Over the weekend, the Houston Chronicle retracted its endorsement of a school board incumbent over a last-minute campaign flier dripping with homophobia.

A last-minute campaign flier for Rodriguez displays appalling homophobia. The flier urges recipients not just to vote for Rodriguez, but to vote against his opponent, Ramiro Fonseca, because he has been endorsed by the Houston GLBT Caucus, "the South’s oldest civil rights organization dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights." The flier further states that Fonseca has "spent years advocating for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender rights … not kids," and winds up with a pair of bullet points noting that he’s 54 years old with no children and has a male partner.

That’s obvious gay-bashing, of the kind that HISD rightly prohibits on the playground. It has no place on HISD’s board.

Not only did the Chronicle repudiate Manuel Rodriguez’s efforts to stir up animus against gays and lesbians, it also pointed out a truth that the Right Wing desperately wants to hide:

Advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights is advocating for kids. GLBT kids are among those who most need adult protection and support.

…

Members of the school board are supposed to be role models, not bullies. They’re supposed to support civil rights, not fight against them. They’re supposed to fight hate speech, not commit it.

It’s important to stand up to bullying, intolerant behavior, whether on the playground or at the ballot box.

 Kudos to the Chronicle for taking a principled stand against those who use homophobia to troll for votes.