San Antonio Mayor Ivy R. Taylor issued a press release at 5:30 p.m. on April 22 in which she apologizes to members of her LGBT advisory committee for statements she’s made disparaging the city’s newly revised nondiscrimination ordinance. However, the mayor’s apology has garnered little sympathy from activists in the LGBT community.

On April 21, Taylor met with the committee to tell them that her plans to appoint a human relations liaison who would handle complaints made under the NDO and head up a proposed Department of Diversity and Inclusion were moving forward. However, she did not give the committee a time frame for completion, saying she would issue a statement later in the week.

In her press release, the mayor says she has received “insults, abuse and even threats.” She adds that she prays the path she has chosen “will not lead me away from God and His service.”

There was little sympathy for the mayor’s plight in posts on Facebook by local LGBT activists. Only Marsha Warren, a member of the mayor’s LGBT advisory committee, seemed to have positive words about the apology. CAUSA called the mayor’s words a “step in the right direction.”

This sampling of posts shows how some in the community reacted.

Dan Graney (Former CAUSA co-chair and political activist) “Encouraging but it comes across as damage control more than a genuine change of heart. Unless and until Mayor Taylor issues an apology for her “no” vote on the NDO in 2013, she will not have experienced true transformation.”

Janet Burrage Grisby (Winner of the Human Rights Campaign Chuck Jordan Award and local activist) “This is nothing but political cover. Now’s the time to push hard on implementation [of the NDO].”

Darrell Garcia Parsons (Board member of Fiesta Youth) “I think that this so-called Democrat tried to swing so far right to win North Side votes that she or her advisers realize she has made a wrong turn. I don’t think she cares about the LGBT community and I don’t think she cares about her previous statements. She already knew that she lost the LGBT vote a long time ago. I think now she is seeing that she is losing a broader base of voters, who find her insensitivity as deplorable.”

CAUSA (Community Alliance for a United San Antonio) “Finally, in the cause of fairness, equality, and inclusion San Antonio’s Interim Mayor Ivy Taylor has taken a step in the right direction.”

Ted Switzer (Former publisher of The Marquise, a San Antonio LGBT magazine from the 1990’s) “Mayor Taylor did not apologize for her vote against non-discrimination. Nor did she apologize for insulting her LGBT constituent’s by her stand against equality. She apologized, instead, for her criticism of her fellow city council persons’ attempts at implementation of the NDO . . . Don’t be charmed by her piousness. Listen to what she says about equality under the law and what she actually does.”

Marsha Warren (Local activist and member of the mayor’s LGBT advisory committee) “This is a woman of courage. Thank you Mayor for leading by example. As people of faith we know as it is stated in Micah 6:8 “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” This is a journey I am willing to work with you and all of San Antonio for the betterment of all its citizens.”

Following is the text of the mayor’s April 22 announcement.