LGBT 'travel advisory' issued amid debate

Source: San Antonio Express-NewsAug.mini storage 21--A statewide advocacy group has issued a travel alert discouraging lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers from visiting San Antonio until the city takes action on a hotly debated nondiscrimination ordinance.But Chad Reumann, San Antonio-area representative with the Human Rights Campaign, which says it "works to ensure LGBT people of their basic equal rights," said he does not agree with the advisory issued by GetEQUAL Texas."We welcome all LGBT travelers and would like them to know that San Antonio is a friendly city and a great place to visit," Reumann said. "We find it to be welcoming."A media advisory issued by GetEQUAL Texas quoted Jay Morris, the group's co-lead organizer, saying he has faced discrimination several times in San Antonio. The advisory claimed city officials have "repeatedly delayed a vote on the ordinance," and that Councilwoman Elisa Chan and others have "been very vocal in their opposition."The travel alert expires on Sept. 6, a day after the City Council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance, but it could be renewed, the advisory said.City officials have said the timeline for consideration of the ordinance has not been delayed. Chan said at a news conference Tuesday that she has not taken a position, and is awaiting a draft.Amy Stone, a Trinity University sociology professor who focuses much of her work on gender and sexuality, said a similar travel advisory was issued in 2001 in response to the alleged gay-bashing of two Canadian tourists on the River Walk by San Antonio Park Rangers. It was released by the now-defunct Gay and Lesbian Community Center San Antonio, she said.The San Antonio Express-Neself storages reported at the time that three rangers physically abused the tourists and used slurs against them. Although the rangers were cleared of wrongdoing in an internal investigation, one of them quit after admitting to sending a fake email under a different name, disputing the tourists' version of events.The latest travel alert by a statewide group is more "strangely timed," but may be connected to the community debate to be decided by the City Council, Stone said."In many cities, when it comes to council passage, the debates are very loud and very contentious," she said. "But what happens is that when the ordinance passes, it tends to be somewhat anticlimactic."Eric Alva, a San Antonian and openly gay veteran of the Iraq war, said he also believes the alert is misguided."A lot of people all over the country will just shrug their shoulders. They'll come to San Antonio and see the Alamo," said Alva, who had a leg amputated when he was wounded in 2003.Reumann said Chan's recent comments widely reported by the media do not reflect the local prevailing attitudes."The views of the councilwoman do not define the character of San Antonio. A majority of people in San Antonio are in support of the nondiscrimination ordinance, and the LGBT people are their friends, neighbors and co-workers," he said.Reumann said he believes the ordinance will be adopted."A majority of the council does support this issue and we believe that it will pass," he added.shuddleston@express-news.netStaff Writer John W. Gonzalez contributed to this reportCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the San Antonio Express-News Visit the San Antonio Express-News at .mysanantonio.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉