Veteran booed out of council chambers speaks out

Decorated Iraq veteran Eric Alva leaves the dais after speaking in favor of changes to the city's anti-bias policy. Decorated Iraq veteran Eric Alva leaves the dais after speaking in favor of changes to the city's anti-bias policy. Photo: Kin Man Hui / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Kin Man Hui / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Veteran booed out of council chambers speaks out 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

As a gay U.S. Marine veteran who advocated for the repeal of the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, Eric Alva has grown accustomed to being in the spotlight.

But the San Antonio native said he never expected the boos and hisses directed at him Wednesday night while he addressed the City Council on proposed changes to the anti-discrimination ordinances at a Citizens Heard hearing.

“I said that if this ordinance doesn't pass, I could be fired from a job and even thrown out of a restaurant, and people started to boo me,” said Alva, 42. “I was real hurt by that. It was unbelievable.”

Alva was the first American injured in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He received a medical discharge and was awarded the Purple Heart. His prosthetic leg was visible Wednesday, under his khaki shorts. News of Alva's 3-minute speech spread via social media that night.

“To all you people that preach the word of God, shame on you, because God loves me, like the day I lay bleeding on the sands of Iraq,” Alva said to the crowd. “And that's why he saved me.”

Mayor Julián Castro's senior policy adviser reached out to Alva on Thursday, when he “wanted to see how I was doing, and even apologized, saying that the mayor was disappointed that I went through all that,” Alva said.

While getting coffee on Friday morning, shortly after he read about statements that Councilwoman Elisa Chan made on a secret recording that bashed gay people, Alva heard from U.S. Congressman Joaquín Castro.

“The intolerant views expressed by Councilwoman Chan and the deplorable actions of those who booed a wounded warrior do not represent the sentiments of most San Antonians,” the mayor's brother said in a statement. “Our city celebrates diversity and prides itself in supporting our veterans as Military City, USA.”

He said her secretly recorded statements, reported in Friday's San Antonio Express-News, were uncalled for and discriminatory.

“She's entitled to her opinion, but she is supposed to represent all the people in her district,” Alva said. “If I lived in her district, I'd run against her.”

emoravec@express-news.net

Twitter: @EvaRuth