Houston’s anti-gay crusader Dave Wilson was elected to the Houston Community College Board of Trustees recently by misleading voters in a black-majority district into thinking he was black. Wilson is white.
Wilson made a name for himself by sending out homophobic campaign literature targeting Mayor Annise Parker in her first election for that office four years ago. That mailer featured a picture of Parker at her swearing-in as city comptroller with her partner at her side. In 2011, he ran against Parker and lost. He also was responsible for an earlier anti-gay referendum that repealed health benefits for same-sex partners of city employees.
This time, Wilson won his election by campaigning as black, according to Houston CBS TV affiliate KHOU. His district is predominantly black.
The mailer links Wilson’s opponent to Parker. He lists “sodomy” among his issues. Other issues on the mailer are “marriage between a man and a woman” and “that a man can use a woman’s bathroom”. No other information on the mailer accompanies the “issues”.
His face did not appear on his campaign literature, nor in voter guides. The only faces in his ads are those he pulled from the Internet, Wilson told Houston reporters after the election.
He has an endorsement by Ron Wilson listed. The Ron Wilson voters know is a former state representative who is black. But that’s not the Ron Wilson who endorsed him.
The Ron Wilson on the campaign literature is Dave Wilson’s cousin from Iowa.
