The Houston GLBT Political Caucus, the oldest gay civil rights organization in the South, recently elected Noel Freeman as its new president. Freeman has been a member for four years and served one year on the caucus' board before taking the top leadership post this month.

Freeman, 34, a city of Houston public works department administrator, is a California native who served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a senior airman. He moved to Houston in 2003 after earning his bachelor's degree in political science from Texas A&M University. Freeman married his partner of nine years in August in Washington, D.C., where gay marriage is recognized.

He recently spoke with Chronicle reporter Renée C. Lee about the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender community, the role of the political caucus and his plans for his one-year tenure as president. Edited excerpts:

Q. Tell me a little about the GLBT Political Caucus.

A. The caucus was founded in 1975. It's an equality-based organization. Our primary focus for the last 35 years has been being engaged in the political process and promoting equality for GLBT individuals.

Q. Describe the caucus' activities.

A. Most people know us for our electoral activities, getting involved in endorsement support of candidates. Some of the other things we do are issue-based advocacy, issues like "don't ask, don't tell, " which has been very prominently featured in the news lately. So we pay attention to some of those other issues that are outside of elections, and when it becomes necessary for us to do advocacy, we get folks volunteering in phone banks and call on members of Congress and state representatives.

Q. What has changed about Houston's GLBT community in past three decades?

A. We have branched out. People recognize Montrose as kind of the historical center of the gay community in Houston, (but) we're much more comfortable in a lot of different neighborhoods. I live in the Heights, and on my street there are three same-sex households. I think the GLBT community is much more comfortable and more prosperous than it used to be, but that's not to say that we don't have a long way to go.

Q. What do you mean?

A. We still have on the books, in the city charter, a provision passed by popular vote prohibiting the extension of same-sex partner benefits to city employees. That's just flagrant discrimination written into our charter. I think there will be a point when we can revisit that. We have a nondiscrimination policy for city employees that prohibits discrimination for sexual orientation and gender identity. We would like to see that extended to people who have city contracts. There are housing issues. So there are things we need to deal with.

Q. Do you feel society's view of the GLBT community has evolved over the years?

A. Yes. Gay rights organizations have been in existence since 1925. They were very secretive. People were living in fear, being afraid of how they would be prosecuted. Today, you got millions of people out about who they are, who they love. You look at public opinion. On the issue of job discrimination, you had Ronald Reagan back when he was governor of California saying that it was wrong to discriminate against gays and lesbians in employment. Back then that was a bold statement. Public opinion was drastically in favor of denying gays and lesbians equality in employment. And you look at where we are today, where the overwhelming majority of the public believes it is not right to discriminate against gays and lesbians in employment. Even among those traditional groups that you consider anti-equality, the religious right or right wing. But there has been a tremendous amount of shifting in public opinion.

Q. How significant is the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" in the military?

A. That was a very personal victory for me. At Texas A&M University, I was the first cadet to be discharged under "don't ask, don't tell." I fought that fight for the last 10 years. It is very important that we have a strong defense of our country, and people who are able and willing to serve should be able to do so regardless of their sexual orientation.

Q. What issues will you tackle during your presidency?

A. My primary goal early on is to address some of the operational deficiencies. I think with any organization as big as we are, as old as we are, there are always going to be some things you need to look at to improve the way the organization just operates. We've got some time to work on some issues.

Q. What are those issues?

A. We have a couple of bills in the Legislature that we're looking at relative to bullying and birth certificates (listing the names of two people of same gender as parents). We're also paying attention to a couple of issues that aren't necessarily local but have statewide implications.

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