Becoming the target of an anti-gay attack was one of the best things to happen to Joel Burns’ candidacy for Fort Worth City Council.

When Burns began the race to replace Wendy Davis on the city council, his sexuality was no secret — he had been with his partner J.D. for 15 years. So when a city councilman got up at a fundraiser and brought it to everyone’s attention, the smear was a curious mix of hateful and unnecessary.

At an event for Chris Turner, councilman Chuck Silcox joined the candidate on stage and said the following: “We have two people of opposite partisan politics, opposite philosophical persuasions and opposite sexual orientations. I didn’t tell you which one was homosexual.”

The crowd laughed.

Gesturing toward Turner, Silcox said “He’s married to a female, and the other’s married to a male. You make your own mind up.”

The next morning, the story was in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the tone of the entire campaign shifted.

“That morning was an awful, terrible, not good morning,” Burns said. “I thought of my mother and father, the little rural town that they live in, and waking up and reading the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and seeing my name on the front page. No parent ever wants to see their child attacked, even if they’re an adult.”

However, over the course of the day, things changed. The unseemly attack backfired and united Joel’s campaign.

“By the end of that day it was an amazing, wonderful just so reinvigorating and reassuring. I had people I had never met in my life before walk through my campaign headquarters and say ‘how can I help?’ or say ‘here’s a check for a hundred dollars.’”

In fact, while walking door to door, Burns encountered a man who claimed to have planned on voting for Turner until he read the article. The self-avowed primary-voting Republican told Burns to wait on his doorstep and later emerged with a campaign contribution.

Read GayPolitics.com’s interview with Burns below.

GayPolitics.com: You’re less than a month into your term – how is it going? How has your life changed?

JB: It is an amazing inundation. It’s wonderful and overwhelming and exciting – all of those things at the same time. It’s a great experience, I’m busier than I’ve ever been in my life.

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Victory-endorsed candidate Joel Burns emerged as the winner in last night’s runoff election a seat on the Fort Worth, Texas City Council.
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which endorsed Burns, assisted him with strategic and financial support. “It was enormously important to have the endorsement of the Victory Fund. They understand what it takes to win and then they help you do that,” said Burns.
Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, celebrated the outcome of the election. “Joel’s election proves that leadership and experience are more important to voters than sexual orientation,” Wolfe said. “The people of Fort Worth rewarded Joel’s obvious dedication to his city, and ignored the tired politics of division. In a year of hard-fought battles in Texas, this is a sweet victory.”