Some may call it atonement, making amends, expressing regret, or otherwise. But whatever it was, Rep. Patrick Rose's brief speech to the Stonewall Democrats caucus brought the room to rapt attention and complete silence. He went straight to the point in his remarks.
In 2005 I made a terrible mistake. I supported Robert Talton's amendment to the foster bill...
Wow. He commented on how his vote was uneducated, uninformed, and unworthy of defense. It was a sincere statement, and if you look at these things in purely political terms (yeah, we know you're out there), you can view it as a needed statement both for the community and obviously for any future elections.
In other caucus news, openly gay Houston City Councilwoman and DNC member Sue Lovell spoke. She commented on her DNC seat in that she had an opponent (also from Houston and African American I think) and asked members to stick with her community. Interestingly, Rep. Terri Hodge (who is African American) spoke after her and make a point to endorse Sue saying she was being "unfairly" challenged. Of course, I don't think there is anything as a "fair" or "unfair" challenge for DNC seats as many of the people that hold them feel more entitled to the title and the ticket to the national convention than actually doing anything productive with it. |
