A Note from Mayor Brown’s GLBT Liaison Keeping the Mayor Informed About Our Issues by Janine Brunjes

On January 30, 2001, I gladly accepted the appointment by Mayor Lee P. Brown to the position of mayoral liaison to the GLBT community. Over the past month I have been asked on several occasions what being the mayor’s liaison to the GLBT community really means. When I interviewed with the mayor, he shared with me that the liaison position was a position that was evolving. Basically, his heartfelt interest was that he be kept informed of all the issues that were of importance to our community, for only then could he be responsive to them.

I can’t tell you how gleeful I was that I was not handed a job description, for in job descriptions I feel there can be limits or boundaries. The mayor gave me license to be as creative as I wanted to be, and that how I sought to be informed about the pulse of the community was to be my responsibility, as well as by what means I chose to communicate with him and his office.

My work as liaison is something that matters deeply to me. We have a mayor, Mayor Brown, who has been very supportive of our issues. I still am touched and respectful of the mayor’s issuing an executive order denouncing discrimination at the city level; a lawsuit ensued and he has stood firm. I have not lost sight of this, and it is why I am thrilled, impassioned, and honored to be serving our mayor as liaison. He has been the first mayor to ride in our Pride Parade and the first to say he believed that no one would be discriminated against. That is exactly the type of individual I want to keep informed about our community and whom I am proud to serve.

As a "for decades closeted executive," no better time exists for me than now to be involved in one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime. The ballot initiative that is under way could create our next battle cry. Our city must support nondiscrimination issues for the sake of city economics as well as that of simple human rights, putting out a clear message to those who can’t bear to see us have equal protection under the law.

In an effort to maintain a true understanding of what our community is facing, I am committed to attending various community meetings. I have also scheduled a monthly roundtable at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, held the second Monday of each month. On the Wednesday following the meeting at the center, Han-Net has arranged a monthly chat for me to converse with those who were unable to attend the meeting. My goal is to be in touch with as many as I can so as to offer to our mayor and our city an accurate representation of the priorities of the GLBT community.

The next meeting with Janine Brunjes is Mon., April 9, 5—6:30 p.m., at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, 803 Hawthorne, 713/524-3818. It will be followed by an online chat Wed., April 11, 9:30 p.m.; go to http://www.talkcity.com/, sign in and go to room HoustonGLBTforum.