[Letter from James C. Barber to Dallas Voice dated November 4, 1986] Page: 3 of 6
This letter is part of the collection entitled: Louise Young and Vivienne Armstrong Papers (The Dallas Way) and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
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November 4, 1986
Page -2-
lose the election. This would be like throwing the baby out with
the bathwater.
It is simply unreasonable to expect Congressman John Bryant
or State Representative Al Granoff to campaign on this issue in
an essentially blue collar district dominated by fundamental
protestants; or to expect Kathryn Cain to do so in a countywide
race in a county like Dallas which is dominated by fundamentalist
protestants who earnestly believe that homosexuals are doomed to
immortal hell. Waybourn knows that this belief is foolish, as do
I, but many of their constituents believe it fervently, and there
is not enough money available anywhere to change their minds in
the time allotted in any election.
It is particularly unfair to insist on such a pledge of
support by such candidates when the gay community is not willing
to put its money where its mouth is and to fully support a
candidate when he does go out on a limb for them. Lloyd
Doggett's 1984 race for the United States Senate is a case in
point. Doggett, a Democrat, was the first candidate to my
knowledge in the history of Texas to publicly support gay rights
in a contested statewide race, and many observers feel that his
stand on this issue was a major factor in his loss to Republican
Phil Gramm. Gramm resorted to the rankest form of gay-baiting
and got by with it. Nor was there any outpouring of gay
financial support for Doggett; indeed, the opposite occurred,
because many wealthy but closeted gays supported Gramm because
they disagreed with Doggett on other issues.
Finally, it is incredible that Waybourn would in effect lump
all politicians together, ignoring the obvious fact that only
Democratic candites or officeholders have ever either pledged or
produced support for gay rights. No Texas Republican in high
state or national political office has ever supported or voted
for gay rights. The Texas Republican Party Platform condemns all
gay citizens. The DGPC's own list of endorsements shows the one-
sidedness of the parties on this issue -- all are Democrats.
Instead of castigating the political process, and lumping all
politicians together, Waybourn and the DGPC should be making a
stinging rebuke of the state and national Republican Party for
its incredible bigotry and prejudice on this issue. By
attempting to blur the critical distinction between the stands of
the two parties on this issue, Waybourn has done a major
disservice to gay people all across the state.
It is time for all gay leaders to unite behind Democratic
candidates wherever found, and to put up or shut up. It takes
money to run elections; and it also takes moral and physical
courage. It is no easy task for a candidate to leave his family
and his business for days and nights on end to run a politicalIL
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Barber, James C. [Letter from James C. Barber to Dallas Voice dated November 4, 1986], letter, November 4, 1986; Dallas, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1786647/m1/3/?q=%221986%22: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.