Steers, Queers & Republican Law in Texas

Standing as arguably one of the most conservative states in the nation, Texas is known for cattle and Republicans.  After the incident at the Rainbow Lounge, they’re know for having some gay folk too…at least in the Fort Worth area.

After the fact, the Fort Worth council decided it may be time take a step in the right direction and update their anti-discrimination laws to include LGBT citizens.

But holding strong to those good Republican values,  some Texans aren’ t going to let that happen without…at least without raising a ruckus about it!

According to a post on WFAA.com, when the city council convened to discuss include LGBT citizens under the current laws, a group of concerned Republicans showed up in protest.  Below is an excerpt from that post.

Members of the Tarrant County Republican Party and other conservatives say the city of Fort Worth is headed in the wrong direction.

“I’m not sure that providing a benefit for sex change operations or providing a domestic partner benefit, I’m not really sure that that fixes what happened at the Rainbow Lounge,” said Stephanie Klick, the chairperson for the Tarrant County Republican Party.

Klick said the changes to prevent discrimination amongst the gay, lesbian and transgender community in housing, employment and public accommodation is too broad. Her other concern, she said, is that the city can’t afford to extend domestic partner benefits.

“We have a budget process that has already eliminated jobs and now we’re going on a spending spree,” she said.

Also in the post, a Pastor by the name of Joey Faust, “organized a group of preachers to hold signs and minister against homosexuality.”

Faust stated, “Because of the particular group that got targeted and the political correct society we live in, many end up suffering for simply doing their job.”

So there you have it…Texas Republican views in a nutshell. One, they ain’t got the need for and can’t afford to be payin’ for benefits for no gays, and two, they can’t be runnin’ round gettin’ all mad at people for beatin’ them gays over the head.

I would like to ask Stephanie Click, since the budget is so tight, is she willing to give up her health insurance to help alleviate any budget shortfalls? I would also like to ask Pastor Faust, if fellow preachers were arrested and beaten, simply for being pastors, how would that set?

If the Republicans would stop hiding behind the Bible, and the budget, and just come out and say they hate gays, I would almost have more respect for them. But instead, they choose to use the most ignorant of defenses for their bigotry.

But, going against the conservative voices, and evidently the “law”, the Fort Worth City Council voted 6-3 late Tuesday to expand its anti-discrimination ordinance to include LGBT citizens.

But again, not without a show of disapproval. One Republican demonstrated clearly, they simply don’t understand the concept of separation of church and state, claiming the word of the Bible is the “law”.

According to a post on Star-Telegram:

Ron Armstrong stood on top of his Bible in front of City Hall to symbolize that he was “standing on the word of God.”

“The law says clearly no man is supposed to lie with a man the way he lies with a woman,” he said.

So, there you have it…the Bible IS the law in Texas! I guess the Wal-Mart better watch out, I’m sure they have poly-cotton blend clothes for sale…and if you work at the Red Lobster…time to find another job!

TABC Hires Resource Center for Diversity Training

In response to the Rainbow Lounge raid, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced Thursday, Oct. 29 that the agency has hired Resource Center Dallas to provide LGBT diversity training to all of its roughly 700 employees throughout the state.

The training, set to begin next week with two sessions in Grand Prairie, will reportedly make TABC the first state agency in Texas to undertake such an initiative.

According to a contract obtained by Dallas Voice, TABC will pay Resource Center $14,212 to conduct a total of 24 two-hour sessions in 11 locations — from Austin to Amarillo to McAllen — over the next seven months. The training will reach 300 certified peace officers and approximately 400 civilians, TABC said.

“It’s an opportunity to really educate and have an open discussion with them about our community so they can learn to have a more inclusive workplace and to have solid relations with the LGBT community,” said Cece Cox, an associate executive director at the Resource Center who will help facilitate the training. “That’s what this is about, trust between TABC and the LGBT community — and awareness. I think understanding each other is the key to avoiding unfortunate incidents. It can’t eliminate them, but it sure can put a dent in it.”

More at: Dallas Voice!

No Gay & Lesbian Kissing in Texas Please!

According to a report on channel 11, a local CBS affiliate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, a “Queer Kiss-In” has been staged to be held at the local…um…stockyards, a place known for cattle runs. I suppose this put’s a new twist on the old phrase “steers and queers”.

According to the post:

On Saturday, members of the gay community want kissing to take center stage. Organizers want members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community to express affection out in the open.

The event is considered by many as part of the backlash from earlier events where a raid by the Texas ABC at the Rainbow Lounge, a gay bar in Fort Worth, ended in the firing of some ABC and local police, and left one victim seriously injured.

Of course, as with anything related to the LGBT community, there is opposition.  Some Texans claim the event inappropriate as kids may be present, and others, well, they just don’t like the gays! According to one stockyard visitor, “They seem like they’re trying to instigate trouble by doing it here.”

But, according to Blake Wilkinson, the founder of Queer LiberAction:

“GLBT people have as much right to express our love for our partners as much as straight people do.”

In a written statement, Jason Lamer, a spokesman for the city of Fort Worth said;

“Those of us who are blessed to call Forth Worth home understand that this community has been and always will be diverse and inclusive.”

But, as my suspicions would lead me to believe, I found a poll on the site, where 78 % of respondents (most who live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area), do not want the event to take place, so perhaps Mr. Lamer’s claim that “this community has been and always will be diverse and inclusive”, isn’t as accurate as he would like the outside world to believe.

Report Cites Violations in Raid of Texas Gay Bar

Two Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents who took part in a June police raid on a gay bar failed to report they used force when arresting a patron or that he suffered a serious head injury, according to a report released Thursday.

Agent Christopher Aller and agent trainee Jason Chapman also are accused of participating in the June 28 raid without their supervisor’s approval, disrupting the business during the raid and wearing improper attire in the beverage commission report obtained by The Associated Press under the Texas Open Records Act.

Read the entire post at: Chron.com

City Council Requests Federal Investigation

From 365gay.com:

The Fort Worth City Council has asked for a federal investigation to be made into the June police raid at the Rainbow Lounge gay bar. This would be the fourth inquiry made into the bar raid that sent one man to the hospital with a brain injury.

Council members explained that the federal investigation would reaffirm information found from inquiries made by the Fort Worth police department.

“We want to be able to assure people that this is a thorough and accurate investigation, and that’s part of the reason we’re taking the actions here,” City Council member Joel Burns said.

Two investigations have been made by the Fort Worth Police Department into the incident. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is also investigating two of their officers involved in the raid.

The request for a federal investigation came several hours before Fort Worth officials released personal records for five of the seven officers involved in the raid. The records showed that Officer Jason R. Ricks, one of the officers involved in the raid, has had a history of misconduct.

Ricks has been arrested in the past by New Braunfels police after he punched a bus driver in the face in July of 2006. Ricks was off duty and had been drinking for a couple hours when the fight occurred. Ricks was disciplined several other times during 2006.

Captain W.A. Read, one of Ricks’s supervisors, wrote in a September 2006 letter that Ricks had “shown a history of poor decisions and bad judgment” and added that another lieutenant “has put forth a valid argument that Officer Ricks does not show the maturity level that is required of a Fort Worth police officer.”

Mayor Mike Moncrief supports the City Council’s request for a federal investigation as well as the Fort Worth Police Department.

“I am very pleased with the way the Police Department’s investigation is progressing,” he said. “I continue to be very confident in Chief [Jeff] Halstead and our department that they will resolve this issue in an open, timely and unbiased manner.”

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