Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert just announced his resignation today (effective Friday), and he hasn’t even formally announced that he’s running for U.S. Senate in 2012. But Leppert has already started pandering to social conservatives as he prepares to seek the Republcian nomination for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat.
As you can see above, Leppert sent out an anti-gay tweet today in response to the Obama administration’s announcement that it will no longer defend a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court.
“Another mistake from Obama on DOMA,” Leppert tweeted. “We need leaders in Washington to stand for the principle of marriage between one man and one woman.”
Clearly, Leppert is anxious to distance himself from his record in Dallas, where he hired an openly gay chief of staff, Chris Heinbaugh, and appeared in two gay Pride parades. Being a big old fag-lover could seriously hurt Leppert in a statewide Republican primary, so he’ll have to work hard to prove how much of a bigot he is.
Leppert’s tweet is utterly disgusting, but it isn’t at all surprising.
As a recent new resident to Dallas from Iowa, as well as, a civic/community activist for the LBGT and other diverse communities, this is just plain awful and beyond ignorant of Leppert….lord I guess stupid exist all over this country…I’m sure those in Dallas are smarter than Leppert’s way of thinking.
Good riddance to bad rubbish!
He’s been reading Sarah Palin’s playbook really closely:
1. Quit your job early – check
2. Say ignorant things about the LGBT community – check
3. Look stupid and incompetent on TV and loose your election – in progress
And by “loose” I mean “lose.”
In his first step towards candidacy Tom chooses to come out of the gate with divisiveness. He questions the leadership skills of our president …yet after embracing the gay community when it was politically convenient only to abandon those who embraced him when it no longer serves his purpose shows a total lack of integrity. Tweeting Tom has let his hypocritical fingers expose him as just another political opportunist whose own idea of leadership is to follow whatever it takes to get elected. So disappointed. So unnecessary.
Helen Keller could see through Tom Leppert. I’m glad he’s gone!
I don’t think anyone who had an ounce of knowledge of local politics ever believed that Tom Leppert was any sort of “friend” to the local GLBT community. One need only reexamine all the shenanigans which went on in the election vs. Ed Oakley to find your answers.
Disgusting. So when’s rally? I’m in.
hey tom. fuck you.
obama is out not a chance of getting re-elected even blacks have seen through his charade of nonsense.this x mayor needs to join lbgt or whatever they call themselves most texas hate osama
Sad. Very sad. I can’t tell you who I will be voting for in the upcoming Senate election, but I do know who I will NOT be voting for!
In his good bye and good riddance speech yesterday, Leppert suddenly came out strongly against last year’s tax hike. Angela Hunt walked out.
Guess this means he won’t be visiting my bedroom in private anymore
I call Bullshit on this. Now you see why he joined the FBC of Dallas. Pandering to that crowd early for votes. I attended a lunch 2 years ago when the Dallas Gay Chamber hosted a press tour. Tom Leppert attended and spoke so highly of the LGBT community and blah blah blah. Politics as usual. You sorry SOB…….
Leppert is an opportunist. It was obvious when he took office and it still is. He will say and do whatever he needs to to gain what he wants. His benevolence toward the LGBT community was a step of expediency. It avoided any direct conflicts and kept him from gaining any strong enemies. On a local level the LGBT community in Dallas has clout, on a state level, not so much. And so, under the bus we go.
I’m just left wondering why he was invited to participate in not one, but two gay pride parades. Anyone who pays attention to politics could see this day coming from a hundred miles away and knew that Leppert was not a true friend of the community. I guess the upside is that maybe this will come back to bite him in the ass. If there’s going to be hate in office, I’d rather it be the hate I know than the hate that’s trying to be my friend.
This Tweet, plus a picture of Leppert at a gay pride parade, would make a great campaign poster.
During City Council meetings, unless he was actively engaged in seeking money for a new real estate scam or construction contract, he was so bored he either paced, left, or dozed.
If his senate campaign bores him as much as his mayoral duties did, watching his run will be fun!
So I’ll ask again. When’s the rally? LOL
I would love to hear Chris Heinbaugh’s take on all of this.
Hey nanett gonyuij, first, what does the President have to do with this story, second, that was a pretty racist comment, and third, “his x mayor needs to join lbgt or whatever they call themselves” obviously you’re straight, and fourth, most texas hate osama, you must be a tea bagger, so please go troll on some Fox news sight where your hateful words mean something.
darren…..I seriously question why you would even allow him privately in your bedroom to begin with….eeewwww, gross……LOL
Are you kidding? He was never a friend to the gay community. Good Riddance to trash.
I like Paul J Williams’ idea. The Dallas Voice needs to do an “inside the mayor’s office” interview with Chris Heinbaugh. I would think his feelings would be hurt over the mayor’s DOMA comments and how Leppert has been a fake friend to the GLBT community.
forgive me, but is it worth living in a state that hates you?
Don’t let the door hit ya in the ass on your way out – Mr. Mayor. You know Republicans have it backwards. They are opposed to Government regulation in Corporate Boardrooms, but don’t seem to mind Government intrusion into Private Bedrooms. Shouldn’t it be the other way around ???
Government needs to stay OUT of the bedroom and needs to more active and strictly regulate Corporate Boardrooms !
Now does anyone doubt that he, his campaign staff and his supporters were behind the homophobic phone calls the begining day of early voting in the 2007 mayoral campaign or the timely placed article placed in Time Magazine “Gays taking over Politics in Dallas” which changed the direction of the election.
Leppert touts Dallas as gay destinationPosted on 17 Apr 2008 at 7:40pm
By Arnold Wayne Jones
Mayor addresses travel journalists during annual LGBT press tour
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert
As the mayor of Dallas, Tom Leppert is the city’s most enthusiastic cheerleader, often charged with convincing captains of industry and national leaders that Dallas is more than the stereotypes in pop culture. So it’s not surprising that he would say, as he did on April 11, that “The Dallas of today is not J.R. [Ewing]; it’s the people around this table.”
What might be surprising is that he said it to a table filled almost exclusively with members of the LGBT community.
Mayor Leppert, Councilwoman Pauline Medrano and other civic leaders participated in an hour-long luncheon that day welcoming gay travel journalists from around the world, extolling the virtues of Dallas as a gay destination.
The journalists — six men and women representing four countries — were on a four-day tour of the city, organized by the Dallas Tavern Guild and co-sponsored by the Dallas Conventions and Visitors Bureau, the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce and other local businesses and organization. (Dallas Voice was one of the sponsors of the tour.)
This is the seventh year the Tavern Guild has organized a gay travel tour.
Leppert spoke at length during the luncheon, which took place in the elegant Captain’s Room inside the Pyramid restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel in Downtown.
Leppert stressed his belief that Dallas “be recognized as a city that is diverse, where everybody feels comfortable — that it be a world-class city, an exciting city that embraces everybody.” He told the press corps how “it wasn’t too long ago I relocated a company here because it is a livable city.”
Noting that Dallas boasts the sixth-largest gay population in the United States, Leppert added that “more than just the numbers, it is a city that embraced GLBT [people] on an individual basis through its policies.”
Um, hey Ed. I may be gay but you never had my vote. You never answered questions, going on and on about “just look at my record”. Now how does that help the regular voter like you? And no, just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I HAVE to vote for a gay candidate.
You can also blame the local media for their nuanced bashing of Ed Oakley. My favorite being……”there is just something about his smile that makes me uncomfortable”.
Lame ass BS like this is nothing more than homophobic pig latin.
Great informative post and comments until the one by commenter coastal in which the focus was lost and personal biases were pushed at us.
Interesting that he is reaching out to the log cabin republicans already – https://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20091126-Dallas-Mayor-Tom-Leppert-woos-Republicans-2706.ece
It’s hard to find out what his end game is. Bashes gays on one hand, and then tries to be friends with them on the other.
Tom Leppert is a fake and a DeMolay member. We don’t need leaders like that.
Doesn’t Tom bend over in his private GOP & Masonic meetings.