The fallout continues over Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ refusal to sign a pledge in support of same-sex marriage.
Paula Blackmon, Rawlings’ chief of staff, confirmed today that the mayor may cancel a neighborhood meeting scheduled for Kiest Park on Tuesday night, after LGBT activists threatened to stage a demonstration at the event.
Last week, Rawlings angered many in the LGBT community when he said that although he “personally” supports same-sex marriage, he won’t sign the pledge because his policy is to avoid social issues that don’t directly impact city government.
Dallas is the largest city in the nation whose mayor hasn’t signed the pledge unveiled by the national group Freedom to Marry during the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C.
“It doesn’t need to be a demonstration, it needs to be conversation,” Blackmon said. “He’s willing and he’s open to sit down and talk about it, but he doesn’t want it to be done in an atmosphere that’s not constructive.”
Daniel Cates, North Texas regional coordinator for the LGBT direct action group GetEQUAL, said Blackmon contacted him this morning and offered a meeting with Rawlings if the group called off the demonstration.
Cates said he’s interested in meeting with the mayor, but when he refused to cancel the demonstration, Blackmon rescinded her offer.
“Preconditions are not acceptable,” Cates said. “We’ll meet him at Starbucks at midnight if that’s what it takes, but we’re not going to cancel a demonstration in order to have a meeting. [The LGBT] community is pretty outraged by this, and I think they have a right to express that. We’ll call off the demonstration if he signs the pledge.”
Blackmon said when it became clear that Cates wouldn’t settle for anything less than Rawlings signing the pledge, she decided it would be better to pursue a meeting with other LGBT leaders. “The mayor is not going to sign the pledge,” she said.
Blackmon added that it was still “up in the air” whether the mayor would cancel the Kiest Park meeting.
Cates, who’s also launched an online petition calling for Rawlings to sign the pledge, said if and when the Kiest Park neighborhood meeting is canceled, he’ll call off the demonstration. However, he said GetEQUAL will look for other opportunities to demonstrate, possibly outside City Hall.
“We are determined to escalate this if they continue to refuse to cooperate,” Cates said.
UPDATE: Blackmon confirmed this afternoon that Mayor Rawlings will not attend the Kiest Park community meeting.
She said residents who plan to attend the “Meet the Mayor” meeting want to talk about things like potholes and loose dogs, and it would be unfair to subject them to an LGBT demonstration.
“He just does not want to put them through that, so he plans to meet with them on a more individual basis,” Blackmon said.
She added that City Councilwoman Delia Jasso and Councilman Scott Griggs still plan to attend the Kiest Park meeting. She also said the mayor is reaching out to other LGBT community leaders to set up a meeting with them. However, she said it’s doubtful that the meeting with LGBT community leaders will be open to the media.
According to the Williams Institute: Approximately 9,500 in-state same-sex couples will choose to marry in the three years following an opening of marriage to same-sex couples in Washington State. The total spending on wedding arrangements and tourism by resident same-sex couples and their guests will add an estimated $88 million boost to the state and local economy of Washington over the course of three years. This economic boost is likely to add $8 million in tax revenue to state and local coffers.
I wonder what it would mean to Dallas and Texas? And congratulations to the fine State of Washington and thanks to their Goevrnor for doing the tight thing in speaking out just a few short weeks ago.
I’m not sure shoving it.down his throat is going to accomplish anything. Forcing someone to sign something is an empty gesture.
If he said he’d meet with them if they canceled the protest, then the mission is accomplished. If hr still refuses to sign, THEN have the protest. He has public appearances all the time so a protest later would be easy enough. As it is, they are just creating a standoff. I’d take the offer of a meeting (its probably to late) and decide the next step after the results are in. This just makes us look bad.
he MAYOR won’t meet with citizens because, citizen’s who are disappointed HE won’t meet to talk without his conclusion being given in advance of that meeting. HE’S setting a presidence for all groups that HE won’t meet with.
You fucking people, you the ones that are screwing up the process. You don’t give a damn about you damn city government, but yet I can’t be happy and you all are not being the true citizens and learn a little something about your own officals. Enstead of protesting, y’all should of took the time and learn whats going on and be active citizens. GetEqual is just like some of the other parody groups and only care about themselfs and power. Go to a City Council Meeting and seat in for a bit, volunteer for a candidate running for office, help out the in community, but protesting abunch of Bull is wasting time and money. (Sorry for the words, but thats how I really feel) I guess some G
Gay people don’t care how there Taxes are spent.
Not sure why the Mayor wants to have a meeting since he says he will not sign the pledge with or without the meeting. What is the point? I guess he is just another supposed friend of the community who wants to meet to say, “I really like you, but I am not willing to expend any political capital on your issues.” Sorry, we just do not need friends like that anymore.
@Linda: good thinking. It’s a shame that some politicans cannot think on the level that you do.
@Ty: Convinced against one’s will, of the same opinion still. I would tend to agree with you on that.
@prettystudent: Yes, some of us DO care how our taxes are spent. In fact, those of us who actually PAY taxes (I suspect you probably do not) happen to care a hell of a lot how they are spent. But I don’t expect you to understand that, because you can’t spell, you can’t punctuate and you can’t express yourself in complete sentences. It’s difficult to take someone like that seriously.
@Jeff- You got it all wrong buddy, he wanted to have a town hall meeting with the folks in the area to talk about whatever like city issues. (Budgets, Bike Lanes, Streetlights, etc.,) but no, they scared him off.
@James- “Really Now” Of course I know how there are spent. Right, I don’t own a house right now and I’m even sure if I want to do that in the City, but sure as hell pay sales tax. Out of the 8 Cents you pay, 7 Cents goes to the State, 1 Cent goes to the City and they can do it however they want, the other Cent goes to DART and if you watch the news, you seen that we been paying more for less. If I really wanted to be in office and waste Taxpayers Money, you got it all wrong. If you want someone to blame, go to DISD where they keep on jacking up you taxes, all so we don’t have to have overcrowed schools in the Southeast.
Mike Rawlings is a not only a hypocrite….he is a coward! He rode a giant rainbow float and threw out beads at the Gay Pride parade and says the he supports marriage equality, however, he refuses to have his signature on something that supports what he supposedly believes in!
Rawlings has pretty much painted a giant rainbow target on his ass. The doublespeak has to stop and I, for one, am sick to death of candidates that court us then ignore us.
and @preppystudent, I do care how my taxes are spent. And clearly they were wasted paying for your education. You come on here and criticize yet can’t even do so with proper spelling and grammar. Tsk, tsk.
Someone has been studying the Tom Leppert playbook.
Does anyone have a link to that marriage pledge? I’d like to read the actual verbiage in it. It sounds like there might be more than a simple “I support gay marriage”
Nevermind.. found it. Looks pretty straightforward to me: I add my voice to those supporting the freedom to marry.
I pledge to work to enable same-sex couples and their families to share equally in the responsibilities, protections, and commitment of marriage.
The elected leaders of Dallas have often needed a little nudging when it comes to extending full equality for all of her residents and visitors. The State Fair of Texas discrimination lawsuit is a prime example of what is often needed to bridge a city to the future! Kudos to the 80 plus Mayors who “officially” support marriage equality for their own residents and visitors.
It was left to an NAACP chapter in faraway Brownwood to sue and force final desegregation of the midway and eating establishments.
https://www.dallasobserver.com/2004-09-09/news/laff-in-the-dark/
Gay marriage draws support from U.S. mayors led by Villaraigosa
https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/gay-marriage-draws-support-from-us-mayors-led-by-villaraigosa.html
https://www.freedomtomarry.org/expressionengine.php?/pages/mayors-for-marriage-statement
Here’s the link to the text of the pledge…
https://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/meet-the-mayors
That should be the correct one.
@CL – https://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/pledge
That’s it? That a paragraph that y’all are crying about? Like I said, no big deal, move on and worry about other stuff.