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Volume 1 Issue 10 October 31,1991
Washington, DC
HBG and Busta01ante co-sponsor Federal
Lesbian/Gay Rights Bill
The Human Rights Campaign Fund, the nation's
largest Lesbian and Clay organintion, has announced
that Congressmen Henry B. Gonnles and Albert G.
Bustamante have signed on as co-sponsors of the
federal Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill. The
announcement comes ju~t days before the Campaign
Fund's Annual San Antonio Dinner.
The two Texans become the l 09th and I I Oth Co­sponsor~
of the bill in this session of Congress, bling­ing
support for the hill to the highest level in history.
Congressman Bustamante had co-sponsored in previ­ous
sessions of Congre ·s, hut had not been listed as a
co-sponsor in several years.
Houston area Congressman Craig Wa~hington is
the only other Texan cunently signed on as a co­sponsor
of the bill. Thirteen U.S. Senators and 97
Representatives have co-sponsored the hill, which
would outlaw di ·crimination in employment and ser­vices
for Lesbian and Gay Americans. HRCF is
spearheading a national effort to enact the bill duling
the 1990's.
·'This is a major development in the history of
the Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Bill," notes Tim
McFecley, Executive Director of HRCF. • 'I know that
Carol I ,ee Klose, Chuck Jordan and many other activ­ists
in San Antonio have put a tremendous amount of
effort into this. We have worked closely with Carol
Lee and Chuck to encourage both Congre smen to
support the bill. The entire Lesbian and Gay Commu­nity
of San Antonio should take a great deal of satisfac­tion
in this important achievement,'' McFeeley noted.
In addition to direct lobbying, both members of
Congress received regular messages from participants
in the HRCF's "Speak Out" program. Also, Cam­paign
f-und members organized letter writing efforts
and phone calls to the Congressional offices to encour­age
the Congressmen to add their names as co-spon­sor.
of the Federal bill.
Both members of Congress received 100 percent
voting record scores from HRCF for their votes in the
10 I st Congress. ·'We know from experience that both
Congressmen Gonzale~ and Bustamante have been
willing to ·upport our interests against bigotry 01
Senator Helms and Congressman Dannemeyer. They
have stood with us on important votes in the past.
Now, their decision to co-sponsor means that they will
stand with us in the effort to enact federal legislation to
secure fairness and equality for Lesbian and Gay
Americans," McFee ley said.
In a related development, Mayor Bruce Todd of
Austin has declared November 2, 1991 as Human
Rights Campaign Fund Day in recognition of ·'the
considerable contributions" made by the organiza­tion.
In a proclamation endorsed by the entire Austin
City Council, the Campaign Fund was praised for its
work on issue such as AIDS funding, military dis­elimination,
censorship and women's reproductive
choice.
For over ten years, the HRCF has mobilized
power to make progress for Lesbian and Gay Ameli­cans.
HRCF combines political campaign activity
with direct lobbying and grassroots activism to insure
that Our Community's voice is heard in national
politics. Three Texans serve on HRCF' s nauonal
Board of Directors, mcludmg Caroll .ee Klose of San
Antonio.
Procession of Hope sorely disappointed in elected officials
Editorial Note: The following statement wa<>
released the night of the Fourth Annual Proces.<;ion
of Hope howe,er, due to Out in San Antonio's
publication deadline we were unable to publish it in
our Issue 9. Bear this event in mind when next we
go to the polls to elect city and count) government
representatives.
To the City Council of the City of San Antonio,
to the Bexar County Commi sioner Court. anu to all
I ,c)Cally Elected Public Representative
Ten years ago, the first cases of AIDS were
reported among a handful of persons in the nation's
large t cities. Since that time, over I I O,<XX) Ameli­cans
have died of AIDS. This is more than the total
number of American deaths in all the military conflicts
since World War II.
Throughout the Desert Shield/Desert Storm op­eration
in the Persian Gulf, 265 Americans lost their
lives. During that same time period, more than 10,000
Americans died of AIDS.
In San Antonio, more than 9(X) persons have
he en diagnosed with AIDS, and more than half ofthesc
have died.
On August
R, 1991 ,all mem­bers
of the City
Council, a.., well
a~ all other lo­cally
elected rep­resentatives
were invited to
manifest their
concern as lead­ers
of the com­munity
about
thts grave prob­lem
and to attend
the fout1h An­nual
Pn)Cesston
of Hope, an an­nual
candlelight
procession
through down­town
San Anto­nio
whtch culmi­nates
in an ecu­menical
prayer
service at San
Fernando Cathe-dral.
This procession is designed to showcase commu­nity
participation and to draw attention to the setious­ne.
s of the HIV situation in San Antonio, Texas, and
the nation.
To date, no member of the City Council, and no
San Antonio elected official has been able to adjust the
·'conflicts'' in their . chedules in order to attend this
event.
This lack of concern is especially appalling in
light of the fact that State Representative Glen Maxey
(D) who n.:presents Distlict 51 in Austin will be
making a special tlip to San Antonio to attend the
Service.
Moreover, Council persons I yle I arson, Walter
Martine!, Bob Thompson, Bill Thomton*, Yolanda
Vera, and Mayor Nelson Wolff were able to adjust
their -;chedules to attend the opemng or Casa San
Antonio in C1uadalajara, Mexico. Without denying the
importance of international trade, it would seem ap­propriate
for elected representatives in San Antonio to
study the meaning orthe old phrase "charit)' begtns at
home."
It is wllh a great deal of sadness and disappoint­ment
111 the elected orticial'> ot San Antonio, that
the Planning Committee hnngs this matter tn
public light. The HIV situation in San Anto­nio
is much too serious to permit our
elected officials to ignore the prohkm.
Councilman fltll Thornton
did show up at the hegmning
of the Procession to wish
us well and regretted that
he could not attend
the whole proccs­ston.
•