Stonewall Democrats of Dallas • July 2010
The Stonewall
“Don’t worry, be happy.”
- Anibal Fernandez, cabinet chief
to Argentine President Cristina Kirchner,
on Twitter after Argentina
legalized gay marriage.
Stonewall Democrats
of Dallas
4209 Parry Avenue
Dallas, TX 75223
P.O. Box 192305
Dallas, TX 75219
214-506-DEMS
www.stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org
Advocate
A monthly publication for members of the SDD
Recap of the Texas
Democratic Convention
by Jay Narey
Numerous Stonewall Democrats from all
over Texas traveled to Corpus Christi in late
June to participate in the biennial Texas State
Democratic Convention.
While well attended this year, it was a far
cry from the absolute bedlam that many of us
witnessed in Austin in early 2008 when the
Primary battle between Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton was approaching it’s apex.
Midterm conventions are always quite a bit
more relaxed than during Presidential years
as a rule of thumb when the competition to
attend the Democratic National Convention
reaches fever pitch.
Stonewall activities began on Thursday
evening, June 24th, when TSDC held a 10th
Anniversary Reception and Awards Cer-
emony honoring two Dallasites, Michael
Milliken and Al Daniels who were both
instrumental in not only launching Stonewall
Democrats of Dallas, but also getting our
statewide affiliation of Stonewall chapters
started a decade ago. These are the gentlemen
that “paved the way” for the accomplish-
ments and achievements that I am going to
talk about later in this column. The reception
was well attended by numerous Delegates
from around the state. Distinguished guests
included former State Party Chair, Molly
Beth Malcolm, as well as the current Chair of
the Texas Democratic Party,
Boyd Richie, who was re-elected at the
convention as Chair for another two years.
This year, I have the distinct privilege of
reporting to you, our membership, the real
success that we as an organization have
achieved, even above and beyond years past.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the
diametrically opposite Platforms of the Texas
Republican and Texas Democratic Parties
respectively.
The differences are most profound, and
truly disturbing.
As the New York Daily News put it
recently, “The Texas Republican Party gives
a whole new meaning to the word ‘conserva-
tive’.” Indeed. Here is just a brief excerpt:
“We oppose the legalization of sodomy,” the
platform says. “We demand that Congress
exercise its authority granted by the U.S.
Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the
federal courts from cases involving sodomy.”
Apparently a ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court in Lawrence v. Texas stating that the
Texas’ Sodomy Law was in fact, unconsti-
tutional, isn’t sitting well with many on the
very far-right.
Fortunately however, the Democratic
Party and Platform not only acknowledge
the GBLT community, but embrace it. Not
only did Stonewall Democrats members from
around the state get to attend the convention
as Delegates, but our members were also
elected to all five of the permanent commit-
tees of the convention including Credentials,
Rules, Resolutions, Platform, and Nomina-
tions. But it gets even better, in addition to
having representation on those committees at
the convention, for the first time in the his-
tory of either Party, this year 2010, Stonewall
Democrats in conjunction with Equality
Texas and other organizations managed to get
not one, but six separate resolutions adopted
and passed by the convention. For an orga-
nization that was just getting started a little
more than ten years ago, this is a monumen-
tal achievement and every Stonewall member
(and allies) played an important part in mak-
ing this happen…so give yourself a pat on
the back …you deserve it!
The six resolutions that were passed by
Delegates at the convention are as follows:
1) a state employment non-discrimination
(continued on pg 2)
 Page 2
Recap of the Texas Democratic Convention
(continued from pg 1)
policy; i.e. state level ENDA legislation
2) provide insurance benefits for GLBT
employees at Texas public universities
3) accurate birth certificates for same-sex
parents of adopted children
4) policies that would prohibit bullying
and harassment in Texas public schools
5) support GLBT foster and adoptive
parental rights
6) support a repeal of the federal Defense
of Marriage Act.
Furthermore, for the first time, the Texas
Democratic Party Platform specifically uses
the words “gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-
gender” in calling for the repeal of discrimi-
natory laws and policies statewide.
The Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus,
comprised of all of the local Stonewall chap-
ters throughout the state met and elected
new officers for the next two years. Dan
Graney of San Antonio Stonewall Demo-
crats was re-elected as President of TSDC.
Our own Erin Moore, President of Stonewall
Democrats of Dallas was re-elected as Vice
President of TSDC. Carol Grappa of Tarrant
County Stonewall Democrats was elected
TSDC Secretary, and Shaun Nelson, the
current Vice President of Houston Stonewall
Young Democrats was elected as TSDC
Treasurer. Dan Graney and Erin Moore, as
President and Vice President of TSDC also
sit on the State Democratic Executive Com-
mittee, better known as the “SDEC”, which
is the governing body of the Texas Demo-
cratic Party. In addition to Dan and Erin
however, four additional Stonewall mem-
bers were elected to the SDEC from their
respective Senatorial Districts. Eli Olivarez
of Stonewall Democrats of the Rio Grande
Bill White headquarters opening
bu Mike McCue
The grand opening of Bill White’s Dallas
campaign HQ was held on Saturday, July 3rd.
Bill gave a great speech to an energetic crowd
of about 200 to celebrate the opening of his
local HQ at 5211 Inwood Road at Forest Lane
in North Dallas just west of the North Dallas
Tollroad. It was so crowded, some of us had to
stand outside!
Bill was mostly on the attack as he de-
nounced Governor Perry’s record over the last
ten years. Many local politicians, judges and
candidates were in attendance including Craig
Watkins, Clay Jenkins, Gary Fitzsimmons
The Stonewall Advocate
Valley; Garry Brown of Stonewall Democrats
of Austin; DeeJay Johannessen and Mary
Edwards of Tarrant County Stonewall Demo-
crats were also elected – giving Stonewall
Democrats a total of six seats on the SDEC.
This is an important milestone for our
organization and our community and again
each one of you played a part in this progress
by your continued ongoing support of Stone-
wall Democrats…so thank you.
We have an exemplary slate of candidates
up and down the ballot this November and
it’s critical that we work hard between now
and November to make sure they are elected.
The importance of taking back the Texas
House cannot be overstated because of the
critical importance of redistricting in 2011. If
we win the Texas House, then turning Texas
blue will come sooner rather than later.
If we fail, we might have to wait through
another full decade of Republican control
of Texas. If you are impatient like me, that’s
simply too long to wait. Get out there and
talk to your neighbors, walk those precincts,
and work those phone banks, and make what-
ever contribution you can to these candidates
here in Dallas County and Statewide.
and John Wellik. Stonewall Democrats that
attended included Mike Luvolo, Samuel Wen-
ning and Scott McMichael.
Texas has had only six Republican gover-
nors since 1846 and thirty–nine Democratic
governors! Bill White, with our help, can win
in November and become the fortieth Texas
Democratic governor.
Bill has a great staff of volunteers helping
him at the Dallas HQ. They are always looking
for people to make calls or help out in other
ways. Contact them at 972 661-9790 if you
can volunteer. Bill’s website is
www.billwhitefortexas.com.
July 2010
News Briefs
LifeWalk Updates
#1 Judge Carlos Cortez came in third
with $235; #2 Judge Tena Callahan came
in first with $65 : and #3 Judge Ernie
White came in second with $41.
Remember to support LifeWalk and
your favorite Judge at the next general
meeting on July 20.
• Stonewall meets on :
The July General Meeting takes place
Tuesday, July 20th, at 6:30 p.m., at
Ojeda's Restaurant, located at 4617
Maple Avenue in Dallas.
• Erin Moore relected VP of Texas
Stonewall Democratic Caucus :
Congratulations to Stonewall Demo-
crats of Dallas President Erin Moore
who was relected as the Vice President
of the Texas Stonewall Democratic
Caucus
• Organizing for America:
The Dallas office of Organizing for
America (OFA) opened on July 1 with
a well-attended 6-8 p.m. reception.
OFA, the successor organization to
Obama for America, seeks to build on
the movement that elected President
Obama “by empowering communities
across the country to bring about our
agenda of change.” OFA is located at
2800 N. Henderson, Suite 100, Dallas
75206; the phone is 214-600-9789. Or
contact them via Facebook, Twitter, or
email Lauren Coffee at CoffeeL@dnc.
org and volunteer.
July 2010 The Stonewall Advocate Page 3

President’s Corner Oak Lawn Library Needs Stonewall Now

by Phyllis Guest Mississippi — Texas would have the nation’s lowest
Stonewall literacy level.
The Oak Lawn Library — center for the largest
President
LGBT population and site of the only LGBTQ As the city staff continues to wrestle with the 2011
Erin Moore collection of fiction, nonfiction, CDs, and DVDs in budget, it looks more and more certain that the Dallas
Dallas County — needs the immediate, ongoing, Public Library system, including the Central Library,
and outspoken support of our club and our broader Oak Lawn and 25 other branches, will suffer deep
community. cuts on top of last year’s wounds. If so, the Dallas
system will lose its American Library Association
Before you fall for the “we can’t afford it” line, accreditation — and thus all federal, state, and grant
consider some of the ways in which the City of Dallas monies.
could save money and bolster the entire Dallas Public
Library system. Most of these suggestions come But whatever happens, you can help by taking action
from long-time library activist Stan Aten. Stan is in one or more of these 10 ways:
I’ve been thinking about separation of
current president of the Oak Lawn Library Friends, a
church and state a lot lately.
group that supports the library by hosting programs, 1 - Join the Oak Lawn Library Friends. Membership
displaying works by local artists, funding refurbish- fees start at just $15 per year, and tie you into the
I know, geek moment but it occurred to
ments, and generally supporting the paid staff. library community with a newsletter highlighting
me with the passing 4th of July holiday and
activities. We will have membership forms at the July
celebration that we were celebrating a country
The city could modify the Trinity River project. “The 20 meeting, or you can pay and fill out a form at the
founded on that principle. A constitution
proposed toll road is now at 300% over budget and library.
penned by our founding fathers inserted for the
rising…the tolls won’t pay for the cost of this project
protection of both the church and the state.
and TXDOT is out of money as well,” wrote Stan in a 2 – Write a letter to the editor of the Dallas Morning
letter to a Dallas Morning News editor. News — or submit a longer op-ed if you’re so in-
Thomas Jefferson, recently under attack by
clined. Lots of readers also blog at the DMN website,
the Texas State Board of Education, thought
Another big money saver would be sale of the Arts but the denizens of City Hall are less likely to read
that there should be no national religion
District and Reunion Arena parking garages, since the blogs.
and that the church should be free from any
there is no logical reason why a city should own park-
interference from the state in how it chooses
ing garages. 3 – Send emails or make phone calls to your City
to practice.
Councilor’s office. All the CCs are listed on the City
Yet more savings could be reaped from cancellation of Dallas website. There, you will also find contact
So why are we constantly fighting legal
of the proposed $54 million for Riverfront Boulevard. information for number-crunchers and for Mayor
battles with the “church” in mind. Exactly
“If developers want all these wonderful projects, they Leppert.
what church is that? Christian? Baptist? South-
should pay for them.”
ern Baptist? Catholic? Why is it ok to even
4 – Attend one or more August budget meetings. As
consider religious beliefs in state matters? Fort
Stan has many other suggestions, from energy audits you know, they are held in the evenings at locations
Worth Christians felt neglected in the process-
of city buildings to eliminating the mounted horse all across the city. Wear a big red “I Love My Dallas
es that determined the City Council’s recent
patrols that cost over $1 million each year. Horse Library” button. Pick one up at the July 20 SDD
moves toward inclusiveness. Washington D.C.
patrols? In 2011? meeting.
had to uphold its marriage statute against such
attacks. Prop. 8 in California passed largely
I have my own list of ways to save, the most urgent 5 – Display the same message on your car bumper,
because of Mormon pressure and funding.
of which is to inject accountability and transparency alongside your Democratic candidate stickers. And
into projects for which the city seeks and spends paste the sticker on a white T-shirt if you dare. Stick-
We have to fight the dogmas of SOME reli-
federal grant money. I am thinking in particular of the ers, like buttons, will be at the July 20 SDD meeting.
gions to show that we are equal human beings
DOORS project. That is Dallas One-Stop Optimized
and deserve protection under the same law that
Reentry System, which the mayor announced at a 6 – Sign up and speak out at August City Council
governs their members. What about religions
press conference in the spring of 2009. meetings. Sign-ups are on Thursdays before Council
that don’t discriminate? Judaism, Unitarian
meetings on the following Wednesday. Your call
Universalists, the MCC, all of which believe in
The city obtained $548,993 in federal funds to help should go to the City Secretary’s office, 214-670-
the sanctity of marriage belongs to all. What
Texas prison inmates with housing, food, clothing, 3738.
about their rights to practice their religion as
counseling, job placement and the like — needed as
they see fit? How do you legislate that?
many ex-prisoners return to Dallas County. Non-city 7 – Speak up again at political events and meetings of
staff were identified and contracts signed before the any other organizations to which you belong. Dallas
I think we should look to Argentina for the
end of 2009. Public Libraries serve all of us, rich and poor, young
answer. A country that is 80% Roman Catholic
and old, straight, gay, bi, trans, and questioning.
and heard from the church about whether or
I requested a copy of the contract from City Hall and
not gay and lesbians should have the right to
read all 150+ pages. Then I tried to contact DOORS. 8 – Tell others that under the 2011 proposals the cuts
marry. They decided it was a state matter and
Last month, the website still said “under construc- are so deep the Dallas system will almost certainly
voted to extend the rights of the country to all
tion.” The email yielded a bounce-back. The phone lose its American Library Association accreditation
of its citizens.
number rolled over with no “operator” option. I lo- and with it, all state, federal and most grant money.
cated a direct email for executive director of DOORS,
It truly is a shame we’ve wandered so far
and I visited and left my contact information with 9 – Use the Oak Lawn Library not only because it’s
from our own Constitution that we have to
the psychologist who signed up to work directly with a great place to check out LGBTQ materials at no
look to Latin America for the roots of equality,
ex-prisoners. Neither has ever responded. charge but because every bit of patronage helps; the
citizenry and democracy when it comes to
library tracks traffic and the city budgeteers take
LGBT rights.
Finally, when the powers-that-be allege they can- note.
not afford to fully fund libraries, remind them that
C’mon America.
our city and state literacy problems are broad and 10 – Finally, if worse comes to worst, and no matter
deep. The DMN recently referred to DISD as the what we do it may, volunteer. The library system is
“epicenter” of the dropout debacle. The National sure to lose its pages, who now haul, sort, and shelve
Talk to you later,
Association for Adult Literacy reported that 21% all materials. It’s good work — and a good workout.
Erin
of Dallas residents lack “basic” literacy skills. And
several organizations assert that — were it not for
 Page 4
THE LAZARUS EFFECT Screening Thursday, July 29
by Kyle Talkington
HIV/AIDS is a preventable and treatable
disease, yet it has killed more than 20 million
people in Africa. The HBO and (RED) film
THE LAZARUS EFFECT, by Lance Bangs
and Spike Jonze, illustrates the transfor-
mative effect of lifesaving antiretroviral
medicine through the stories of HIV+ people
in Zambia.
Today, because of political will, global
health organization efforts, and private sector
contributions, ARV meds cost just 40 cents
a day. For most people in Africa, who make
less than $2 a day, this is still out of reach.
(RED) and global health organizations such
as Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria fund this treatment and need
continued commitment to ensure that we can
make this treatment available to the millions
who need it.
The Stonewall Advocate
THE LAZARUS EFFECT shows the vital
impact of those efforts so people know the
impact of the dollars they help generate ei-
ther through choosing (RED) or contributing
to organizations directly. As evidence, more
than 3 million people in Africa now take
medicine that can restore them to life in as
few as 40 days compared to only 50,000 who
received HIV/AIDS treatment in 2002.
ONE will present a special screening of
THE LAZARUS EFFECT at 7pm, Thursday, $150 million in contributions. 100% of this
July 29, at the Progressive Center of Dallas in money is put to work in AIDS programs – no
South Side on Lamar, 1409 S Lamar Street,
Dallas, TX 75215, 214-485-2720. Those
interested may RSVP at http://www.one.
org/event/events/event.html?event_id=3719.
ONE is a global advocacy and campaigning
organization backed by more than 2 million
people from around the world dedicated to
fighting extreme poverty and preventable
disease, particularly in Africa. For more
information please visit one.org.
July 2010
(RED) is a simple idea that transforms our
incredible collective power as consumers
into a financial force to help others in need.
(RED) works with the world’s most iconic
brands including American Express, Apple,
Dell, Emporio Armani, Gap, Hallmark, Nike,
and Starbucks – to make unique (RED)
products, giving up to 50% of their profits to
the Global Fund to invest in HIV and AIDS
programs in Africa. Since launched in 2006,
these products have generated more than
overhead is taken out.
The Global Fund is the world’s largest
financier of programs to fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria in the developing world and man-
ages over $19B in aid to fight these diseases
in more than 144 countries. Of this total,
$10 billion has been disbursed. Every day,
Global Fund programs save the lives of at
least 3,600 people.

* Reminder: July General Meeting

Tuesday, July 20th at 6:30 p.m.
at Ojeda’s Restaurant

P.O. Box 192305

Dallas, TX 75219
214-506-DEMS
www.stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org
The Stonewall Advocate is a monthly pub-
lication of the Stonewall Democrats of Dal-
las. To contact the editor, e-mail Kenneth
Denson at kenneth.denson@stonewall-
democratsofdallas.org. No portion of this
newsletter may be reproduced without per-
mission.
President Erin Moore
Vice President Jay Narey
Treasurer Mike McCue
Secretary Kenneth Denson
SDD Annual Memberships:
$35 General Membership
$120 Truman Level
$300 Jefferson Level
$600 Kennedy Level
$1,200 Roosevelt Level
To join or renew, visit
www.stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org