San Antonio's Esperanza Center

San Antonio, Texas -- Deep in the heart of a city known and praised for its cultural diversity, a furious battle has been raging over cultural intolerance, discrimination, and public funding for the arts. Now that fight is headed for the courts.

Last week, the Esperanza Center, a progressive grassroots cultural arts organization, filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio in Federal District Court. Two other organizations for which the Esperanza acts as a fiscal sponsor, the San Antonio Lesbian and Gay Media Project and VAN, are also plaintiffs in the litigation.

The suit is the first arts funding legal case since NEA v. Finley, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent major decision on public arts funding. The lawsuit places San Antonio at the forefront of a new grassroots struggle between right-wing extremists and defenders of personal freedom, cultural expression, and civic respect for all communities.

"Respeto es basico -- basic to family, community, and democracy," Graciela Sánchez, executive director of the Esperanza Center said. "This means we must have respect for other people, for different points of view, and even respect for those who we don't agree with."

In September, 1997, after a public lobbying campaign by right-wing pressure groups, the San Antonio City Council in closed backroom meetings eliminated all public arts funding for the Esperanza, the Media Project, and VAN.

During the arts funding process, the Esperanza Center and the other two organizations received high rankings and positive comments from citizen-review panels as well as from the Cultural Arts Board appointed by City Council.

The arts organizations were targeted for de-funding by conservative groups because of the Esperanza's activities and programs related to cultural diversity, human rights, environmental justice, and reproductive freedom.

To stem a growing and increasingly pervasive climate of intolerance and intimidation in San Antonio, the Esperanza, along with the Media Project and VAN filed suit to defend what they say is most basic to all people: "respect -- the right to dignity, to recognition, and to equal treatment in government processes."

"City government cannot allow prejudice or favoritism to drive public policy," Amy Kastely, attorney for the arts groups said. "The city should support cultural expression for all parts of San Antonio, just as it should provide fire stations, transportation, sidewalks, clean air, and education for all and not just for some."

"Finally! Some one has the courage to fight back," artist Liliana Wilson Grez said. "In these times, it can be dangerous to stand up for the rights of people who are disrespected and disregarded. Gracias a Dios for the Esperanza."

In response to the announcement of the suit, City Attorney Frank Garza told FOX 29 News: "This [City] Council, if the suit is filed, will have no choice but to really not fund them, because our current contracts say that if an entity sues the city then you lose funding, because we're not going to fund someone to sue us."

Sanchez responded: "Mr. Garza is mistaken in thinking City money would be used to sue the City. Public arts funding has always been used by the Esperanza to support specific artistic events and programs. We never have and never will use this kind of funding for litigation, construction, or other activities not included in our city-approved contracts."

Attorney Amy Kastely said, "I am troubled by the city's careless disregard for constitutional rights. Seeking assistance from the courts in no way disqualifies us from continuing to be involved in public life."

The law is clear that the City may not retaliate against or punish a group or an individual for exercising their constitutional rights, including the right to seek redress in the courts for constitutional violations.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently reaffirmed and extended this rule, holding that cities may not use city contracting or funding decisions to retaliate against groups or individuals for the exercise of their constitutional rights, in Board of County Commissioners v. Umbehr, 518 U.S. 668 (1996).

The arts group says it is calling on the City to refrain from such unlawful efforts to intimidate Esperanza, the Media Project, VAN, and all others who do business with, or receive services from, the City.