Caught red handed

City Councilwoman Elisa Chan On LGBT People: “So Disgusting!”

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A new recording of San Antonio City Councilwoman Elisa Chan has leaked, and let’s just say it ain’t pretty. The tape was obtained by Brian Chasnoff at MySanAntonio.

On May 21, Chan held a staff meeting in her City Hall office to discuss the city’s proposal to update its nondiscrimination ordinance, adding protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

During the course of the 15 minute meeting, Chan launches into a homophobic tirade, spewing out hateful comments and downright disgust for the LGBT community.

In the recording, she reveals that she believes being gay is a choice, saying: “You know, to be quite honest, I know this is not politically correct. I never bought in that you are born, that you are born gay. I can’t imagine it.”

She also says that gay people should not be allowed to adopt children: “I don’t think homosexual people should do adoption. … You’re going to confuse those kids. They should be banned.”

She continues: “If you wanted to choose that lifestyle, we don’t want to discriminate you, but you shouldn’t affect the young people. How terrible. … They’re going to be confused. You see two men go into a bedroom. You see two women kissing. Is that not confusing? It’s confusing.”

But the real kicker comes when she voices her revulsion toward the LGBT community, calling gay people “So disgusting!”

Later in the recording she explains why she would never dare to express her views on homosexually publicly:

“I never would say that outside because they kill me. When I say that it’s … behavioral preference, they say that, ‘No, you’re born with it.’ But I never bought into that.”

The conversation takes an almost comical turn when an aide then jumps in to say: “Americans can, with almost a 90 percent success rate, identify gay people by their face alone!”

“That’s because they shave,” Chan replies. “And I also think they could take hormone shots.”

Hormone shots? Really?

The recording was leaked by Chan’s former aide James Stevens, who told MySanAntonio that he initially chose to record the meeting because he felt Chan was veering off-course from the topic at hand, which was the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance.

“My decision to record in the first place was that, during the staff meetings, we weren’t really discussing the ordinance itself,” Stevens said. “We were really just talking about ways to appeal to the base and to get them fired up as opposed to analyzing the ordinance.”

He continued:

“[Chan] is only focused on her political future. She’s not focused on the policy itself and how it’s going to really affect the city. We spent 80 percent of that meeting talking about how disgusting homosexuality is.”

The Huffinton Post reported on Friday morning that San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro (D-Texas) does not support Chan’s remarks:

“Councilwoman Chan’s remarks were hurtful and ignorant. [No one should] believe for one second that they represent the views of San Antonians. Ours is a city that welcomes everyone and appreciates diversity.”

Chan, who is rumored to be planning a run for mayor in 2015, could not be reached for a comment.

Listen to the full recording here.

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