While Texas’ controversial abortion law strictly refers to women in its phrasing, it also limits access to the procedure for transgender and nonbinary people who are able to become pregnant. By Neelam Bohra, The Texas Tribune Samson Winsor moved across the country from Utah to Austin in 2019, hoping he would feel less out of…
Texas Lawmakers Want to Add More LGTBQ Safeguards After U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
A new ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court makes clear that it violates federal law to fire an employee on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Now Texas lawmakers want to guarantee similar protections for LGBTQ Texans in housing, health care and other spheres. by Emma Platoff and Cassandra Pollock, The Texas Tribune…
Texas Progressive Leaders Praise U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQ+ Civil Rights
The ruling carries special power in the Lone Star State, which is among those that doesn’t extend protections to workers based on their gay or transgender identities. However, some cities, including San Antonio, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. Democratic congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, who’s running to represent a border district that also includes a slice…
Equality Texas Joins Opposition to Appointment of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to SCOTUS
In an email to supporters, Equality Texas announced it was joining state and national LGBT leaders in opposing the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. On July 9, President Donald J. Trump nominated Kavanaugh, who has spent 12 years serving in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, to…
Commentary: Wedding Cake Debate Will Create a Backlash
This commentary was originally published in the San Antonio Express-News. It is reprinted here with the permission of the author. “To cake! or not to cake!” that is the question. The judges’ decision is final. And the winner is? Who knew that cake decorating could be so confrontational? And, as I like to say from…
Town Hall to Address Refusal of Service to LGBTs After SCOTUS Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision
Last June, in a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, absolving him from legal liability for refusing to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple because it went against his religious beliefs. While many legal experts have maintained the…
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…
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Consider Houston Fight Over Same-Sex Marriage Benefits
By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune December 4, 2017 Denying the city of Houston’s request, the U.S. Supreme Court will not review a June decision by the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled that the landmark decision legalizing same-sex marriage does not fully address the right to marriage benefits. The high court on Monday announced it…
Hometown Hero: Judge Genie Wright
“In her court, she treats all individuals fairly, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Bexar County Judge Genie Wright of County Court No. 7 was sitting at home early in the morning of June 26, 2015, anxiously awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling regarding same-sex marriage. After the now-infamous ruling was announced, her phone…
Hometown Hero: Eric Alva
Each year, the Human Rights Campaign of San Antonio recognizes individuals, whether LGBT or an ally of the community, who go above and beyond, personally and professionally, to impact the lives of gays and lesbians throughout the Alamo City and elsewhere. Important movers-and-shakers, Eric Alva and Judge Genie Wright, were honored in November during the…