Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, September 12, 2003 Page: 8 of 68
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CITY
Spirituality
not Religion
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Council conservative
refuses to sign letter
honoring Pride parade
Rasansky points to Tavern Guild sponsors, cites his aversion to alcohol,
but a skeptical Oakley questions colleague's commitment to diversity
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Not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
By David Webb
Staff Reporter
A distaste for alcohol led a conservative
Dallas City Council member to refuse to sign a
letter honoring the Alan Ross Freedom Parade
on its 20th anniversary — not the sexual orien-
tation of the parade's participants, he said this
week.
District 13 Dallas City Council member
Mitchell Rasansky said he would have signed
the letter had it not included a reference to the
Dallas Tavern Guild, an association of gay and
lesbian nightclubs. The council member from
northwest Dallas said he is a lifelong non-
drinker, and that he would be uncomfortable
associating with an organization that promotes
the nightclub industry.
"It was the tavern thing," said Rasansky,
who is the only current council member who
opposed passage of the nondiscrimination
ordinance that included sexual orientation and
gender identity as protected classes last year.
"1 told [the letter's author] if that word comes
out I'd be happy to do it. No problem."
District 3 Council member Ed Oakley
called Rasansky's reasoning a "kop out." The
gay council member drafted the letter.
"I think that was very weak," said Oakley,
who is a property manager for Caven
Enterprises, a member of the Tavern Guild.
"He's more concerned about his conservative
voters than representing all of the voters in his
district.
"I think he is concerned about a backlash
from his conservative voters. I think he needs
to be a little more sensitive to all of the resi-
dents of his district."
Oakley said
Rasansky's refusal to
sign the letter had
disappointed him
enormously.
"I was very disap-
pointed that he didn't
see any benefit in
signing it, or that he
saw a downside to
it," Oakley said. "I
couldn't understand what that would be."
Oakley said that the Tavern Guild has
sponsored the parade for 20 years, and it
deserves recognition for its efforts. It puts on
the parade with significant financial help from
sponsors such as Coors.
"The only thing the Tavern Guild does is
put on and pay for the parade," Oakley said.
"That's their primary function. They seldom
talk about anything else."
Oakley said that any event that draws
20,000 people "is no shabby deal" and that it
deserves respect from all city officials. Elected
officials, including Mayor Laura Miller, partic-
ipate in the parade annually.
The letter that Rasansky refused to sign
was published in an annual Pride guide spon-
sored by the Tavern Guild, which provides a
guide to the city's activities celebrating gay
pride week. All of Rasansky's colleagues
signed the letter, and Mayor Miller penned a
letter of her own to the community.
The letter made no mention of the gay, les-
bian, bisexual and transgender community. It
congratulated the Tavern Guild for its success
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8
SEPTEMBER 12, 2003 DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, September 12, 2003, newspaper, September 12, 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616336/m1/8/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.