Leader seeks equality for all: Local works to push LGBT agenda

Eli Olivarez wants more than gay rights. He wants equality.

The best way to get both of them in a conservative state is to fight for it, said Olivarez, 53, a Rio Grande Valley native who has been active in the local Democratic Party for years. But until a trip to the state Democratic convention last year as a county delegate,

Olivarez didn't know the best way to campaign for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues he saw as important.

Olivarez decided to form a Rio Grande Valley chapter of the Stonewall Democrats, a national organization promoting LGBT-rights, after meeting other members of the caucus at the party convention last year.

The chapter, officially recognized for the first time earlier this month at the Texas Stonewall Democrat Caucus' statewide convention, has already grown to more than 50 members, Olivarez said. The group expects to recruit more members when civil rights activist Judy Shepard speaks next month at the University of Texas-Pan American.

Olivarez, who was elected president of the chapter, said he wants the group to become the official voice of the Valley's LGBT community, which has existed in a fragmented nature for years.

"There was not a voice for the LGBT community" in the Valley, Olivarez said. "I needed to create one voice so that we could fight for the issues that are important to us."

Olivarez and other members of the chapter are already at work on some of those issues. He's requested a seat on the county's executive board of the Democratic Party, and he's working to develop a plan to educate the community, political candidates and office holders about the LGBT-agenda.

The Valley's chapter operates in a major Democratic stronghold of the state that still maintains a socially-conservative setting, Olivarez said. His goal for the chapter is to accomplish awareness and education from all sides.

Progress has been made - albeit in an unsteady faction - for gay issues since the 1969 Stonewall riots, the namesake of the organization, Olivarez said. But he said he wants the chapter to expand beyond working solely for rights such as gay marriage.

"Here's the thing: we can get the rights. The rights will come," Olivarez said. "But most importantly, we need to get the equality."

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4424.