Integrity News

Last night the Log Cabin Republicans of Dallas met with Texas State Representative Dan Branch. In a previous post I reported on how controversial this meeting was within the gay community here.

Well, I am pleased to report that the meeting went well. It was a record turn-out for an LCR meeting. I don’t think there was an empty seat in the house. A lot of people who are not LCR members showed up and there was some tension in the air, but every behaved themselves appropriately.

The emphasis of Rep. Branch’s presentation was on the state of Texas - as in the current conditions, especially economic. I was disappointed in some of the presentation because Rep. Branch showed some indications that he is of the so-called “compassionate” strain of conservatism. He seems to be against privatization in education, other social services and transportation.

Following the presentation, there were five questions asked of Rep. Branch. Yes, some of them were specific GLBT issues. Jesse Garcia, president of Dallas Stonewall Democrats and LULAC Council 4871, asked about the current Texas bill that should protect students from bullying based on sexual orientation. Rep. Branch stated he thinks bullying is a terrible thing regardless of what the reason or motivation is, but he was not familiar with the particular bill Jesse asked about, so he would have to read it before saying whether he would vote yes or no. He was also asked about the Texas Republican Party platform and the strong anti-gay language it contains. After admitting that he hasn’t read the platform in quite some time, Rep. Branch spoke more to the platform creation process than actually answering the question.

After the meeting several of the attendees, including myself, - members and non-members of LCR - spoke a little about the purpose of this meeting. One attendee, a member of Stonewall Dems, felt that the questions were “softballs” and that LCR president Rob Schlein let Rep. Branch off light. Rudy Oeftering defended the meeting and the questions by reminding us that this is a first meeting with Rep. Branch and, hopefully, the start of a relationship. When he goes back to Austin and has to vote on another gay-related issue, our hope is that he will think twice before casting that vote. He has met with some of the people who will be affected by his decisions on those issues.

Regardless of party affiliation or non-affiliation, it’s great that different groups can reach out to our elected officials. It’s so easy to ignore those who vote against us. But like it or not, they may get reelected and we need to have a working relationship with them.