Julian Castro on Civil Rights Democratic Presidential Challenger (withdrawn); former HUD Secretary

Leaders should unite us, not feed bigotry and division

Passed ground-breaking rule furthering fair housing

Racial and social justice as important as economic justice

Sen. Amy KLOBUCHAR: My life and my work in the Senate has been about economic opportunity.

Q: What Senator Klobuchar is describing there, an economic justice agenda, is that enough to mobilize Latino voters to stand with the Democratic Party?

Secretary Julian CASTRO: I also think that we have to recognize racial and social justice. I'm proud that I'm the only candidate so far that has put forward legislation that would reform our policing system in America and make sure that no matter what the color of your skin is, that you're treated the same, including Latinos who are mistreated too oftentimes by police.

Pass ERA to ensure equal rights & equal pay for women

A: I would do several things, starting with something we should have done a long time ago, which is to pass the Equal Rights Amendment finally in this country. And also pursue legislation so that women are paid equal pay for equal work in this country. It's past time that we did that. If we want to be the most prosperous nation in the 21st century, we need to make sure that women are paid what they deserve.

Supports reparations commission, we need healing process

Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery

"If, under our Constitution, we compensate people if we take their property, why wouldn't we compensate people who were considered property and sanctioned by the state?" he asked.

As mayor, banned discrimination against sexual orientation

In 2013, when the Supreme Court struck down an anti-same-sex marriage law, he prompted his state to follow suit.

"Ending the official bigotry that Texas sanctions is both the right thing to do, and it is also good for business," he said at the time.

As HUD secretary, Castro prioritized helping homeless LGBTQ youth and attempted to dismantle LGBTQ housing discrimination.

"Every American should have access to decent, affordable housing," Castro said. "It's a tragedy that so many LGBTQ youth are being mistreated simply because of who they are, making them particularly vulnerable to homelessness."

Property was taken from slaves, so pay reparations

"I've long believed that the country should consider reparations because of the atrocity of slavery," Mr Castro told me. "I believe that we're never going to fully heal as a country from the racial divide until we've addressed the tremendous wrong that was done with slavery."

He said that, as president, he would set up a commission to determine an inclusive way to address "the best path forward". It will be up to those who support reparations to decide whether a "commission" is the kind of bold move they had in mind.

Protections for GLBTQ; benefits to same-sex partners

Chicano; Jewish; gay: common thread is marginalization

I would not be surprised if other students heavily submerged in other ethnic cultures encountered the same sense of marginalization. [For a Stanford course, I read] "Imagining the Holocaust": the horrific account of what happened to Jews during World War II. At Stanford I was forced to pull back from my tight community and understand how a common thread ran through so many other cultures around the world where people had to fight for their rights. When one of these groups achieved a victory against discrimination, I felt like "we" had won.

Signed onto the "Mayors for the Freedom to Marry" effort

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings is still refusing to sign onto the pledge, despite a petition with 253 signatures and promises of protests at his upcoming public events.

The group has also added two new co-chairs, San Diego's Jerry Sanders and Boston's Thomas Menino; with New York's Michael Bloomberg, L.A.'s Antonio Villaraigosa and Houston's own Annise Parker. The five-co-chairs issued the following statement: Source: Dallas Voice, "Mayors for the Freedom to Marry" , Jan 20, 2012

Extend city benefits to same-sex domestic partners

Extending benefits to cit employees in same sex relationships would cost between $300,000 and $400,000 a year--a small fraction of the total $2.2 billion budget.

However, a local group calling itself "Voices for Marriage" protested the proposed change on Monday outside city hall. The group, citing religious views and current state law, opposes any extension of benefits to domestic partnerships.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who backs the change, said the city needs to extend benefits to domestic partners in order to stay competitive with other cities and companies across the country that already offer similar benefits. The mayor dismissed concerns by many protestors over the cost of benefits as "a smokescreen for their dislike of gays and lesbians."