Mary Gonzalez, First Openly Pansexual Legislator, Explains How She Is Changing Minds In Texas
*Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage is talked about as an end to a long struggle, but it’s also the beginning of a new, long road. Congress and state legislators will soon be tackling questions of public funding and codifying definitions of marriage. Sexuality is complex, and opponents of same-sex marriage would like to keep it in a tidy box with easy definitions. A Latina legislator in Texas is an example of the complexity. VL
By Michelangelo Signorile, Huffington Post
As the state legislative session comes to a close in Texas, Democrats have impressively managed to beat back the bulk of over 20 anti-gay bills conservative Republicans had created in committees in an effort to blunt a Supreme Court ruling this month that could bring marriage equality to the entire country, including Texas. Some of the bills were stalled by Democrats running out the clock, while Republicans chose not to move forward with others. Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint), a member of the Texas House from the El Paso area and the nation’s first openly pansexual legislator, says one way she tries to change minds among her colleagues in both parties is by fostering a “familial” bond, which she believes goes a long way toward helping people “overcome a lot of their prejudice.”
[pullquote][tweet_dis]Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint), a member of the Texas House from the El Paso area is the nation’s first openly pansexual legislator.[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]Sitting in her office at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, speaking with me for an interview for SiriusXM Progress, Gonzalez first wanted to dispel some misinformation about her identity. She first came out as pansexual — which is distinct from bisexual because it defines an individual who is attracted to various gender identities — in 2012 after first being elected, noting that she’d dated transgender and “gender-queer” people. But it had been reported that she came out as lesbian first and then later came out as pansexual. But, she explained, “lesbian” was never an identity that she claimed for herself.
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[Photo by Jaime Puente/Flickr]
