The Texas Stonewall Democrats convention in Austin is drawing to a close this afternoon, and people are gearing up for Equality Texas’ Lobby Day tomorrow at the State Capitol, where as many as 500 people are expected. There will be a reception for Lobby Day this evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the same hotel where the Stonewall convention was held. Openly gay Congressman Jared Polis (pictured above), D-Colorado, delivered the keynote address on Day 2 of the Stonewall convention earlier today.
Texas Stonewall officials said that registration for the convention topped out at 78, well below their previously stated goal of 100. They said they felt the low turnout could be directly attributed to the bad economy, but they were pleased to have representation at the convention from all nine active chapters statewide. In addition to Dallas, chapters from North Texas that were well represented at the convention included Tarrant County and Collin County.
While registration fell short of the group’s goal, it was enough for the convention to pay for itself. Dan Graney, Texas Stonewall president, said during an executive board meeting yesterday that the convention cost a total of about $8,200. The group brought in $3,500 in sponsorships and about $5,000 in registration fees to pay for the event.
Texas Stonewall leaders haven’t made a final decision about whether to stage a biennial convention again in 2011. They’ll base their decision partly on feedback from evaluation forms that were distributed to those attending the convention this year.
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We were pleased to see the Dallas Voice cover our first Texas Stonewall Democrats statewide conference in Austin this weekend in conjunction with EqualityTexas’ Lobby Day tomorrow. The conference was very successful and while we were hoping for a slightly better turnout….we enjoyed a productive weekend of informative workshops, listend to prominent and inspiring elected officials and speakers, and were able to network and get to know one another from the various Stonewall Chapters from around Texas one-on-one which was nice. I know for certain that everyone got their money’s worth ($75) at the conference and then some. So for those who didn’t attend….you missed out …but we will next gather at the 2010 Texas Democratic Convention to be held in Corpus Christi next June !
Coupling the conference with the Lobby Day most likely helped boost the attendance for Lobby Day, making it one of the most successful in GLBT history in Texas. Having co-chaired the Lesbian/Gay Democratic Caucus of 1996 it was very encouraging to see the organization and networking by the group, something we didn’t have before Stonewall was organized. It was great to see the Houston Stonewall Young Democrats receive an award for their work in organizing the first Stonewall YD chapter in the state. The energy of that chapter will go a long way to help “Turn Texas Blue.” In 2010 when gaining control of the House will be critical to redistricting this conference most likely helped set the stage for a Democratic comeback in Texas.
If not for the Stonewall conference having been planned this weekend, I may or may not have been attending Lobby Day. I am sure many more people just like me would have stayed home without the extra encouragement. Many hands raised at the Equality TX mixer when asked who was going to Lobby Day for the first time, including myself. All of our LGBT organizations are making a difference.