In the Spotlight
Latest Headlines
Lege Week 6 Wrap-up: help us make sure the legislature prioritizes real emergencies
Posted on February 19, 2021 at 4:38 pm

We hope that you are staying warm and safe during this extreme winter storm. Like many around the state, our staff has experienced the power outages, burst pipes, and water shortages as our infrastructure struggles to keep up.  

If you are in need of support, the Texas Mutual Aid Directory has resources for shelter and food assistance, especially for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. 

An “unprecedented” winter storm on top of a “once in a generation” global pandemic is exhausting and overwhelming. Individual Texans are working around the clock, through informal networks of mutual aid, to make sure that their families have basic needs like shelter, water, and food despite the lack of government response. We are so proud of everyone who has gone above and beyond to ensure their neighbors’ safety and concurrently mourn that community has needed to lead the response during a pandemic and after a year of unimaginable loss, isolation and uncertainty. When legislators reconvene next week, they should be laser-focused on the urgent needs of our state: disaster response, infrastructure reform, and pandemic recovery. 

Bills that target the LGBTQ+ community, like the dozen that have already been filed, have no place at the Capitol. These bills would shut the LGBTQ+ community out of basic services like healthcare, would ban transgender kids from playing sports, and would undermine local nondiscrimination ordinances. 

These bills do nothing but target an already marginalized community in the wake of two major state emergencies that are threatening lives. Forcing LGBTQ+ Texans, particularly transgender children, to come to Austin to testify for access to basic rights is unconscionable. 

That doesn’t mean that legislators won’t do it though. These bills are already moving in other states, including anti-trans bills, similar to HB 68 (Toth, Spring) and HB 1399 (Krause, Fort Worth), that have moved through the Utah State House and a key Alabama Senate committee. 

Let’s make sure our legislators know that Texans are watching, and steadfastly oppose any legislation that would further marginalize our Texas LGBTQ+ community.

We’re working on three important sign-on letters where folks can band together virtually to impress upon legislators the overwhelming opposition to anti-LGBTQ+ — particularly anti-transgender youth — legislation. The more signatures we have, the more pressure our elected officials will feel to not even hold a hearing on these dangerous bills. Please sign on and share these forms with at least 5 people you know who want to make sure the legislature prioritizes the real emergencies that Texans are facing right now. 

     

There are 100 days left during this legislative session. We will continue to monitor happenings at the Capitol while you focus on your safety and well-being during these extraordinary times. We hope to see you and inspire you during our Advocacy Week, March 15-19.