Gene Locke's Gay Friendly Agenda

Imagine my shock and surprise to read the Houston Chronicle's article on organized anti-gay efforts aimed at  keeping Annise Parker from getting elected and to see this (everything in red from here on out are things I've pulled from newspapers, press releases, blogs, etc. If it's in black, they are my words, if in red, they are someone else's):

Locke has also met with and sought the endorsement of Dr. Steven Hotze, a longtime local kingmaker in conservative politics and author of the Straight Slate in 1985, a coterie of eight City Council candidates he recruited who ran on an anti-gay platform.

There must be a mistake because Locke had this to say on September 17th about negative attacks, and we all know Hotze is all about ugly negative attacks:

 "focus on the issues and refrain from engaging in third-party personal attacks in this campaign."

And when a bogus anti-gay endorsement email went out with Gene Locke on the slate, he had this to say: 


STATEMENT BY GENE LOCKE REGARDING CHRISTIANS FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT

September 20, 2009 - “I vehemently reject this so-called ‘endorsement’ from a group calling itself ‘Christians for Better Government.’  Furthermore, as a church-going Christian, I reject any association with this bogus and divisive style of campaigning.  I find the message contained in their press release to be reprehensible, and the people of Houston do, too.  I trust Houstonians to choose a new mayor based on the issues and the candidates, and not to be swayed by this kind of ugly rhetoric."

And, after the KHOU televised debate, Locke staffer Grace Rodriguez posted this on her blog, making it crystal clear that there is no better friend to gays than Gene Locke, and that includes Annise Parker: 

This issue is really important to me, because I have family and friends in the LGBT community who are still treated as second-class citizens when it comes to equal civil rights.


There is a New York Times article going around on Twitter that Annise Parker may make history as “the first openly gay woman to be elected mayor of a major American metropolis.” In it, however, Parker says “I always told voters the truth…” then goes on to state she has “no current plan to offer [same-sex benefits] for a referendum.”


I’m shocked that Annise Parker, the “openly gay” candidate, does NOT support same-sex benefits. The NYTimes article reports:

In a televised debate on Oct. 25, for instance, she was asked if she would push for a referendum to give benefits to the same-sex partners of city workers. A similar measure was soundly defeated in the past.

Ms. Parker has lived with her partner for 19 years and has two adopted children, so she has a personal stake in the question, but she replied that, while she supported the idea, she had “no current plan to offer that for a referendum.”

“Personally it’s very important,” she said, “but, as mayor of Houston, do I want to engage resources in fighting that battle, or do I want to tackle the budget? Do I want to tackle drainage? Do I want to try to put more police officers on the street? It’s the difference between the personal and what this city needs.”

It seems, then, what her base - Houston’s vibrant GLBT community and its supporters - needs is NOT equal rights.

The interesting thing is that Gene Locke, who is also running for mayor of Houston (and one of my clients), DOES support equal rights. On Gene Locke’s Facebook profile, I found the following comment thread:

Jody Miller: Where do you stand on Houston City Charter, roman numeral II, section 22 Denial of Benefits?

Matt Burrus: Jody, I can respond to your question on behalf of Gene. Gene believes that all people should be treated fairly and equally. He wrote the City’s first non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation when he was City Attorney in the late 1990s. He also spearheaded the efforts to bring domestic partner benefits to his law firm, as a member of its diversity committee. He most recently stated during the KHOU debate that he would support a referendum to provide same-sex benefits to City employees. He was the only candidate to say they would support the referendum. Gene believes that the City needs to recruit the best employees possible, regardless of sexual orientation, race, nationality, religion, etc., and he would look to be competitive with a majority of Fortune 500 companies, Dallas, Austin, El Paso, and other cities across the country that already offer domestic partner benefits.

When I made the same statement on Twitter, Kris Banks, President of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, responded:

“She understands the political fight b/c she’s been involved in it for decades. Not going to make empty promises. Ballot initiatives are not our forte. We lost CA and Maine looks bleak. Has to be done right. She gets that. I think everyone should support same-sex benefits, but that’s different than doing what it takes to win initiative fight. She said there wasn’t a plan right now. @AnniseParker doesn’t just talk, she gets things done. Ballot initiatives are overwhelmingly tough for our community, @AnniseParker knows that b/c she’s fought that fight.”

Yet, if Annise has really fought this fight before, shouldn’t she have a plan to continue fighting it? She may not make empty promises, but if she hasn’t promised to continue fighting for equal rights for the GLBT community, her commitment to Houston’s diverse community seems empty itself.

In any case, if she doesn’t have a plan, Gene DOES. Maybe Annise should ask Gene to help her draft her plan? After all, Gene Locke “wrote the City’s first non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation” when he was Houston City Attorney under former Mayor Bob Lanier.

I support equal rights for ALL of Houston. If you do, too, please VOTE FOR GENE LOCKE FOR MAYOR ON NOVEMBER 3RD!

*UPDATE: Jody Miller followed up his conversation with Matt Burrus with this comment:

“After much research and countless conversations with all four major candidates campaigns running for Mayor of Houston, I have decided to back Gene Locke. He is the most genuine of all of the candidates and the only one wanting to rewrite current descrimination laws in Houston and support a referendum to change the city charter to include Domestic Partnership benefits for city workers. This is a huge step in the right direction friends. Join me in voting for Gene Locke on Nov. 3rd!”

So, bottom line, Locke's senior advisor Kim Devlin needs to retract her extremely lame "response" to Locke being accused of sleeping with Steven Hotze. I suggest she replace it with:


"Gene Locke is 100% gay friendly. You can find proof in the video from the KHOU debate where he was the only one who promised a referendum on same sex partner benefits. He signed the HGLBT statement saying he is 100% gay friendly and sought their endorsement. He's on record on our own website being against the gay-hating people behind the Christian for Better Government slate. He wrote the City's first non-descrimination law against gay people. No one is more friendly to gays than Gene Locke."

I mean seriously. No way Gene Locke has sold his soul, right? So, I'm sure he will be up and at 'em Saturday morning to go over to the west side to tell the Republican voters all of these truths about his gay friendly agenda. 

UPDATE: More from Kuff and John. Read what Matt Burrus has to say in the comments. I'm waiting for Locke to speak out, as well, so I can find out why someone who is on record as being gay friendly was seeking the endorsement of the gay hater Steven Hotze. Already, we have Locke's campaign response. As it stands, Devlin speaks for Locke and she is excusing his appearance at the gala for the pastors who are behind the anti-gay effort, as well as his seeking Hotze's endorsement, with a statement about how Locke's behavior is acceptable because he wants to be the mayor of all of Houstonians. And, inexplicably, she tears down Parker's character. I think Locke needs to quit letting Devlin speak for him. Here is what she told the Chronicle:

Locke spokeswoman Kim Devlin said he has met with “thousands of people” and promised from the outset of his campaign to be “mayor for every Houstonian … no matter their political party or their ideology.”

“Annise Parker is letting Houstonians in on her true character by leveling these highly incendiary, baseless and ridiculous attacks,” said Devlin.