Demonstration urging Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to sign marriage pledge is on Friday

by Teresa Gubbins

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LGBT group wants Rawlings to change his position and sign that thing.

Mike Rawlings

DALLAS — A demonstration has been organized to protest Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings' refusal to sign the "Mayors for the Freedom to Marry" pledge. Scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Dallas City Hall, the protest is the second scheduled after a series of back-and-forths by Rawlings.

The protest is organized by GetEQUAL TX, a chapter of the national direct action group GetEQUAL whose mission is to "empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and our allies in Texas to take bold action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way."

Rawlings' refusal to sign the pledge, which was signed by mayors from around the nation including the mayors of San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, has attracted national attention, prompted him to no-show at a community meeting which had been scheduled weeks in advance, and drawn criticism from local organizations who are questioning his prior expressions of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals to marry.

Rawlings has stated that he doesn't think the pledge has anything to do with city-of-Dallas business.

According to a release by GetEQUAL TX, when they first announced the demonstration, they were contacted by officials in Rawlings' office, who offered to meet with them if they would cancel the demonstration, while maintaining that he would still not sign the pledge.

Daniel Cates, the North Texas District Lead for GetEQUAL TX, stated that "we will keep pressuring him until he either agrees to take action to support human rights or we have a new mayor who will."