Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano was elected as mayor of the small Texas border town of Del Rio in a May 5 municipal election, taking 62 percent of the vote. Del Rio is “about 150 miles west of San Antonio and sits on the Mexican border, has a population of 41,000” according to Out in SA.
They report: “Most surprising for a mayoral race in a such a small municipality was the fact that Lozano’s sexual orientation did not seem to have an much of an effect on his campaign, even when he decided to march in the city’s Veteran’s Day parade in high heels last year. The only backlash came in the form of a single Facebook post from a non-supporter who labeled him a ‘faggot with AIDS.'”
Lozano brushes off such criticism saying he served in the Air Force during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era and at the time, decided not to re-enlist because, “I am not ashamed of who I am . . . I kept going. I moved on with my life,” he told the website IntoMore.
“Stonewall happened because drag queens and a minority group stood up to animosity, and I had to go back in the closet [while in the Air Force] because of that same hatred,” he adds. “I know what that was like, and it translates to today’s campaign. I’m not going to bow down. I am who I am. Accept me or not.”
