Update: Our organization contacted Hernandez campaign and we discovered the political outcry by Quezada campaign was a political stunt.
A sexual orientation question during a political debate is causing Latino / Chicano voters to pay closer attention in Arizona Legislative District 29 with a heavy Mexican-American population and voters.
According to AZ CENTRAL:
During a legislative candidate forum last week, four District 29 House candidates appeared blindsided when the audience questions turned from political issues to their sexual orientation. At one point in the question-and-answer segment, immigrant-rights activist Francisco Mendoza stood and asked the three Democrats and one Republican whether they were gay.... Quezada said the question was an attack directed at him by the Hernández campaign. He said some in political and Latino circles have been spreading rumors about his sexual orientation, possibly due to his friendship with Gallardo, D-Phoenix, who recently publicly announced he was gay.
The attack on the LGBT community should not be tolerated. Many of us have family with gay or lesbian relatives and we believe we should treat gay politicians the way we treat our family members who are gay -- with the same respect we ask for ourselves.
Carlos Galindo is the only political talk show host who conducts his 2 hour national program in both Spanish and in English. His program is listened to in over 20 markets nationwide with a wide audience, particularly with regard to Spanish-speaking immigrants, Latinos and Chicanos. Galindo facilitated a letter to Mary Rose Wilcox -- a candidate running for AZ CD-7 this afternoon (see below), asking her to distance and separate herself from Lydia Hernandez because Francisco Mendoza is Hernandez's campaign helper who is making sexual orientation a political issue.
Somos Independents (SI) leaders do not believe the LGBT issue is a laughing matter, particularly when Francisco Mendoza has his own 'sexual orientation' issues when he plead guilty to solicitation for prostitution not that long ago. SI has also asked (D) Catherine Miranda to withdraw her support of Lydia Hernandez because she is currently supporting Hernandez, too.
Galindo writes:
We would like to respectfully request that Mary Rose Wilcox separate herself and reject Lydia Hernandez' endorsement of Wilcox for CD 7. Hernandez has maintained an intimate political, financial and allegedly other type of relationship with a Francisco Mendoza who left his affluent area in Chandler Arizona to commit a crime against women in CD7 and respectively in Mrs. Wilcox's current Board of Supervisor's district, this would also be Legislator Hernandez' current district in which she is seeking election as a state senator.
The prostitute upon which Mr. Mendoza perpetuated his crime is a minority. Mr. Mendoza has not only committed a crime in Mrs. Wilcox's district, but he entered that predominantly minority district with the clear intent to commit a sexual crime. Legislator Hernandez' refusal to repudiate Mr. Mendoza's action when it was brought to her attention shortly after the initial incident some time ago, speaks volumes as to what Mrs. Hernandez is willing to do to hold political office, even at the cost of collateral damage such as that in the Mendoza prostitution matter, a minority woman and a neighborhood left ravaged by sexual predators that facilitate the thriving of the sex for sale and sex slave industry.
It's important to note that after having received irrefutable proof and after I personally sent Lydia Hernandez and others, copies of the police report outlining Mr. Mendoza's lewd behavior which included exposing his penis in public, Legislator Lydia Hernandez (D-LD29) continued to maintain a close relationship with the perpetrator which has included financial support and public appearances at legislative events. Most recently she appeared with Mendoza at a candidate forum in which Mr. Mendoza insulted the candidates by hammering them on their sexual preferences citing catholic values. This from a guy who entered this "Catholic values" district to commit a sexual crime against a minority woman?
We ask that Supervisor Wilcox do the right thing and immediately denounce Hernandez' failure to separate herself from Mendoza and that Mrs. Wilcox reject Hernandez' endorsement of Supervisor Wilcox for CD7.
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