As part of the settlement, the school district agreed to provide mandatory training to human resources and counseling staff on LGBTQ issues in schools, and to require its board of trustees to vote on whether to add protections for sexual orientation into its policies. By Naomi Andu, The Texas Tribune Arlington art teacher Stacy Bailey…
Pro-LGBTQ Bills Look Dead in the Texas House, but Advocates Say They’ve Made Progress
“Having a hearing is sometimes a victory,” said state Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, whose conversion therapy ban was debated for the first time this year. By Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune In every session since she was elected to the Texas House, state Rep. Celia Israel has taken aim at the controversial practice of conversion…
State Rep. Eric Johnson Files Employment Nondiscrimination Bill With LGBTQ Protections
State Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) has filed a bill in the Texas House that would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. HB 850, which was filed on January 16, would add LGBTQ protections to current state law that only covers race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin or age.…
What the U.S. Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision Means for Religious Refusal Laws in Texas
By Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune Last year, a dispute over a Colorado wedding cake made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — and this week, the reverberations of the high court’s ruling made it all the way to Texas. After the high court ruled Monday in favor of a Christian baker…
A Gay Texas Teacher Is on Leave After She Showed Students a Photo of Her Wife. She Has Few Legal Protections.
By Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune Stacy Bailey has been employed as an art teacher at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School for a decade, but she hasn’t been in the classroom since September. Instead, she’s in limbo: She isn’t fired — her contract with the district has even been renewed — but she’s not working. Mansfield…
Texas Equity PAC Endorses Nirenberg for Mayor
Texas Equity PAC, the registered political action committee of Equality Texas, has endorsed City Councilman Ron Nirenberg for mayor in the upcoming May 6 municipal election. In an April 28 statement, Texas Equity PAC chairman Eric Johnson said: “The Texas Equity PAC has chosen to give it’s only endorsement of the 2017 election to Ron…