The eyes of LGBTQ Texans are upon Dade Phelan and the House
Spurred by a groundswell of far-right support, the Texas Senate has passed all of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrickโs priority LGBTQ bills โ and then some. What the House does next will impact queer Texansโ lives and could determine Speaker Phelanโs future.
The Texas House has a record number of LGBTQ representatives as lawmakers face scores of bills focused on gender and sexuality
The Texas Legislature has nine lawmakers who are openly LGBTQ, all Democrats. At the same time, some Republican lawmakers are pushing a slate of bills aimed at drag queens, transgender children and how sexuality is discussed in schools.
Two House Democrats who broke quorum missing from Washington, D.C., reportedly vacationing in Portugal
Their vacation does not affect the lack of quorum that the House has in Austin that prevents the chamber from passing an elections bill. But it is at odds with Democratsโ insistence that they would use their time away to advocate for federal voting rights legislation in the nationโs capital.
Democratic lawmakers hope to enact statewide nondiscrimination law and ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ Texans
AdThis legislative session, some legislators are trying to pass bills that would prohibit conversion therapy and discriminiation against LGBTQ Texans. She plans to introduce a bill that would provide protections for LGBTQ Texans from discrimination in employment, public accommodations and housing. โWe're facing a global pandemic, and aside from passing nondiscrimination legislation because itโs the right thing to do, there is good policy there,โ said Gonzรกlez, the vice chair of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus. AdState Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, filed House Bill 560, which would penalize state-licensed counselors and therapists who engage in conversion therapy with children. That in it of itself is a victory,โ said Israel, a founding member of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus.
Texas lawmakers want to add more LGTBQ safeguards after U.S. Supreme Court guarantees workplace protections
LGBTQ Texans marked a major victory Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law prevents employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. But in Texas, which did not have such workplace safeguards, LGBTQ lawmakers and advocates say they are far from done fighting for other essential protections. Employment discrimination protections, they say, are necessary but not sufficient for advancing the equal treatment of LGBTQ Texans. The fight for LGBTQ rights has been a long and arduous one in Republican-dominated Texas. In pushing for comprehensive nondiscrimination protections, LGBTQ lawmakers and their allies are also making an economic case.