WHAT'S NEXT

Demand resignation of TX Democratic Party Chair who called LGBT people "termites" and "Nazis"
  1. Signatures
    1,925 out of 2,500
    Petitioning
    1. Bexar County Democratic Party (+ 3 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Bexar County Democratic Party
      • Chairperson (Dan Ramos)
      • Chair, Texas State Democratic Party (Boyd Richie)
      • Vice Chair, Texas State Democratic Party (Lenora Sorola-Pohlman)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

May 06, 2011

Dan Ramos, a Chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party in Texas, came under fire in recent weeks after he gave an interview to a local publication comparing LGBT people to “Nazis” and “termites.” The comments spurred numerous calls for Ramos to be removed from his position of authority in the Bexar Democratic Party – including more than 1,900 Change.org members who wrote to Texas Democratic Party officials, calling for Ramos to be held accountable for these offensive and derogatory comments.

The Texas Democratic Party responded to Change.org members, saying that “Mr. Ramos' statements in no way reflect the thinking of party officials and of the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Bexar County.” Party leaders vowed to hold Ramos accountable.

During a May 2011 meeting of the Bexar County Democratic Party, which included more than 100 members of the party’s executive committee, leaders voted 104-5 to remove Ramos from his position. Thank you to the Change.org members who called out Ramos for his homophobic comments, and put pressure on Texas Democratic Party officials to take swift action and remove Ramos from his leadership position.  

 

Dan Ramos, Chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party, gave an interview last week with the San Antonio Current, where he compared LGBT people to "termites," suggested that the national movement for LGBT equality was "a sinister movement," and compared a local gay rights group to the Nazi Party. And this is a chairperson for the Democratic Party?

"They are all connected to the gay Democratic Party, the so-called Stonewall Democrats. Just like termites they managed to get some of their people in key positions," Ramos said of local LGBT political activists. “I liken them to the Tea Party — the Tea Party and the fucking Nazi Party — because they’re 90 percent white, blue-eyed, and Anglo, and I don’t give a fuck who knows that. Just like the blacks … they’re American, but you can’t get your way just because you’re black.”

This type of rhetoric is inappropriate from anyone in politics, let alone the Democratic Party chairman. It's time to join with many voices in the local community calling for Ramos to resign. Demeaning and vulgar remarks like this are no sign of leadership, especially in a political party that's supposed to value equality as one of its core principles.

 

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

The Bexar Democratic Party deserves a leader who values equality as a core Democratic Party principl

Dear Bexar Democratic Party,

I recently learned that the chairperson of the Bexar Democratic Party, Dan Ramos, made severely hurtful and disparaging remarks that compared gays and lesbians to "termites," and likened a local gay rights group to the Nazi Party. Ramos even called the national effort to advance gay rights "a sinister movement."

These types of comments are inappropriate for anyone in politics, let alone a chairperson of a party that espouses equality as a core, foundational principle. It's time for Dan Ramos to resign, and for Bexar to find a leader who doesn't resort to violent, vulgar and demeaning rhetoric that only serves to belittle people in the community.

Bexar Democrats deserve better. Texas Democrats deserve better. It's time for Dan Ramos to resign, and to apologize for the hurt and pain his remarks have caused.

[Your name]

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