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Stonewall
Advocate
The
February 2011
By Jesse Garcia
City Council elections are not the only racesthe Stonewall Democrats of Dallas will focus itsendorsement screenings on this spring, DallasIndependent School District trustee candidatesalso will be invited to screen before the LGBTcommunity.
Dallas ISD Elections
Three seats are up for election: District 2 (whichrepresents North and East Dallas – includingthe Oak Lawn area north of Cedar SpringsRoad), District 6 (which represents SouthwestDallas) and District 8 (which represents LoveField, Northwest Dallas and Central Dallas – including the Oak Lawn area south of Cedar Springs Road).Dallas citizens who reside in those districts andare interested in running may pick up candi-dates packets at DISD’s Board Services office,3700 Ross Ave. The filing period begins Feb.12. Each term lasts for three years. There areno term limits. Board trustees serve on a volun-tary basis.Incumbents Hon. Jack Lowe of District 2, Hon.Carla Ranger of District 6 and Hon. Adam Me-drano of District 8 are eligible to seek re-elec-tion. All three voted in favor of the DISD anti-bul-lying policy last fall, which added protections for students on the basis of sexual orientation andgender identity.“Stonewall Democrats of Dallas hopes to keepthe DISD trustee board LGBT-friendly,” saidOmar Narvaez, SDD president. “Favorable re-sults in these school board races are paramountin keeping our schools safe for our LGBT kids.”DISD is the 14th largest school district in thenation with a diverse population of more than
DISD trustee elections also topStonewall’s Spring 2011 agenda
158,000 students, according to the district’swebsite. Almost 70 different languages arespoken in the homes of DISD students. Morethan 20,000 people are employed by the district,making DISD one of the largest employers in thecity. The district runs a budget of $1.4 billion.Saturday, May 14, is Election Day. Early votingtakes place May 2 to 10.
Endorsement Screening
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas will makecandidate recommendations at its Endorse-ment Screening from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Satur-day, March 19, at the Resource Center Dallas,Rainbow Room, 2701 Reagan St. Stonewallmembers current with their membership dues asof Feb. 17, 2011, can participate per bylaws inthe screening.Annual memberships are $35. You can mailyour membership check to Stonewall Democratsof Dallas, PO Box 192305, Dallas, TX 75219.
Special General Meeting
March 14 is the candidate filing deadline for CityCouncil and School Board Trustee races. SinceStonewall Democrats of Dallas meets the nextday on March 15, there is not enough time tohold an endorsement screening and ratify thosechoices at the general membership meeting.In order to avoid having to wait until April 19,Stonewall’s Board of Directors and presidenthave called for a special general membershipmeeting at 4 p.m., Saturday, March 19, at theResource Center Dallas’ Rainbow Room, imme-diately after the endorsement screening.“By holding the endorsement screening and aspecial general meeting to ratify those choiceson March 19, endorsed candidates may useStonewall’s endorsement on their campaignliterature and our club can quickly start promot-ing our choices to the public,” Narvaez said. “Wewant to help our candidates by starting early.”Bylaws allowing the board and/or president tocall a special general meeting were amended in2010.
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Stonewall Democratsof DallasPO Box 192305Dallas, TX 75219(214) 506-DEMS
stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org
“Our troops come fromevery corner of this country - – they’re black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American.They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that someof them are gay. Starting this year, no American will beforbidden from serving thecountry they love because of who they love.” 
- President Barack ObamaState of the UnionJanuary 25, 2011
Group to hold special general meeting after endorsement screening to ratify choices
 
The Stonewall Advocate
February 2011Page 2
Briefs
News
General Meeting
The February Meeting of the StonewallDemocrats of Dallas will take place 6:30p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 15, at Ojeda’s Res-taurant, 4617 Maple Ave. Please arrive at6 p.m. for social time. Meeting begins at6:30 p.m. Guest speaker is Dallas MayoralCandidate David Kunkle.
DSYD Fundraiser 
The Dallas Stonewall Young Democrats willhold a fundraiser Saturday, Feb. 12, featur-ing state Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston.VIP reception starts at 6:30 p.m., and doorsopen at 7:30 p.m. There will be an openbar, hors d’oeuvres and a live DJ. For tickets, sponsorship opportunities and loca-tion of private residence, visit http://www.dallassyd.org/2011fundraiser.html.
Progressive Center Fundraiser 
The Progressive Center will hold a fund-raiser at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 24, atSouth Side at Lamar, 1409 S. Lamar, Ste.1021 in Dallas. Suggested donation is $50.For more information, email Bill Amos atbamos99@yahoo.com.
March On & GetEQUAL Fundraiser 
Local director Laura McFerrin’s “MarchOn” documents the 2009 National Equal-ity March through the lives of five familieswho put aside their daily routine, packed uptheir hopes and went to Washington, D.C.,to demonstrate. Interviews and power-ful speakers including Lt. Dan Choi, LadyGaga, Cleve Jones and Cynthia Nixonare featured. The Dallas debut of the filmtakes place at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb.24, at Studio Movie Grill, 11170 N. CentralExpressway. Donations for entry into themovie benefit GetEQUAL.
Membership
Last month, 15 folks either joined or renewed with the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas: David Bradley, L.D. Carter, TracyClinton, Grady Coyle, Hon. ElizabethCrowder, Donald Davidson, Neil Emmons,Phyllis Guest, Randy Johnson, GillianParrillo, Jim Rogers, Richard Shampain,Jesse Tafalla, Jr., Jesse Vallejo and JamesWestbrook. Membership is only $35,which includes memberships for the TexasStonewall Democratic Caucus and NationalStonewall Democrats. To join, visit www.stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org.
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By Jesse Garcia
The Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucusconfirmed two national LGBT leaders whowill speak at its upcoming convention.Arizona state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema willbe the keynote speaker at the Welcom-ing Luncheon on Saturday, March 5, atthe Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Austin.The following day Mara Keisling, execu-tive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, will be the keynotespeaker at the Awards Brunch.“We’re looking forward to a truly inclusiveconference line up,” said Omar Narvaez,Stonewall Democrats of Dallas president.“Sen. Sinema, an openly bisexual Ameri-can, is one of our movement’s most pow-erful voices. Transgender leader MaraKeisling has fought for years to make surethe ‘T” in our community is not left behind.Diverse points of view will make this agreat convention.”The convention is being held at the HiltonGarden Inn, 500 N. IH 35 in Austin.TSDC has secured a block of rooms fromMarch 4 to 7. The special group rate is$109/night (not including taxes) for aqueen size double bed room or king sizebed room. Deadline to reserve this rateis Monday, Feb. 14. To reserve, call1-800-684-7250 and ask for the “TSDCCaucus” rate. For the conventionschedule, visit www.texasstonewall-democrats.org. Conference registrationfee is $75.A “Lobby Day” is being organized bystatewide LGBT-rights organization,Equality Texas, and is set for Monday,March 7. Equality Texas encouragesevery LGBT person to come and meettheir state representative and statesenator to advocate for pro-equalitybills. You may register to lobby at www.equalitytexas.org. Free breakfast andlunch will be provided.
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On Jan. 25, nearly 100 Stonewall Democrats of Dallas members and friends attended Stone-wall’s State of the Union watch party held at The Brick. Members of Dallas Stonewall Young Democrats and Organizing for America were also in attendance.
Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucusconfirms speakers for convention
Lobby Day at the Capitol to follow convention of Texas LGBT Democrats
Hon. Kyrsten Sinema Arizona State Senator 
 
The Stonewall Advocate
Page 3February 2011
President’s
Corner 
by Omar Narvaez,
President
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas
By Jesse Garcia
Pepe Johnson is going back to the profes-sion he loves: military service. This springwill be the end of an eight-year journeythis Dallas resident undertook after beingkicked out of the Army for being gay. Onthe morning of Dec. 22, 2010, PresidentBarack Obama signed into law the Don’tAsk Don’t Tell Repeal Act (DADT) of 2010.Johnson, who served as an Army SergeantE-5, stood among 500former gay military, LGBTleaders and congressionalmembers to witness thehistoric moment in Wash-ington, D.C.Johnson, a model solider who received “Soldier of the Year” honors at FortSill, Okla., in 2001, tookon the role of activist after being discharged in 2003.In Dallas, he networkedand spoke out aboutthe issue with local civilrights groups, includingStonewall Democrats of Dallas, to makeDADT a priority in North Texas. AlthoughCongress and President Obama signed off on the DADT repeal, as they say “the devilis in the details.”
Stonewall Advocate: Although therepeal has been signed, what advice doyou have for lesbian, gay and bisexualsoldiers? Johnson:
“The repeal is notcomplete, only the legislation allowing re-peal. According to the law that was passedby Congress, the Department of Defensemust develop new regulations, policies andtraining to fully implement repeal. Follow-ing that Congress has a 60-day reviewperiod and once those steps are complete,so will the repeal. There isn’t a hard time-line for this process, but President Obama,Secretary of Defense Gates and AdmiralMullen have all signaled the processshould be ‘swift and efficient’ and theywill not ‘dawdle.’ In the meantime servicemembers should continue to respect thecurrent law - that is, DADT - and shouldnot come out. The Servicemembers LegalDefense Network (SLDN) continues to re-ceive calls from service members. Individu-als in the process of being discharged prior to passing the repeal have not receivedword that their discharges have beenstopped. Admiral Mullen and others havegiven the same advice.” 
Stonewall Advocate: Walk us throughabout how you were discharged.Johnson:
“According to my Army training,you could be discharged for a statement,an act or anything resembling a marriage- the acronym SAM. In my case I gave astatement to my commander. In my battery- it’s like a company - our First Sergeantwas looking very closely at my personallife. In the civilian world it would have beenharassment. When he started asking myfriends questions aboutwhat they thought I didon my personal time,where I went on week-ends or who I mighthave been seeing,crossed a line withoutasking THE questionand was harassing myfriends. Even under DADT it was inappropri-ate. To preserve mypersonal integrity, theintegrity of my friendsand the integrity of theorganization, I delivereda coming out letter tomy commander.”
Stonewall Advocate: What advice doyou have for those who will speak torecruiters?
 
Johnson:
“Be courteous. Behonest. Be prepared. Be patient. Don’t beconfrontational. Recruiters are trying to dotheir job and must learn and implement anew policy that is very different from whatthey have done for 17 years. If you areunhappy with the way you are treated by arecruiter, you can ask to talk to a differ-ent recruiter possibly at a different station.Since the repeal has not been finalized,they may not process you if you come outto them on your very first visit - they maybe obligated to tell you to come back oncethe repeal process is complete. If you weredischarged because of DADT and hope toget back into the military, remember thatyou must still be qualified in every other way and there aren’t any exceptions or special rules because you were kickedout. There may also be additional steps for former service members that might take abit longer than the normal process.”
For the full interview, visit www.jessegar-cia.org/blog 
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An Army of One:
Dallas gay man helps takedown discriminatory law 
2011 is the year that I hope everyoneis ready to keep moving forward towardachieving social justice for the LGBTcommunity. There are several waysto get involved. We officially kicked off our voter registration campaign. Sofar we have registered 36 people andare working toward our 2011 goal of 500 voters. If you want to get involved,contact Voter Registration Chair PatrickMcCoy at prmccoy@gmail.comThe Endorsement Committee hasbegun to meet and is preparing for theMarch 19 Endorsement Screening.For more information, contact PoliticalAffairs Director Tony McMullin at ad-mmcmu@gmail.com or me at Omar@stonewalldemocratsofdallas.org.Nearly 100 people attended the Stateof the Union watch party on Jan. 25.Thank you to the Brick for hosting us,and thank you Special Events Chair Travis Gasper for putting together afantastic event. More events are in theworks, and Travis would love to hear from you: travisgasper@gmail.comAchieving social justice does not juststop at voter registration, endorse-ments and watch parties. We also mustpromote equality by helping our youth.Stonewall was approached by Wood-row Wilson High School Gay/StraightAlliance President Luis Veloz to assistwith a youth Valentine’s Day Dance.The Stonewall Board jumped at therequest. Together with LULAC 4871,Youth First Texas and the GSA, thefirst-ever Valentine’s Day Dance for LGBT teens and allies will be held Feb.12 at Youth First Texas, 3918 HarryHines Blvd. For information regardingvolunteer opportunities or donations,contact Jesse Garcia: Jessegarciadal-las@gmail.com. SDD is a $50 sponsor for the “Love Conquers All” ball.Again, I hope you will get involved inSDD by volunteering, participating and/or making a donation. Everything we dotogether achieves our ultimate goal of full EQUALITY!
 
Former Army Sergeant Pepe Johnson
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