Manuel Rodriguez's endorsement to the
Houston Independent School District (HISD) has been rescinded by the
Houston
Chronicle over an anti-gay flier.
Rodriguez, who is hoping to keep his
school board trustee position in Tuesday's election, suggested in his
mailing that his opponent, Ramiro Fonseca, could not be trusted with
children because he's gay.
In the flier, Rodriguez notes in bullet
points that Fonseca is “Endorsed by The Houston GLBT Political
Caucus (HGLBTPC) is the the South's oldest civil rights organization
dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender rights,” is a “54 years old man with no children”
and has a “Male partner.”
“His records show he spent years
advocating for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender rights … not
kids,” the ad states.
Rodriguez told the Houston Chronicle
that he saw no problem with his mailer.
“He [Fonseca] will be responsible for
making policy for HISD, and I as a parent, as a grandfather, as a
person who has probably more understanding of what a child's needs
are, just want to give the voters information so that they can make
their own choice,” he said.
The Houston GLBT Political Caucus
condemned the ad and called on the Chronicle to withdraw its
endorsement of Rodriguez.
In its retraction, the Chronicle
editorial board said the flier displayed “appalling homophobia”
and obvious “gay-bashing, of the kind that HISD rightly prohibits
on the playground. It has no place on HISD's board.”