Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus

Name was updated in September 2021

2023

Aaron Rublein became Treasurer on January 25
and Christyna Lewis is now Chair, rather than Co-Chair

Austin Ruiz is the first male Latino Caucus President
(Maria Gonzalez and Frances Valdez were female Latina Presidents)
(and Austin missed being the youngest elected President by a couple
months, as Kris Banks earned that notch)
(There have been younger people who got to office upon
resignation of a President, like Don Hrachovy, age 25, in 1977)

Trustee terms are two years, so Position 2 has one year remaining.
Both Jack Valinski and Maria Gonzalez are back on the Board after several years.

Photos above and below from Porscha Brown

Mario Castillo was Caucus Vice President
and resigned to run for a Council seat, District H
[ and you'll see that first photo from the next item again....]

In February...

Caucus Strategic Plan Budget Proposal

View Complete Drag to Brunch Program

Equality Brunch

View Complete Equality Brunch Program

Equality Brunch Photos

Austin Davis Ruiz did a special interview on KPFT's Houston Hour
on October 6, 25 minutes
LISTEN

NEW LOCATION FOR MEETINGS!

Runoff Results
Whitmire, 65%
Hollins, 59%
Evans-Shabazz, 65%
Castillo, 64%
Plummer, 52%

All except Whitmire were Caucus-endorsed,
though he was heavily represented in the endorsement process.

in At-Large 2, unendorsed gay candidate Nick Hellyar
unfortunately lost to homophobic minister Willie Davis,
who got 55% to Hellyar's 45%

Detailed Results at This Link

The At-Large 2 Race

While the Caucus body did not make endorsements
in At-Large 2, for the Runoff President Ruiz sent a personal
endorsement to Hellyar, though it was not posted
to social media....not sure why, and of course we do not
know if it would have helped. As the results were
92,545 to 77,202 that is doubtful.
Footnote: had the Caucus endorsed in that race, bylaws
would not have allowed a personal endorsement.

Per Houston Public Media,

"Whitmire, 74, received about 43 percent of the vote in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties,
all of which include Houston. He held about an 8 percentage-point lead over the 73-year-old
Jackson Lee, with former METRO board chair Gilbert Garcia placing a distance third."

More on the Council District H Race

Mario Castillo had been Caucus Vice-President and resigned last year
when he decided to run for Council. Of course he was the obvious Caucus
choice for that seat in the endorsement process. And we are very proud of him.

The article above from the Chronicle covered the five people campaigning
in the primary. Castillo's section is below

However, the race became rocky....when his opponent sent out this targeted text message...

In addition to the falsehoods about fraud and his time on the District H staff,
and community involvement, there was homophobia...

And, in more detail, from Houston Public Media

Finally, we are relieved that Mario Castillo won, as with the term-limited seat
of District I Council Member Robert Gallegos expiring, we would been left
with no LGBT representation on Council. Gallegos served for ten years,
and has the distinction of being the first openly gay Latino city councilor
in Texas history.

Footnote: for District I, Caucus endorsed candidate Joaquin Martinez
won that position in the primary.