The anti-LGBT group Texas Values is protesting changes made on August 21 to the nondiscrimination policy of the San Antonio Independent School District which now includes protections for sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Jonathan Saenz, the president of Texas Values, was the featured speaker at a protest rally with about 15 people in…
After Months of Controversy, Texas Bathroom Bill Dies Quietly
By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune August 16, 2017 In the end, the controversial bathroom bill went quietly. For more than a year, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick led the crusade for a state law to regulate bathroom use for transgender Texans — an initiative that resonated with social conservatives, including many pastors, who backed…
Letter in Support of Bathroom Bill Includes Signatures of Three SA Businessmen
An August 9 letter in support of the proposed Texas bathroom bill, which is being circulated by the anti-LGBT group Texas Values, contains the signatures of 33 business owners including three from San Antonio. San Antonio businessmen Patrick Von Dohlen and Michael R. Knuffke of the Von Dohlen Knuffke Financial Group, and Daniel J. Petri…
Texas Bathroom Bill Appears to Be All But Dead in Special Session
By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune August 11, 2017 Despite it serving, in part, as the reason lawmakers are back in Austin for legislative overtime, the Texas Legislature could very well gavel out next week without passing a “bathroom bill.” With just days left in the 30-day special legislative session, controversial proposals to regulate bathroom…
Growing Number of Corporate Leaders Step Up Opposition to Bathroom Bill
CEO’s from 10 Fortune 500 companies voiced their opposition to the Texas bathroom bill in a letter which was sent to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, August 3. “No industry will remain untouched by the unnecessary harm that discriminatory laws will do to our competitiveness, to our ability to attract talent, and to our…
Religious Right Lobbyists Are the Lone Supporters of the Texas Bathroom Bill
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Law enforcement. The National Football League. Tech companies. Small businesses. And now, the largest oil and gas companies in the nation. None of the communities Texas Republicans have historically rallied behind want the GOP-led state legislature to pass its so-called “bathroom bill.” In fact, each and every one…
Bathroom Bill Debate Highlights Barriers to Updating Birth Certificate in Texas
By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune July 31, 2017 Though he tries to avoid restrooms “at all costs,” high school student Jason Foster says they’re sometimes unavoidable at school. Leander Independent School District requires students to use bathrooms based on their birth certificates. For Foster, who is transgender, that means using a gender-neutral bathroom or…
Sen. Menéndez: Bathroom Bill Is ‘Assault Against Basic Human Dignity’
State Sen. Jose Menéndez issued a statement denouncing the bathroom bill which passed in the Texas Senate on July 25 in a 21 to 10 vote after an 8-hour debate. “I have voted against this bill time and time again and will continue to condemn this offensive legislation in the name of respect and decency…
Texas Trans Wrestler Mack Beggs Speaks Out Against Bathroom Bill on YouTube
Mack Beggs, an 18-year-old trans boy on the wrestling team at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas has completed the voice-over for a YouTube video which pushes back on the anti-trans bathroom bills being debated during the state legislature’s Special Legislative Session. The video was produced by Athlete Ally, “a nonprofit organization that provides public…
Mayor Nirenberg Testifies Against Bathroom Bills
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg was among the hundreds of people who testified on Friday, July 21 before the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs, speaking out against two anti-trans bathroom bills introduced by state Sen. Lois W. Kolkhorst (R-Brenham). In his testimony Nirenberg said, “This legislation puts transgender people in the crosshairs of discrimination,…