Local News

An outstanding educational workshop on "Gender Identity and Our Faith Communities" was held on Saturday, April 18th at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church in downtown San Antonio. This exceptional event was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF), the HRC San Antonio Steering Committee, The San Antonio Gender Association (SAGA) and The San Antonio Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).

Reverend Mick Hinson of the San Antonio MCC turned over the program to Dr. Dawnne Woodie, National Executive Director of Outreach Program for Transgenders in Crisis (OPTIC), who shared her personal journey in an effort to demystify transgender experiences and invoke compassion for diversity. Also sharing the stage with Dawnne was Rev. Recia Young.

The session sparked much discussion with the audience as participants heard the heartfelt stories of the transgender experience, noting the many common threads each one had with the other. Discussion covered a range of topics including dealing with a deeply embedded social bias, countering the ignorance of transgender issues, to even some of the basic logistics the transgender community faces such as navigating the change of legal documents through the state bureaucracy.

The session closed with a call to action for the entire LGBT community –- to become actively involved in your communities and local levels of government, speaking out to your representatives in Congress to support ENDA and other important pieces of legislation slated for consideration.

Call Your Member of Congress Today, Tell Them to Pass the Matthew Shepard Act!

We've received word that the House will vote on the Matthew Shepard Act very soon and we know that right-wing groups are flooding Congress with calls, emails and sickening ‘fact sheets’ full of lies about the lives of LGBT Americans. We need more calls to Members of Congress, and we need them right away. It has been ten long years and tens of thousands more victims since the Matthew Shepard Act was first introduced in Congress. We are poised for a presidential signature this year but lies from the radical right could easily derail our efforts. We must not allow them to continue to demagogue and distort the truth.

We ask you to call Congress in support of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bill which would provide local police and sheriff’s departments with federal resources to combat hate violence. After more than a decade of lobbying on Capitol Hill and seven successful votes on the bill, this critical piece of legislation is again expected to see a vote in the House this week. The call-in campaign is set for April 27-29.
It takes about 45 seconds. Members of the community are urged to call 202-224-3121. Callers are urged to tell the Member’s office:
• Hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are on the rise. One out of every six hate crimes is because of the victim's sexual orientation.
• Hate crimes have more than one victim. They are intended to create an atmosphere of fear and terrorize entire communities.
• The Matthew Shepard Act targets only violent acts – not speech. It does not tell any clergy member what he or she can or can't preach.

Because there is no federal law mandating states and municipalities to report hate crimes, they are often underreported. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s own statistics, based on voluntary reporting, show that since 1991 over 100,000 hate crime offenses have been reported to the FBI, with 7,624 reported in 2007, the FBI’s most recent reporting period. Violent crimes based on sexual orientation constituted 16.6 percent of all hate crimes in 2007, with 1,265 reported for the year. In addition, while not captured in the federal statistics, transgender Americans too often live in fear of violence.

The LLEHCPA gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It provides the Justice Department with the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.

A wide coalition of national organizations has called for the passage of the LLEHCPA legislation. Some of those organizations supporting this legislation include: the National Sheriffs Association; International Association of Chiefs of Police; 26 state Attorneys General; the National District Attorneys Association; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; the Anti-Defamation League; the NAACP; the National Council of La Raza; the Presbyterian Church; the Episcopal Church; and the National Disability Rights Network.

To take action to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, please visit: www.FightHateNow.org Read More »

HRC San Antonio celebrated in true presidential fashion at the Jan 20th Inauguration Party at Sazo’s Restaurant in Marriott Rivercenter Hotel.

About 250 celebrants were on hand to welcome President Barack Obama and family to the White House.

Missed this event but want to meet other great, active local supporters? Come to one of our monthly events! Read More »

Area HRC enthusiasts enjoyed a night under the stars at the First Annual Dude Ranch Party in Bandera, TX.  Just a short drive from San Antonio, party goers enjoyed an evening of food, wine, music, camp fire, and hayrides.  Many elected to stay overnight at cabins on the premises. Billed as “looking for s Read More »