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WHAT IS THE TEXAS STONEWALL DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS?
The Texas
Stonewall Democratic
Caucus (TSDC) is a general-purpose political committee and is the
official Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Caucus of the
Texas Democratic Party. TSDC was formerly the Lesbian/Gay Democrats of
Texas, an organization formed in the early 1970s to work on behalf of
the lesbian and gay community within the Texas Democratic Party. TSDC
was founded on November 21, 1999 by Michael Milliken of Dallas, who
became its first president. At the 2000 Texas Democratic Convention in
Fort Worth, delegates voted to give TSDC two seats on the State
Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC). Since then, both the President
and Vice President of the TSDC have served as SDEC members with voting
privileges except in statutory matters.
A generation ago,
neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party opposed homophobia.
Today, the platform of the Democratic Party opposes prejudice based on
sexual orientation and gender identity and explicitly supports the
adoption of national, state, and local policies to outlaw
discrimination. In contrast, the Republican Party has become the
political instrument of those devoted to perpetuating discrimination.
We believe the Democratic Party is the home of those devoted to
securing fair and equal treatment for all people, regardless of sexual
orientation or gender identity or expression.
The TSDC is
composed of members of the LGBT community and our straight allies
(hereinafter referred to as “our Community”) to promote our civil
rights through a grassroots-based Democratic political organization
serving the State of Texas. It draws its strength from a statewide
network of individuals and clubs who are working to realize these goals:
- Maximize Democratic voter turnout in our
Community;
- Educate
our Community and people who are supportive of it about the vast
differences that exist between the two major parties on the issues of
concern to our Community;
- Encourage our Community to participate in the
campaigns of Democratic candidates and at all levels of the Democratic
Party;
- Sensitize Democratic candidates and
officeholders to the needs of our Community;
- Educate voters about legislative issues that
affect our Community; and
- Work
with local lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Democratic clubs and
individuals to encourage and foster the creation of new clubs.
The
TSDC elects officers and conducts business at its biennial meeting at
the Texas Democratic Convention in even-numbered years. In the interim,
the TSDC is governed by its Executive Board, consisting of the four
elected officers, the presidents and vice-presidents (or co-chairs) of
each LGBT Democratic club in Texas and Texas Board members of National
Stonewall Democrats. The TSDC is an affiliate organization of National
Stonewall Democrats.
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Political
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paid for by Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus GPAC
P.O.
Box 192216, Dallas, TX 75219-8514, Shaun Nelson, Treasurer
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