Out candidate Lupe Valdez has promised
to fight for the LGBT community if elected governor of Texas.
Valdez, Texas' first openly gay and
first Latina sheriff, won a plurality of the vote in the March 6
Democratic primary. She faces businessman Andrew White, the son of
the late Governor Mark White, in a run-off election taking place May
22.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a
vocal opponent of LGBT rights, is seeking a second term.
If elected, Valdez would become the
first openly gay person elected governor in the United States.
Valdez told the Washington Blade
that as governor she would fight for the LGBT community.
“I'm going to fight for everybody,
including the LGBTQ community,” Valdez
said. “We have to have a comprehensive non-discrimination
protections bill. We have to have a hate crimes protections bill, and
we have to find some way of having health care that is culturally
competent. Say that in a mouthful, but it’s true that we need to be
sensitive to the HIV folks and transgender folks.”
When asked about President Donald
Trump's record on LGBT rights, Valdez said that the president has not
kept his campaign promise to be a friend to the LGBT community.
“He started out his campaign saying
that he was going to have LGBTQ rights, and he started out with that,
but then he turned around and pulled some of the stuff he’s been
pulling,” Valdez said. “All that says is – how do you politely
say two-faced? I don’t know how you can politely say he said
something for the campaign just to get people on your side, and then
you turn around and do something else.”
During his first year in office, Trump
has pushed for the reinstatement of a ban on transgender troops, has
revoked protections for transgender students and has filled his
administration with individuals and appointed judges opposed to LGBT
rights, including Vice President Mike Pence, Energy Secretary Rick
Perry and Housing Secretary Ben Carson, to name a few.