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,…
National Episcopal Church Urges Defeat of Texas “Bathroom Bill”
By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune July 20, 2017 As the Texas Senate prepares to consider legislation to restrict bathroom use for transgender Texans in legislative overtime, the national Episcopal Church is renewing its opposition to such proposals. Citing the “emotional and spiritual damage that discrimination does to transgender people,” top leaders of the national…
Texas Senate to Open Discussion on Anti-Trans Bathroom Bills
The Texas Legislature’s Senate Committee on State Affairs will hear witness testimony on two anti-trans bathroom bills introduced by state Sen. Lois W. Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) for consideration during the Special Legislative Session. The Senate hearing is slated for Friday, July 21st, starting at 9:00 a.m. in Capitol Extension Room E1.036. The bills, Senate Bill 3…
IBM Kicks Off Major Campaign Against Texas Legislature’s Bathroom Bill
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. With the Texas Legislature’s special session a week away, tech company IBM has ramped up its efforts to oppose the s0-called “bathroom bill” for its discriminatory effects against transgender Texans. The company, which has 10,000 employees in Texas purchased full-page advertisements in the Dallas Morning News, San Antonio…
Supporting Transgender Kids Is Child Abuse Says Texas State Rep
A state representative from McKinney, Texas says that transgender children are mentally ill and letting them express their gender identities is tantamount to child abuse. The remarks were made by state Rep. Scott Sanford during a panel discussion on bathroom privacy legislation which was produced by CBS DFW (KTVT-TV) and streamed on Facebook Live on…
Anti-LGBT Bills Filed a Week Before Special Legislative Session
On July 10, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation calling members of the State Legislature to a Special Legislative Session which is set to begin on July 18. Within hours of the governor’s announcement, two lawmakers filed three bills which would affect transgender Texans’ bathroom use and threaten the protections LGBT citizens have under…
In Recently-Released Video, Texas Dad Defends Transgender Son
A video released by Equality Texas last week features a dad from Little Elm, Texas speaking out in support for his 15-year-old transgender son during the State Legislature’s 85th Legislative Session earlier this year. In the video, which was recorded in January during the debate on the proposed bathroom bill, Ken Ballard says, “I was…
Why a Colorado Case Over “Religious Refusals” Could Matter to Texas
By Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune June 26, 2017 When the U.S. Supreme Court rules next year on a religious refusal case that started in 2012 at a bakery in Lakewood, Colorado, its decision could have reverberations in Texas. The court announced Monday that it will take up Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,…
Ron Nirenberg: LGBT Ally in the Mayor’s Office
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. It’s been three years since San Antonio’s LGBT community has had an ally in the mayor’s office. During her time in office, former Mayor Ivy R. Taylor did little to recognize the existence of her LGBT constituents, let alone support them. She called 2013’s non-discrimination ordinance — a…