[Clipping: Gays seek role in GOP] Part: 2 of 2
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A-12 /The Houston Post/Tuesday, May 31, 1994 *
Hometront
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ELECTION LOTTERY
IN A UNIQUE attempt to in-
crease voter turnout, the news-
letter La Politiquera is conduct-
ing a $500 lottery for those who
participate in today's HISD Dis-
trict 8 trustee election. Two
winners, chosen from the list of
those who vote, split the donat-
ed money. La Politiquera's pub-
lisher, Alfredo Rodriguez San-
tos, believes the lottery's
random nature won't conflict
with a law prohibiting someone
from paying others to vote.
COLLEGES GET PROJECT
THE COLLEGE Without Walls
and Houston Community Col-
lege have received a Technolo-
gy Reinvestment Program
award worth $269,332. It will be
used for adapting advanced
aerospace simulation and train-
ing technology to enhance a
community college manufac-
turing education program. The
project is being co-sponsored by
Star Enterprise, a subsidiary of
Texaco, and GHG Corp.
TCH GRANT GOES TO TSU
THE TEXAS Committee for the
Humanities, a state program of
the National Endowment for
the Humanities, has awarded
$227,801 to 24 nonprofit cultur-
al and educational organiza-
tions in support of projects re-
lated to history, culture and
public issues. Among them was
Texas Southern University,
which received a grant to spon-
sor lectures and exhibits exam-
ining the history of African-
American women in the South
from 1896-1960.
WORKSHOP ON HOUSING
THE CITY'S housing authority
will hold a workshop at 2 p.m.
Thursday in its offices, 2640
Fountainview, to help develop-
ers and low-income housingproviders decide whether to ap-
ply for federal Housing and Ur-
ban Development grants. For
more information, call 260-
0602.
PLANTS FOR POLICE
THE HOUSTON Police Depart-
ment substation at 3300 Main
will receive some landscaping
assistance today from the San
Jacinto Chapter of the Tele-
phone Pioneers of America and
the Houston Parks Board. The
greenery will do more than
make the facility look better: It
will put the substation in com-
pliance with a city ordinance
requiring landscaping.
* LOOKING FOR VOTERS
THIRTY-ONE Democratic can-
didates from Harris County
took advantage of the Rev. Jes-
se Jackson's trip to Houston this
past weekend to get a little ex-
posure for themselves. The can-
didates jumped on a bus and
visited three churches with
Jackson. One benefit of the trip:
They helped register voters.
SHRIMP CATCH A MIXED BAG
AREA SHRIMPERS helped
Texas bring in the largest
shrimp harvest of the five gulf
states in April, according to
new fisheries reports. But the
catch is still down from the
same month in previous years:
1.52 million pounds were re-
ported this year, compared with
3.40 million in 1993.
N LEARN TO SWIM
MORE THAN 3,000 people are
expected to learn how to swim
in Houston this year through the
American Red Cross' Learn-To-
Swim program. The program's
goal is to cut down on water ac-
cidents. Four sessions will be
held throughout the summer;
for information, call 526-8300.round the State
* KYLE
TWO INMATES apparently
scaled the perimeter fence dur-
ing a recreation break to es-
cape from a private prison, a
spokesman for the Texas De-
partment of Criminal Justice
said Monday. The details: Shan-
non Larch, 23, and Richard
Carl Hooten II, 21, escaped be-
tween 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sun-
day while inmates were in the
yard. Background: Larch had
served four years of a 10-year
sentence on three counts of bur-
glary of a building. Hooten had
served almost three years of a
30-year sentence on three
counts of burglary and two
counts of forgery.
DALLAS
DALLAS COULD become the
first major Texas city to adopt
what some opponents consider
a too-strict anti-smoking mea-
sure, but first a city advisory
panel wants to know what both
smokers and nonsmokers think.
The 15-member commission
holds its first public hearing to-
day. How tough will it be? The
City Council's current draft
would ban smoking in all public
places with only a few excep-
tions.
E RUSK
OFFICIALS DRAGGING Lake
Palestine on Monday recoveredOUTSTANDING TEACHER
THE JOHN P. McGovern Out-
standing Teacher Award from
The University of Texas-Hous-
ton School of Public Health was
presented recently to Dr. Asha
Seth Kapadia, a professor of bi-
ometry there since 1976.
H UH HONORS THREE
THE UNIVERSITY of Houston
has recognized three College of
Natural Sciences and Mathe-
matics faculty members for
their outstanding overall
achievements in research. Dr.
Shiao-Chun Tu, professor of
biochemical and biophysicalAssociated Press
A Capitol police officer asks protesters to take down a
banner containing obscenities during a demonstration
against the state sodomy law Monday in front of the
Capitol in Austin. Eleven gay rights activists were ar-
rested on Memorial Day in 1993 for a similar protest in
the House of Representatives gallery.the body of a man missing after
two boats collided over the
weekend, Cherokee County
Sheriff James Campbell said.
The victim: The body of Ricky
Joe Hamby, 42, of Elkhart was
located about 2:20 p.m. Mon-
day. The man's brother, Gary
Hamby, also was killed in the
collision about 9:20 p.m. Satur-
day. Update: "The investiga-
tion is continuing by the Parks
and Wildlife Department as to
the cause of the accident,"sciences; Dr. David Hoffman,
associate professor of chemis-
try, and Dr. Gemunu Gunar-
atne, assistant professor of
physics, are this year's winners
of the Excellence in Research
and Scholarship Award.
A CLAIM TO FAME
FOUR LEE College students
were named to the Lee College
Hall of Fame during recent
commencement exercises.
They are Merwin Spencer of
Highlands, JoAnne Bertrand
Barton of Baytown, Arlene
Hutson of Liberty and RickCampbell said.
FORT WORTH
IT WORKS! Since a state-f und-
ed auto theft task force began
its work in Tarrant County in
March 1993, auto thefts have
dropped 33 percent, more than
in any other Texas county, and
70 felony arrests have been
made, officials report. The $1.6
million program also has re-
covered more than $1.7 million
in stolen property.
Sides of Baytown.
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED
THEhDELTA Gamma Founda-
tion has presented Stephanie
Dale Buck, the daughter of
Marty and Melvin Buck of
Houston and a student at the
University of Kansas, with the
$1,000 Virginia Gard Mastio
Memorial Scholarship.
OPTOMETRIST HONORED
DR. HOWARD J. Braverman
was named the 1994 University
of Houston Distinguished Op-
tometry Alumnus at the col-
lege's recent graduation convo-
cation.ss
PRAIRIE VIEW
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M Univer-
sity is among this year's win-
ners in the Office of Fossil En-
ergy Historically Black
Colleges and Universities grant
program. The university will
receive almost $700,000 in fed-
eral funds to conduct funda-
mental studies on improving, the
nation's use of fossil fuel re-
sources. Four projects, conduct-
ed by Daniel Mei, Houshang
Masudi and Kamel H. Fotouh,
have been selected for funding.
DEER PARK
THEY SAY it was America's
first cat - a large, rugged,
long-haired cat known as the
Maine Coon Cat. On June 11-12,
the Texas Maine Coonfederacy
will feature these and other fe-
lines and pets in the Champion-
ship and Household Pet Cat
Show at Deer Park Activity
Center, 500 W. 13th. Admission:
$3 adults; $2 seniors and chil-
dren. Details: 474-3602.
* GALVESTON
IF YOU'RE convicted in county
court in Galveston County, it'll
become even more costly begin-
ning July 1. Galveston County
commissioners decided last
week to allow the county to
charge $10 in court costs per
conviction.
Metropolitan desk 840-5826
FAX number 840-6737
Toll free 1-800-324-5999
Metropolitan Editor 840-5827
Andrew Oppmann
State Editor 840-5854
Jim Jennings
Homefront contributions: If youhave
information you would like to
see printed in Homefront, send it to:
Robert Meckel
Community News Editor
The Houston Post
P.O. Box 4747
Houston, Texas 77210Homosexuals trying to find a home in Republican Party
From A-11
a gay Republican before."
Many of those who have en-
countered gay Republicans - a
small but increasingly vocal seg-
ment of the GOP - are uncom-
fortable with what they see. Sev-
eral Republican candidates kept
an icy distance when asked for
comment last week about the
role of gays in the GOP.
Tafel was in Houston recently
to help the reorganized local
chapter of the Log Cabin Repub-
licans get off the ground.
The group has its work cut out
for it. The GOP - particularly in
Texas - has become increasing-
ly socially conservative, with the
Christian right in firm control of
the party apparatus.
Many wonder why gays or les-
bians would want to be Republi-
cans in Texas. This is the party
whose state platform opposes the
repeal of the sodomy law, defines
family as "persons related by
blood, heterosexual marriage or
adoption," and "believes homo-
sexuality is a perversion of natu-
ral law and is biologically, mor-
ally and medically unsound."
And Houston was the scene of
perhaps the darkest days for gay
Republicans: The 1992 GOP con-
vention at which the term "fam-
ily values" became the conserva-
tive battle cry.
"If you're under attack, you
can either leave or you can
fight," said Tafel, who has at
least some understanding of the
enemy - he's an ordained Bap-
tist minister. "Basically, we've
decided to fight for the party."
Bill Price, head of the anti-
abortion group Texans United for
Life, says that while anyone has
the right to organize and attempt
to participate in the party, he'snot sure why the Log Cabin Re-
publicans bother.
"This party has taken a very
firm, clear stand on this issue,"
Price said. "Clearly, the wel-
come mat is not out."
Local member Bill Whiting
has been active in gay political
movements for years. In earlier
days he, like most gays, worked
within the Democratic Party be-
cause he believed that was the
only way to succeed in politics.
But Whiting said he's always
identified with the Republicans'
conservative fiscal philosophy
and always believed in maintain-
ing a strong military. So he found
it increasingly difficult to identi-
fy with Democratic candidates
even though they often were
more supportive of gay issues.
And he came to believe that
the gay community makes a mis-
take if it ignores one of this coun-
try's two major political parties.
"We have all our eggs in one
basket," Whiting said. "If the
Democrats choose to help us,
they will. If they don't - like
with gays in the military -
there's nowhere else we can go."
The Log Cabin Republicans
chose their name because of its
association with Abraham Lin-
coln, the country's first Republi-
can president. They say Lincoln
stood for civil rights, individual
freedom and cutting back gov-
ernment. Following that philos-
ophy, they argue, the party has
no business worrying about any-
one's sexual orientation.
But the "less government" ar-
gument cuts both ways. One of
the goals of the Log Cabin Re-
publicans is to have legislation
passed to protect gays and lesbi-
ans from discrimination. Oppo-
nents say passing any additional
laws that would guarantee equalrights for them is unnecessary.
Tafel's national office has been
open for less than a year. Its
member clubs - a loose-knit
federation of gay Republican
groups, many of which predated
the national office - include
about 8,0t00 members, he said.
Though small, the movement
is experiencing its fastest growth
in the South and Midwest, Tafel
said. The Texas office opened in
1989 in Austin and represents
several hundred members, ac-
cording to state president Paul
von Wupperfeld. And the Houston
club - which was founded in late
1991 but stalled when its first
president died - hopes to have
100 paid members by year's end.
Nationally, the organization
has found more acceptance in the
Northeast and on the West Coast,
where some Republican gover-
nors and mayors won office with
the help of Log Cabin groups. But
in Texas, where the GOP has
some of the toughest anti-gay
language of any state party plat-
form, politicians aren't exactly
seeking their support.
"The candidates are scared to
death of what it'll do to them,"
said Betsy Lake, chairman of the
Harris County GOP. "I truly be-
lieve that for the candidates who
get the endorsements, there will
be a lot of extreme conservatives
who won't vote for them."
Lake has first-hand experience
in that area. Her decision to meet
with the local Log Cabin Republi-
cans was the final straw for a
large block of Christian conser-
vatives who declared open war
on her.
How receptive are the party's
current slate of candidates to
support from the Log Cabin Re-
publicans?David Beckwith, spokesman
for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchi-
son, would offer only this bit of
measured diplomacy after con-
ferring with others in his office:
"She welcomes the vote of all in-
dividuals, but she's not seeking
the endorsement of any groups."
Gene Fontenot, candidate for
the 25th Congressional District,
expressed a similar sentiment.
He added that the Log Cabin Re-
publicans are welcome, but only
if they sign off on the party plat-
form.
GOP gubernatorial candidate
George W. Bush has said he sup-
ports keeping the state sodomy
law because it's an expression of
family values, but said there is
room in the GOP for a group of-
gay Republicans.
"I've never asked anyone who
worked for me what their sexual
preference is," Bush said. "But
on the other hand, if it becomes
an issue, if it becomes a political
organization, people demanding
special rights, I don't like that. It
troubles me."
Von Wupperfeld, who heads
the Texas Log Cabin group, said
he hopes the party will remove
the anti-homosexual language
from the state platform when the
Texas GOP convention is held in
Fort Worth on June 10-11. That
seems unlikely, given the largely
Christian conservative makeup
of the convention delegates.
John Melton, vice president of
the local group, knows his move-
ment faces an uphill battle in
Texas. But he said gay Republi-
cans can't afford to wait.
"We spent 25 years in the
Democratic Party," Melton said.
"We're not going to change the
Republican Party overnight, but
you've got to start somewhere.''GOP: Letter seeks funds to pay legal costs for redistricting suit
From A-11
suit is better representation of
the people of Texas, a gain of at
least six more Republicans in
(the) U.S. Congress from Texas,
and by definition, six less Demo-
crats," the letter states.
That letter, mailed last week
to traditional Republican con-
tributors statewide, goes on to
argue that if redistricting suits
succeed in other states as well,
"the chain reaction could realis-
tically lead to a Republican ma-jority in the U.S. House for the
first time in 35 years."
The letter was sent under the
auspices of Texans Against Ger-
rymandering. The organization
was started a few years ago by
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, according
to his spokesman, Craig Murphy.
Barton, who is now seeking the
chairmanship of the Texas Re-
publican Party, didn't sign the
letter but plans to send his own
fund-raising appeal after the
chairman's race, Murphy said.
Political scientist Bob Steinsaid the Republicans are being a
bit optimistic if they believe
they'll pick up several more
seats through redistricting.
"What it will do is weaken
Democratic majorities in several
House seats," Stein said, giving
Republican candidates a better
shot at some of those district.
A long line of intervenors have
joined to help the state defend
the suit. The U.S. Justice Depart-
ment and the League of United
Latin American Citizens have
signed on. as have a growinggroup of individuals - including
former Mayor Fred Hofheinz -
under the umbrella of the Na-
tional Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People.
Jackson said that as a result of
redistricting, "we have the most
representative Congress and
state legislative bodies in the his-
tory of our country. . . . We shall
be vigilant and active and asser-
tive in protecting our gains."
Post reporter Douglas Free-
lander contributed to this report.VETERANS: Houstonians take
time to honor their sacrificesFrom A-11
morial service.
"Most know exactly why
they're here: they decided to put
their three-day weekend to use
for what it's about," he said.
Humphrey and his wife, Linda,
now run a heavy equipment com-
pany from their home. Steve
Humphrey said that, although he
feels great sympathy for the two
homeless Vietnam veterans who
presented colors in the ceremo-
ny, he likes to see the many other
Vietnam veterans who returned
to normal lives.
"You never hear about those of
us who work every day, have our
families and our jobs and our
lives," he said. "That's what most
of us are about - and that's
what serving your country really
means: it's part of your life, your
normal life."
Houston resident Felix Lugo
wore his U.S. Army uniform to
three different commemorations
Monday, including the services at
the San Jacinto Monument, the
veterans cemetery and the after-
noon ceremony at the Harris
County War Memorial in Bear
Creek Park. Lugo served be-
tween 1975 and 1981.
"I wear my uniform to getpeople to remember the price
people have paid and have to pay
for our freedom," he said. "As
long as we don't forget, we're
okay."
Tens of thousands Houston In-
dependent School District stu-
dents and teachers missed out on
the holiday as school was in ses-
sion Monday. The regular 1993-
94 school year ends Thursday for
students, Friday for teachers.
But many people who had the
day off headed for the beach.
Galveston beaches remained
fairly calm over the Memorial
Day weekend. Major Vic Maceo
with Galveston County Sheriff's
Department said about 400,000
people visited the beaches over
the holiday weekend.
Jellyfish, not youth violence,
was this year's problem at the
beaches. About 1,000 people
sought treatment for jellyfish
stings, Maceo said.
Texas highways were much
safer than expected. As of late
Monday, only 16 traffic fatalities
had been reported by the Depart-
ment of Public Safety, with none
of those occurring in the Houston
area.
Staff writers Alexandra Hardy
and Scott Streater contributed to
this report.Infant, mother hit by same bullet
BY ALEXANDRA HARDY
OF THE HOUSTON POST STAFF
A lovers' triangle led to the
shooting of a 20-year-old wom-
an and her infant son early
Monday morning in northeast
Harris County, police said.
One-year-old Jasper Lee
Randall was wounded in the leg
by a bullet that first struck his
mother in the neck. He wasktak-
en to Texas Children's Hospital
and is listed in good condition.
His mother, Mishandria Lee, 20,
was taken to Sunbelt Hospital,
where she is listed in stable
condition.
Lee's common-law husband,
Michael Anthony Howard, 26,
has been charged with attempt-
ed murder and injury to a child.
He is being held in the Harris
County Jail on $10,000 bail.
Harris County Sheriff's Sgt.
Danny Billingsley said deputies
were called to the SummitPoint apartments in the 300
block of Audrey Lane about
3:30 a.m. after shots were alleg-
edly fired by Howard.
Lee's boyfriend, Jairus Hicks,
20, told the deputies that he hid
in the bathroom of Lee's apart-
ment when Howard kicked his
way into the home.
"Jairus said he could hear
Lee say, 'Don't point that gun at
me,' " Billi ngsley said. "Then he
(Hicks) hears a loud boom and
the baby crying." Hicks then
heard Lee tell Howard, "'You
shot me. Now take me to the
hospital,' " Billingsley said.
Howard drove Lee to the Sun-
belt Hospital for treatment, but
did not try to get help for the
baby, Billingsley said. When he
tried to leave the hospital with
the wounded infant, a hospital
official noticed the injury and
got treatment for the gunshot
wound that broke the child's
tiny leg.GAYS:
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Horvit, Mark. [Clipping: Gays seek role in GOP], clipping, May 31, 1994; Houston, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1831597/m1/2/: accessed February 14, 2025), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.