Stonewall Caucus received a warm welcome at the Texas Democratic Convention
The LGBTQ community is used to being left out of the “bright future” that the Texas Republican Party talks about. This year Texas Republicans denied Log Cabin Republicans a booth at the Texas Republican Convention, and delegates once again voted to spread misinformation about our community and our contributions to society through their platform.
That may be their vision for the future. But it’s not the future Texas deserves.
Last weekend, the Stonewall Democratic Caucus attended the Texas Democratic Convention. And although the convention is over, our community is still celebrating its acceptance by convention attendees and the progress the Texas Democratic Party has made.
The theme for the Democratic Convention was “A Texas Promise.” Following the highly divisive Republican gathering, I was expecting Texas Democrats to draw stark contrasts between themselves and close-minded Texas Republicans. I was not disappointed.
The Texas Democratic Party not only put the Republican Party to shame by emphasizing the importance of our contributions to our local communities, but also ensured all LGBTQ delegates knew that they were valued attendees of the convention. We were not expecting the 6,000-plus delegates to follow suit and make us feel just important and welcome.
The Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus (TSDC) is a general-purpose political committee and the official lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) caucus of the Texas Democratic Party. We promote civil rights throughout the state of Texas through grassroots-based organization.
This year, the TSDC celebrated more than 20 years of personal progress at the convention and reflected on how far we’ve come. We kicked off the convention by hosting the “Blue After Party,” with more than 500 delegates. We celebrated equality and heard from the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, from Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa, from Texas Democratic Convention Chair Sen. Royce West, and from U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Dr. David Alameel.
As soon as the convention was called together, TSDC members lead LGBTQ delegates in chanting “We don’t need fixin’” as we marched onto the floor. Our community had heard that the Texas Democratic Party came out against the toxic plank of the Texas Republican Party Platform that supports voluntary psychological “reparative therapy” to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals, but we were blown away when we heard Sen. West shout from the stage, “We are here for you,” and when we saw the center full of delegates applaud and stand in solidarity with us.
After the warm welcome TSDC received, we returned to the convention floor for our caucus meeting with 350 LGBTQ delegates and were treated to speeches by the Democratic nominee for governor, Sen. Wendy Davis, Sen. Van de Putte and Congressman Al Green.
The Texas Democratic Party shares the values of opportunity, fairness and freedom with everyday Texans. In our platform, we don’t condemn an entire community to live a lie just to make others comfortable; we open our gates and take you as you are.
Our platform declares that no matter your age, you should feel safe expressing yourself, that you should be able to get and keep a job based on merit, and that under no circumstances should anyone tell you that you cannot marry who you love.
The platform approved by thousands of Texas Democrats from all across our great state does not say we are broken and need to be fixed. It simply says if you believe in equality and justice for all, work with us to fulfill the “Texas Promise.”
This November, we as a community have a choice. We can take a gamble on the Texas Republican Party and see what rights they want to take away from us. We can work with them to make sure that only the Texans who look, think and act like them can access to the American Dream.
Or we can stand with the Texas Democratic Party and stay true to ourselves and our values. We can stand with the leaders who will elevate our concerns in Austin and will fight for our rights instead of working to take them away.
So the question is: What will you do? For me, the choice is clear: I am going to stand with Wendy and Leticia.
Our community needs champions in Austin that understand that we are not broken and will not ask us to give up our individuality just to make others comfortable. I know that I will do everything in my power to make sure that we not only make history on Nov. 4, but that we start work on fulfilling that Texas Promise and building a brighter future for generations to come.
Eli Olivarez is president of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus. Contact him by email at elias@stonewalltx.org. To read the official platform of the Texas Democratic Party in its entirety, visit www.txdemocrats.org and click on the tab labeled “Our Values.” For information on TSDC, visit www.stonewalltx.org.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 4, 2014.