By now we’re sure you know: there’s a lot going on in the Texas Legislature! What you might not know is that it’s not all doom and gloom- not by a long shot. Equality opponents may not want you to know the whole story, but we do, and so do two of our loyal supporters. That is why they’ve offered a $5,000 challenge grant to support the positive momentum we’re seeing in the TX legislature and to stop bad bills that would harm LGBT Texans and their families. We have until next Tuesday, April 14th, to take advantage of this opportunity- will you pitch in?
Did you know that just last week we helped to defeat two budget amendments targeting the LGBT community? One of them, the “Springer Amendment,” which would have given the Attorney General the power to shut down school districts with employee benefit programs inclusive of same-gender partners, was withdrawn from consideration thanks to a massive public outcry. Your voices were heard thanks to the almost 1,000 actions sent to lawmakers from our Action Center!
Or, did you know 35 bills have been proposed to protect LGBT Texans and their families from discrimination? These bills include providing statewide anti-discrimination protections for LGBT Texans and allowing both same-gender parents to be listed on the supplementary birth certificate of their adopted child. In fact, two weeks ago we had the best ever hearing on supplementary birth certificates, and we have a supportive committee chair continuing to move it forward.
A lot can happen in the two months remaining in the 84th Legislative Session. We will continue to fight anti-equality legislation, and we will further our collaborative work with unexpected allies like the Texas Association of Business. Your continued support, together with allied organizations, will make it possible for us to defeat bad bills. But it will take each of us, fighting harder than ever before, to push the good legislation forward during this defensive session.
Success in June will be defined by killing all 22 anti-equality bills proposed this session and maybe even passing a pro-equality bill or two. This will be no small feat, but we strongly believe that it is possible with your support. Because two generous donors agree, they have offered a $5,000 matching challenge to strengthen our work. Help Equality Texas kill the bad bills, advance the good bills, and finish this session successfully by making a gift of $20, $50, $100 or more today.
We can’t wait to celebrate the difference your gift will make in June, when we hope to tell you that thanks to your support we defeated harmful legislation and advanced a state in which all Texans can live, love, work, and grow to their full potential.
With sincere gratitude for your support,
Chuck Smith
This week in your Legislative Update: The House Human Services Committee passes important Youth Homelessness legislation and the House debates the budget
Click on the screen capture below to watch the latest Legislative Update from Daniel Williams:
Contact your lawmakers using our ACTION CENTER.
Learn more about the legislation we’re working on at the LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION CENTER.
Make sure your voice is heard! Join us at the Capitol in Austin for Freedom Advocacy Day on April 13. Registration ends next Wednesday, so register today!
Thank you for your support! Together, we are Building a State of Equality in Texas.
Have a great weekend,
Chuck Smith
Executive Director
I’m very excited about Freedom Advocacy Day on April 13th. It is your opportunity to have face-to-face conversations in the Texas Capitol about the LGBT equality issues that matter most to you. I hope you’ll be able to join us!
For anyone who isn’t able to commit the entire day, we’ve added a Call to Action on the north steps of the Capitol at 12:30 pm. The Call to Action is an opportunity to hear from some of our strongest supporters and friends in the capitol about the impact of citizen advocacy.
If you haven’t already, please register for Freedom Advocacy Day HERE. We’ll start the day at the First United Methodist Church Family Life Center (1300 Lavaca) at 11:00 am, then head to the capitol for the Call to Action, followed by meetings with decision makers in teams. The day ends at 4:00 pm with a debrief and happy hour at Scholz Garten (1607 San Jacinto), a few blocks from the capitol. The registration deadline is next Wednesday, April 8th, so reserve your spot soon!
I’d also like to thank our partners at the Human Rights Campaign and the Texas Freedom Network for helping make Freedom Advocacy Day happen.
If you can’t make it to Austin on April 13th, please use our ACTION CENTER to contact your representatives in support of our work.
Hope to see you on April 13th,
Daniel Williams,
Equality Texas
The following joint press release was sent this morning by Equality Texas, the Texas Freedom Network, and the ACLU of Texas.
March 31, 2015
While outrage grows over potential discrimination allowed by religious refusal laws in Indiana and other states, Texas lawmakers are considering at least 20 bills in the current legislative session that would subject lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to discrimination and even criminal prosecution.
“As troubling as the laws in Indiana and elsewhere truly are, Texas is in a league of its own when it comes to legislative efforts to legitimize and in some cases even mandate discrimination against its LGBT residents,” said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network. “Supporters of this avalanche of cruel, mean-spirited bills cynically declare that they should have the freedom to discriminate while ignoring the real-life consequences for people who, simply because of who they are and whom they love, could lose their jobs or homes or be denied public services that others take for granted. I’m certain most Texans don’t define freedom that way.”
The 20 bills that would subject LGBT Texans to discrimination can be grouped into four broad categories:
The claim by Indiana’s governor that his state’s religious refusal bill simply mirrors other bills around the country is misleading, Miller said. Passed by a large, bipartisan majority of legislators in 1999, the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, or RFRA, allows individuals to challenge laws that “substantially” burden their practice of religion. It also includes provisions to ensure that the law can’t be misused to disregard civil rights protections against discrimination. Texas and other states passed such laws in the 1990s in response to government actions that truly affected the practice of religion, such as bans or restrictions on religious clothing. But the major impetus behind this new generation of bills is religious-right groups and others who object to same-sex marriage and laws that protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment, housing and public services.
In fact, the two constitutional amendments proposed in Texas this year would replace the state’s existing RFRA with much broader language that allows challenges to laws that someone thinks will burden his or her religious beliefs or practice in any way, substantially or otherwise. That would open the door to individuals and businesses using religion to justify discrimination against LGBT people and others at work, in housing and in public services. In addition, the amendments don’t include provisions barring the use of religion as an exemption to civil rights laws that protect against discrimination, said Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director for the ACLU of Texas.
“The current law in Texas has worked well for more than a decade precisely because it ensures people can practice their faith without sacrificing other laws meant for the common good, like civil rights protections,” Robertson said. “The ACLU of Texas regularly uses this law to protect the rights of people of faith, but calls to expand religious exemptions are utterly misguided. Nothing in our Constitution gives people of faith a special exemption from following laws meant to protect everyone.”
While enactment of the constitutional amendments would require a two-thirds vote in the Texas House and Senate as well as by Texas voters on a statewide ballot, passage of the 18 other bills requires just a simple majority vote in the two legislative chambers. Major U.S. companies have pushed back hard against such laws passed recently in Indiana, Arkansas and other states. A number of those companies as well as national organizations have even announced that they will reconsider plans to expand operations or hold events in those states. Business leaders in Texas — as well as an increasing number of clergy and other faith leaders — have also been expressing their concerns that the proposed legislation in Texas makes the Lone Star State appear intolerant and unwelcoming.
On the other hand, some lawmakers have proposed at least 35 bills that would protect LGBT Texans and their families from discrimination. (Click here for a listing of those bills:http://bit.ly/goodbills84th.) Those bills would, among other things, provide statewide anti-discrimination protections for LGBT Texans and allow both same-gender parents to be listed on the supplementary birth certificate of their adopted child, said Chuck Smith, executive director of Equality Texas.
“Indiana’s legislators could have avoided the current economic backlash if they had passed a RFRA similar to the 1999 Texas law, which carefully balances religious liberty and nondiscrimination,” Smith said. “Texas has been a national leader in protecting individual liberty, and now the Lone Star State has the opportunity to continue that tradition of leadership by passing nondiscrimination laws that protect the individual right of all Texans to work hard and protect their families regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
###
Take action now at http://bit.ly/eqtxcurrentactions
ACTION ALERT – IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
Friend,
On Tuesday, March 31st, the Texas House will consider HB 1 – the General Appropriations Bill. HB 1 creates the budget for the state for the next two years. Rep. Drew Springer has proposed an amendment to the budget that seeks to hurt LGBT families.
Use our ACTION CENTER to contact your State Representative and tell them to oppose the Springer Amendment on page 151 of their amendment packet.
The Springer Amendment ceases all state funding for a school district that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, has taken an action in violation of the State Constitution, giving new powers to the Attorney General not granted by statute. The school district would have 60 days to come into compliance. The amendment is targeted at Pflugerville ISD and Austin ISD, two school districts that have instituted “+1” benefit programs that are inclusive of same-gender partners of school employees. The benefit programs allow an employee to name a second person who is financially interdependent with them and co-resides with them to receive benefits. The programs were constructed to comply with Attorney General guidance. Although Rep. Springer believes these programs to be in violation of the state constitution, absent additional Attorney General opinions, they would not be affected by the new level of bureaucracy his amendment attempts to create.
Enter your address in our ACTION CENTER to look up the phone number and e-mail of your state representative and to generate a sample e-mail to send them.
This week in your Legislative Update: Daniel tells us about a hearing on an anti-marriage bill and why the budget can be dangerous.
Click on the screen capture below to watch the latest Legislative Update from Daniel Williams:
Contact your lawmakers using our ACTION CENTER.
Learn more about the legislation we’re working on at the LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION CENTER.
Join us for Freedom Advocacy Day on April 13.
Thank you for your support! Together, we are Building a State of Equality in Texas.
Have a great weekend,
Chuck Smith
Executive Director
Like Equality Texas on Facebook!
Like on Facebook