San Antonio Republicans Attempt to Repeal 'Pro-Homosexual' Ordinance

Republicans in San Antonio are calling for a repeal of "pro-homosexual" laws by claiming those policies give LGBT people "special rights."

The Republican Party of Bexar County has drafted a resolution, which its executive committee will discuss January 8, in response an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance passed by the San Antonio City Council in 2013, plus city and county domestic-partner benefits programs, reports local news outlet Out in SA. The resolution claims that "homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered persons already have constitutionally protected civil rights" and that the laws extend "special rights based merely upon the behavior and not upon unchanging characteristics such as race, color, etc."

The party then declares there should be no "granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior," and then urges San Antonio and Bexar County to repeal the ordinances "that have given special rights to homosexuals," including the city and county's "taxpayer-funded, marriage-dishonoring 'domestic partner' benefits programs for government employees." The city began offering domestic-partner benefits in 2011, the county in 2014.

The one-page resolution calls for voters to "throw the rascals out" if elected officials do not repeal the ordinances. It also cites the antigay state party platform. Adopted this year, the platform endorses so-called reparative therapy and says family should not be "redefined to include homosexual couples."

A committee of 10 Bexar County Republican Party members drafted and signed the resolution. They claim that homosexuality "tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family unit" and say the city and county laws "allow men to freely use the women's restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities," "gag" local politicians to prevent them "from speaking against homosexual behavior," and "subject businesses run by people of faith to criminal penalties and expensive lawsuits if they refuse to provide services that conflict with religious beliefs relating to homosexual behavior."

The call to repeal the LGBT-friendly laws in San Antonio comes less than two weeks after voters in Fayetteville, Ark., repealed a nondiscrimination ordinance. The Duggar family, fundamentalist Christian stars of 19 Kids and Counting, took pride in helping bring down the ordinance, which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations.