Community Matters

(Community Matters) The US must stand strong & unwavering w/ Afghan women & against the Afghan gov’t on this http://bit.ly/h5kHZQ

(Community Matters) I almost always love visits to Houston. Steven and I miss our regular evenings at the Alley Theatre (decided to give up our season tickets after missing too many shows in 2009 & 2010). The vibrancy, diversity and internationalism of the city creates an electrical charge you can physically feel (well, if you are like me and these sort of things monetize physically 🙂 ).

Lunch with my friend, the esteemed former Mayor Bill White. Bill’s looking great and certainly isn’t thinking any less big than when he ran the country’s 4th largest city or the Texas gubernatorial campaign that won more D voters than any before his. And, finally had the honor of meeting Mayor Annise Parker. Only Houston’s second female mayor, she’s the first LGBT mayor of a major American city. A national merit scholar, former Mosbacher Engergy analyst, former city council member and former city controller, Mayor Parker won the runoff with 53% of the vote. She’s up for reelection; Steven and I will host a fundraiser in Austin. She’s a charismatic, caring, generous and thoughtful chief executive – a real star in our tribe. Fundraiser extraordiniare and Victory Fund board member David Arpin, our gracious host.

Wow – Houston HRC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is like nothing I’ve ever seen (except in plans, here they’ve actually done it). LeRence Snowden hosted us and a group of Houston HRC leaders. It was a wonderful listen and talk session. Jamie captured lots of stories I suspect we’ll see some of them in play communicating the principles and values we’re promoting.  Our Houston trip capped off by dinner at Ibiza with Grant Kaiser & John Furnish. Surprised we’d never met before; we share many mutual friends. Enlightening conversation and felt like an evening with old friends – especially comforting since I haven’t been with Steven enough lately. It’s obviously they adore each other as much as we do.  Nice to say hello to Cameron Lockley’s cousin Grant Cooper (Ibiza co-owner) on the way out. Cameron, he says hello and that he’s stopping by La Sombra soon.

(Community Matters) great trip to San Antonio today with several super duper meetings. Breakfast at Mi Tierra with SAT Mayor Julian Castro who I hadn’t met but with whom I share several friends. He’s charismatic, thoughtful, completely accessible, smart and visionary. It was a complete treat.

In between meetings, Jamie Citron had a quick tour of the Alamo.

(Community Matters) Today’s NYTimes editorial

(Community Matters) Lynn Yedell and Billy Wilkinson led the Human Rights Campaign back to among Austin’s top annual events and likely a favored civil rights organization in Austin again through their passionate, capable and attention-to-detail leadership.

Last night’s awardess: JoAnn McKenzie (the Betty Naylor Award, previously the Billy Ramsey Lifetime Achievement Award), Stephen Mills & Brent Hasty (the visibility award), and the Anti-Defamation League (the Equality Award, local ADL leader Karen Gross delivering a soul touching acceptance). Mad Men’s Bryan Batt received the national visibility award and delighted the audience with his fun & comedic acceptance. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo was equally as engaging as the evening’s auctioneer. And, HRC Assoc Director of Diversity Allyson Robinson deeply touching all 400 of us in the room with her transgender story.

Kudos to the entire committee: Mellie Price, David Dupre, Kathrin Kersten, Rebecca Young, Alex Floyd, Jeff de Jong, Nichole Johnson, Hunter Brown, Veronica Castelo, Christopher Carbone, Scott Crews, Jill Skinner, Tamra English, Scott Ertresvaag, Libby Sykora, John Hogg, Daniel Brennan & Todd Cannon. Thanks to our guests for joining us (even though Steven in absentia) : Amy & Kirk Rudy, Aimee Boone, Michael Mitchell, DNC’s Jamie Citron, Comerica’s Tim & Barbara Klitch and HRC’s Marty Rouse, Kirk Rice, Robert Torian & Jim Frasier.

oh yeah, and much fun closing the night with Julie Thornton & John Spong at Congress Bar

(Community Matters) information at http://www.tinyurl.com/joelinaustin

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(Community Matters) Several politically conservative organizations complain, some even boycott, CPAC because GOProud is allowed to participate, yet I haven’t heard the same about the inclusion of a white supremacist group, Youth for Western Civilization

Hat Tip: Joe.My.God

(Community Matters)

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(Community Matters) Last night we celebrated another anniversary of Fonda San Miguel. The invitation didn’t say which, but I think its 37th.

Its founders (& my close friends for over 20 years) Tom Gilliland & Miguel Ravago are always the most gracious of hosts. Janice Harris & Danny Herrera (office & general manager, respectively) certainly key members of this family. Graham Reynolds joined me (Steven’s been on the road tons – currently London and Graham’s SO, Shawn Sides is directing a play in LA, so we’ve been hanging) and lots, lots, lots of friends enjoyed Victoria Hentrich’s & David Kurio’s production.  Nina Seely, Becky Beaver, John Duncan, Armando Zambrano, Brian Gardner, Graydon Parish, Linda Ball, Forrest Preece, Michael Barnes, Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza . . .

For years, FSM has been one of the most important restaurants in Central Texas (I’m doubt few other Texas restaurants have been honored as often by the James Beard Society) and for many years it was “my private dining room” – where I took guests when we most wanted hospitality, comfort, warmth and great food. It’s still a Central Texas treasure. Happy Anniversary, FSM.

in the photo: Cameron Caja, Janice Harris & Randa Harris

(Community Matters) The army’s Communique No 2 says they will lift the state of emergency as soon as “current circumstances end” and endorsed the transfer of power to the VPs. Of course, protest leaders have got to be thinking, if crowds disperse what will Mubarak, his VP and their secret police do to us and will they keep their promises?

A super Stratfor summary:

The Egyptian Military’s Defining Moment

(Community Matters) “GOProud has taken the conservative and LGBT movements by storm by being brash, loud and uncompromisingly conservative — and just as uncompromisingly gay.”  In MetroWeekly

With GOProud’s emergence, former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman’s coming out, the Log Cabin Republicans’ lawsuit aimed at ending ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the leadership of Federalist Society hero Ted Olson in the challenge to Proposition 8 in California, ”gay rights” have often looked like a conservative movement in the past two years. Elected Republicans, however, have almost universally opposed those issues.

Barron [GOProud Chmn] and LaSalvia [GOProud Exec Dir] are loud and proud – despite the fact that they may not be popular in the rest of the gay political world. But sometimes the taunts from the left even get to them.  Turning serious, LaSalvia says, ”You can question our tactics, you can question some of the stunts we pull and some of the things we say, but nobody should question our motives – because we’re gay Americans, too.”

I don’t know Barron or LaSalvia but Ken Mehlman has become a friend, and I’m looking forward to collaborations that promote LGBT equality across the proverbial aisles

(Community Matters)“This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR”

By Scott Stewart

For several years now, STRATFOR has been closely watching developments in Mexico that relate to what we consider the three wars being waged there. Those three wars are the war between the various drug cartels, the war between the government and the cartels and the war being waged against citizens and businesses by criminals.

In addition to watching tactical developments of the cartel wars on the ground and studying the dynamics of the conflict among the various warring factions, we have also been paying close attention to the ways that both the Mexican and U.S. governments have reacted to these developments. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects to watch has been the way in which the Mexican government has tried to deflect responsibility for the cartel wars away from itself and onto the United States. According to the Mexican government, the cartel wars are not a result of corruption in Mexico or of economic and societal dynamics that leave many Mexicans marginalized and desperate to find a way to make a living. Instead, the cartel wars are due to the insatiable American appetite for narcotics and the endless stream of guns that flows from the United States into Mexico and that results in Mexican violence.

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