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
This legislative session, some legislators are trying to pass bills that would prohibit conversion therapy and discrimination against LGBTQ Texans. She plans to introduce a bill that would provide protections for LGBTQ Texans from discrimination in employment, public accommodations and housing. AdโWe'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. State 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 Democrats have failed to pass voter access legislation for years. The pandemic may change that.
Editorโs note: This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. He was thrilled by Texasโ lengthy early voting period โ which had been expanded from two weeks to three weeks because of the pandemic. Most of them are aimed at increasing voter access, which lawmakers said became a more urgent issue during the pandemic. The idea that high turnout only helps Democrats is one of the biggest hills to climb for changes like online voter registration โ but that may change after this year, said Grayson, who advocates for automatic voter registration programs for one of his firmโs clients. Most legislation expanding access has been filed by Democrats, while GOP legislation focuses largely on stemming fraud.