Lesbian incumbent backing gay man over transgender woman in Houston council race

Earlier this month we reported on transgender candidate Jenifer Pool’s bid for the Position 2 At Large seat on the Houston City Council, which is being vacated by term-limited Councilwoman Sue Lovell, an out lesbian. Well, since our story ran about Pool, the plot has thickened considerably.

As we noted, Pool appears to have the backing of the city’s LGBT political establishment — having been endorsed by the Houston GLBT Political Caucus (which she once led), the Houston Stonewall Democrats and the Houston Stonewall Young Democrats.

Which is why it was surprising to many when Lovell, also a one-time president of the Caucus, endorsed Bolivar Fraga, one of Pool’s opponents in the November race. Fraga, the son of a former Houston councilman, just recently came out as gay.

We’ve heard all sorts of possible explanations as to why Lovell didn’t endorse Pool, from the fact that the two were on opposite sides of the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama primary to allegations that Lovell is transphobic.

Meanwhile, the Lovell-endorsed Fraga has been linked to an email attacking Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, an LGBT ally who represents Houston’s Montrose gayborhood but has butted heads with Lovell in the past. And now, the Houston’s Office of Inspector General is conducting an “initial inquiry” into a complaint that Lovell illegally used her city computer to send an email in support of Fraga to none other than the Houston GLBT Political Caucus.

In the words of Monica Roberts at TransGriot, “Stay tuned, because the Houston political battles and intrigue really start heating up after Labor Day.”