Celebrating Pride Month: Gina Ortiz Jones, first gay mayor of San Antonio

Gina Ortiz Jones won a runoff election on June 7, 2025 and became the first gay mayor of San Antonio.  She is also the first Asian-American female mayor of a major city in Texas, and the first female mayor in Texas to have served in a war.

Jones is a former Air Force officer, and Iraq War veteran, and served as Under Secretary of the Air Force during the Biden Administration.  She defeated a hatemonger Rolando Pablos, an anti-gay advocate.

Celebrating Pride Month - Lupe Valdez, first gay Texas sheriff

Lupe Valdez, born October 11, 1947 in San Antonio, Texas, is the first openly gay person to be elected sheriff in the state of Texas.  She earned a BS in Business Administration from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma(!) and a Master's degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice at University of Texas at Arlington.

She announced her candidacy for sheriff of Dallas County in January 2004 and won the election with the backing of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.  She was sworn in January 2005.  Valdez has been re-elected for three more terms.  In December 2017, she announced her candidacy for Governor of Texas.