders openly discriminate against a whole group of people. While Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick, the bill’s main pusher in Austin, has called…
Mayoral Candidates at Town Hall Questioned About Anti-Trans Bill
Three mayoral candidates attending a town hall sponsored by the Rivard Report on February 7 at the Pearl Stable were asked to comment on Senate Bill 6, the anti-trans bathroom bill under consideration by the Texas Legislature. SB6 bars transgender people from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity and would prohibit local ordinances…