FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Angela Hale, Equality Texas, 512.289.2995 angela@redmediagroup.com

Austin, Texas -February 28, 2019- Equality Texas, the largest statewide organization solely dedicated to securing full equality for LGBTQ Texans, today is raising the alarm that Senate Bill 15, as passed today by the Senate State Affairs Committee on a 5-1 vote, would gut non-discrimination ordinances that protects more than six million Texans in most major Texas cities.

This morning, the committee substitute was unveiled for Senate Bill 15 during a Senate State Affairs Committee hearing. As originally filed, SB 15 included explicit exemptions for non- discrimination ordinances (NDOs). The committee substitute stripped the language out of the bill.

In Texas six major Texas cities: Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Ft. Worth, Plano, and San Antonio (cumulatively 20% of Texas’ population) have municipal NDOs, and several cities and counties have nondiscrimination policies for city workers and contractors.

“The Lt. Governor may have put aside “the bathroom bill”, but he is still coming after LGBTQ Texans. Dan Patrick’s fingerprints are all over this stealth attack. The new language would leave nearly six million Texans currently protected by non-discrimination ordinances vulnerable. LGBTQ Texans and allies fought hard for these protections and we intend to fight to keep them intact,” said Samantha Smoot, Interim Executive Director of Equality Texas.

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Equality Texas is the largest statewide organization working to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Texans through political action, education, community organizing, and collaboration. The Equality Texas Foundation works to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Texans through education, community organizing, and collaboration.