The
nation's first and only LGBT chapter of the League of
United Latin American Citizens was honored in Texas on
June 7 with the statewide Council of the Year award,
beating out an estimated 200 other LULAC chapters.
The Dallas
Rainbow Council, as the chapter is called, takes LULAC's
focus on advancing Hispanic civil rights one step
further by adding gay rights to the list. "It
started with the intention of bridge-building for gay
and lesbian communities and the Hispanic community,"
said council president Jesse Garcia.
Garcia and others
founded the Rainbow Council in 2006 because
they wanted to recognize the "people who have
always served in LULAC quietly, without being out,"
Garcia explains. "It was time to recognize our
brothers and sisters." Along with LGBT Latinos, the
council's membership includes people of varying ethnic
groups, sexual orientations, and political views.
"We even have a Republican!" he boasted.
The Rainbow
Council works to create dialogue between Hispanic and LGBT
populations in Texas, but that's not the only reason
it won the Council of the Year award. The Rainbow
Council hosted voter registrations, encouraged the
local government to hire more Hispanic employees, and
organized antiviolence marches. "We're just
like any other council that stepped up to the plate to
fight locally," Garcia said. "Basically, the
council went above and beyond to promote the ideas of
LULAC."
While Rainbow
Council members, including Garcia, have had their fair
share of challenges -- reaching out to older members and
defeating the taboo many of them have toward LGBT
rights -- Garcia said the support of the community and
other LULAC chapters has proven to be constant. In
his award acceptance speech, he thanked LULAC by saying,
"LULAC is truly a civil rights organization,
because it knows that discrimination of any type is
wrong."
The Dallas
Rainbow Council is now one of approximately 50 councils that
will be eligible for LULAC's national Council of the
Year award, which will be announced during the
national convention in Washington, D.C., taking place
July 8-12. Garcia said the fact that they come
from Texas, which has the largest number of LULAC
councils, gives the Rainbow Council an advantage.
"This is our year, and I don't think we'll be able to
do it again," he said. "We have a very, very good
chance of winning if we step up our game and highlight
our events and the people we've helped." (Hannah Clay
Wareham, The Advocate)
