Some are reporting the news out of Del Rio Texas this morning as Gay Candidate Known for Wearing High Heels Wins Mayor’s Race in Texas. Yes, that will get us reading. It's catchy as well as informative, but there's more to Bruno "Ralphy" Lozano.
In a solid win, Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano, 35, captured 62 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Robert Garza.
As you can see the numbers were not high, for Del Rio is a city of only around 40,000 located 150 miles west of San Antonio, and it was a May election. But this is still a BIG WIN, for Ralphy as well as the Texas LGBT community. And Texas is full of towns this size that, if more of them go this way, we may see the state becoming more blue with every election.
So when it came to small town politics, the race did get a little off topic. Lozano’s been know to wear high heels in public and did so on the campaign trail. We're definitely okay with that. Have you tried wearing heels? It's hard! But that supposedly un-Texan behavior led to attacks on social media calling him a “faggot with AIDS."
Looking into his web pages, we found this campaign video.
Apparently, constituents saw past the negative comments about the high heels and focused more on what he had to say about cleaning up the environment, bringing back tourism, his serving in the military, and his statements about being positive in the shadow the current president has thrown on the Mexico border.
As Del Rio’s first LGBTQ elected official, Lozano will work to enact his platform of change, believing that the city can recover from a recent economic downturn. He also believes Del Rio can be a positive example for the Texas-Mexico border.
Lozano is the first to claim victory among the 52 LGBTQ candidates in Texas this year, which is by far the most in the state’s history.
Best of luck, Ralphy! Keep Smiling!
h/t: outsmartmagazine.com
Isolate that Western Texas
Isolate that Western Texas border town outside the wall. Or just completely give that part back to mexico.