Is Steve Ortega a Bigot hiding behind Gay Rights?
By Ike
“A community that doesn't fight against discrimination tolerates it, and I
never want El Paso
But wait -- Is Steve Ortega’s legacy to El Paso
In 2005 City Council approved 2 contracts one for
$250,000 and another for $50,000 of CDBG i.e. federal money to help fund the
Paso Del Norte Group downtown plan. The contract specifically forbid subjecting
anyone to discrimination. One of the “work products” of the plan was an
immersion audit called Glass
Beach
So why did Steve Ortega not “fight” against subjecting the
man in the image to blatant public discrimination?
Steve Ortega’s response
“The question that I was never asked during the interview
was whether the juxtaposition of the adjectives lazy and dirty with the photo
of the old Mexican was offensive” (See response to Burton, Jenni. “Those Who Live in Grass Beaches,” The Newspaper Tree, posted October 2, 2006).
Does this sound like the response of anyone opposed to
discrimination or with even a limited understanding of Civil Rights much less discrimination?
Instead Steve Ortega seems to provide tacit approval of
invidious discrimination against those El Pasoans he considers undesirable.
“I’d rather be associated with – you know, if I’m
talking about a city – Salma Hayek than with my grandfather, you know what I’m
saying? I mean who are you trying to attract? From a business perspective, from
an investment perspective you want the Salma Hayeks, the Antonio Banderas, the
Ricky Martins, that’s what people like. That’s what people find attractive,
sexy, cool.” – Steve Ortega
