Leticia Van de Putte, a Texas state senator from San Antonio and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, doesn’t mince words. In her first interview with the gay press, she spoke intimately about her family and the ongoing legislative struggle for equality. She also packed in the punches against her Republican opponent, state Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston.
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Dallas Voice: You talk a lot about your family as a motivation and force in your life. Who among them has shaped you into the Democratic senator and lieutenant governor nominee Van de Putte? Leticia Van de Putte: I grew up in a very traditional Mexican-American family. We all lived within four blocks of one another, so my cousins were also like my brothers and sisters. But early on, my motivators were my dad, mom and grandparents. I knew growing up that I was unconditionally loved. I also knew I could be anybody.
My dad was especially influential because he knew the power of a father’s words. I was a little girl growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, but even then to him it wasn’t about my looks. When he’d introduce me, I wouldn’t hear the usual, “This is my daughter.” He would say “Es la más inteligente [She’s the smartest in her class].” I didn’t think so, but because he said so, I thought I might be. And because I thought I could be, I studied a lot.
You know, I’ve never been a petite girl either. But that didn’t stop my dad from making me believe I could do anything. For instance he became my track coach. When you have big thighs, you can run track and jump over hurdles. To him, it wasn’t what you looked like; it was what was in your head, your heart, strength and endurance — those were the qualities that were most important.
My mother was a public school music teacher who didn’t get her college degree until later in life. She emphasized to my sisters and I that we could be trailblazers. We could be the first generation of women identified by our accomplishments, not by our daddies or husbands. But she made it very plainly clear that those accomplishments came with responsibility. She would say “No excuses! No ‘My husband won’t let me’ or ‘My daddy won’t like it’!” I learned if you made the decision to really make your own character, it’s going to be harder when you also have to own up to it.
Did you grow up knowing LGBT people? Yes! In my family, I had an uncle and two aunts. We called them our “aunts,” but only one was my blood aunt. I would talk to my grandma about them and she would say, “I don’t know what this big thing about gay is,” as if nobody then was gay! She spoke about them as if they were like sisters. I told her “Grandma, they share a bed.” And when it came to my Uncle Rudy, she would say, “He is very different but a great son to his mother.”
It was a different time than now. Even though I grew up in a very different and welcoming household, I still saw discrimination firsthand. After my dad came home from the Korean War, they wanted to buy a home in the area. But a lot of the properties had very discriminatory deed restrictions: “No Mexicans, no n-word, no dogs.” But my parents were activists. When something wasn’t right, they worked within the system.
I saw a lot that wasn’t fair and right. I had a friend in the early in 1970s. People thought he was odd because he wore mascara and lipstick. I saw firsthand the humiliation he experienced. I thought he was so brave. He told me he didn’t remember a time when he wasn’t gay. In pharmacy school, I had to be cover for a gay friend. He feared if he were outed, the pharmacy board would prevent him from taking or passing his exams. For a year everyone thought we had this hot and heavy relationship — when really it was a hot and heavy friendship. I loved going to the gay bars (laughs).
My dorm roommate and I tried to get an apartment off campus when we were upperclassmen at the University of Houston, around 1974-75. We were told we had to get a two bedroom because we were two unrelated women. Two people of the same sex couldn’t get a one bedroom. I said we had been living together in a one bedroom in the dorm. “We’re not lesbians; this is all we can afford.”
What motivates you now as a legislator to pursue equality? Our dearest friends are a gay couple across the street. They have been together for 16 years. They are the best role models for our family. My son is named after my husband Pete’s mentor who was gay. My cousins just adopted a baby girl. They’ve been together 18 years.
Before she passed, one of my dearest friends was Christie Littleton. She was from the trans community. She got gender reassignment surgery in the ’70s. She married Pete’s uncle and was the most fabulous wife. To us she was Aunt Christie. So when you’re talking about the trans community, you’re talking about my family. When you’re talking about discrimination, you’re talking about my family. I think that is one area of government we still have a group of people who aren’t treated with full equality.
That’s why I introduced [Senate Bill 237 to prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity] last year. Eric Alva was the first soldier injured in Iraq, the first Purple Heart recipient. And he came back home and faced discrimination — not because he was Hispanic or had disabilities, but because he is a gay man. This is someone who has fought for us! If the Department of Defense can let people be openly gay, why can’t we protect those people, too?
I’ve seen people change. I’m just lucky I grew up in and have family where it’s no big deal.
The incoming freshmen senators have very different views from yours; they have very conservative views. How would you moderate your convictions and beliefs with theirs? Do you think their views will change? I’ve served with great men and women for a long time. In the primary, candidates say what they say and do what they do to win. They usually make the turn to governance. If they disagree with you, they largely will hear you out in the Senate. Many of the incoming legislators are very populist and libertarian. Under that scenario, they usually believe government shouldn’t be telling people what to do in their bedroom.
Certainly my opponent, state Sen. Dan Patrick, believes marriage is between one man and woman. He is a foe of equality. But with others you could sway the libertarian folks from the religious angle who say this threatens traditional marriage. Well, I’ll tell you, if my gay neighbors are a threat to my 37-year marriage to Pete, that’s really the thing we should worry about.
You have two kinds of marriage: The type recognized by the government and then the type recognized by a religious institution. Each religion needs to adhere to the tenets with which it feels comfortable. But I believe the government will very soon promote equality and protection under the law. If that includes marriage, the recognition of a loving relationship with another person, we should be able to allow that.
What would be your first move as lieutenant governor? And don’t say you want to get a new chair. (Laughing) A great leader listens to and treats every senator with respect regardless of party. It shouldn’t be a red and blue team. It should be a red, white and blue Lone Star team. Our priorities are neither Republican nor Democratic. Our job is creating a budget providing infrastructure, water and education, not engaging in these single wedge issues that divide us.
I would tap the folks for their skill sets and passions. You respect them and also the taxpayers who elected them. There’s a lot of work to do in a session, but the first thing you have to do is get everyone and their priorities together in a respectful process to come out with a budget and laws that respect priorities.
Being a good lieutenant governor is like being a good pharmacist. You have to listen and connect. I wish I could make my pharmacy patients make good decisions. I can’t. But I can provide them with a structure, information and motivation so they can make good decisions and maintain their quality of life. I want to provide that structure to all Texans, their businesses and communities, regardless of size. I know how to work together with people to provide that. Maybe it’s the mama; maybe the healthcare provider; maybe it’s the small business owner in me.
You’ve made it clear the differences between you and your Republican opponent, Sen. Dan Patrick. Given the state’s long record of electing Republicans though, why even run? I have an intense love for this state. I know Dan Patrick. He sits in front of me. I just don’t see this vision of the state with what he brings. His “my way or the highway style” and D.C.-style politicking just isn’t right for the state. We all may have our differences, but we have so much more in common, and you need a leader who understands that, not someone who constantly divides. You don’t need a leader who is more interested in political points for the next election and what some groups are going to give him on a report card. That’s not what’s best for our kids’ report cards, communities and state. I have to win.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 1, 2014.