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Tag: Texas

Austin Free Press: LGBTQ+ Rights Groups Rally as Texas House Votes on Anti-Trans Bills

Posted in Austin, Austin Free Press, Journalism, and LGBTQIA

Local advocates for equality are fighting back as the rights of LGBTQ+ Texans are under attack again at the Texas Legislature – including by a bill up for a key House vote today.

A bill-tracking site maintained by the nonprofit Equality Texas shows that lawmakers filed more than 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills before the March 14 filing deadline. Most of those bills, which mainly target the rights of trans people, never will reach Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. But a few are marching through the legislature, which ends its current sessions on May 30.

One top concern of the trans community is SB 240, which would restrict transgender people’s use of bathrooms or locker rooms in such public places as schools, domestic violence shelters, prisons or government buildings.

Deceleration: Governor Abbott Threatens To Defund Police in San Marcos Over Gaza

Posted in Activism, Deceleration, and Journalism

Greg Abbott could defund the police in San Marcos—at least partially—if the Texas governor carries through with his threats over a proposed city council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

On Tuesday, May 6, the city council in this city of about 67,000 people will vote on a resolution which condemns “the humanitarian catastrophe and genocide in Palestine.” However, Abbott and others in the state Republican party establishment have threatened to pull millions in funding from the city if the resolution passes, including about $500,000 in state funds which go towards the police and public safety measures like opioid abuse mitigation. 

That’s according to a spreadsheet shared among city council members in the lead up to the vote on the resolution, which was provided to Deceleration by the group Palestine Solidarity SMTX. Over $18 million in federal funding which the state passes on to San Marcos could also be at risk, including over $2 million in grants from the Women, Infants and Children program, which ensures vulnerable residents have access to nutritious food.

How Democrasexy Finds Joy In Political Action

Posted in Activism, Austin, and Journalism

These are dark and scary times, and it can be hard to hold onto joy. But it’s also difficult to motivate people using pure doom and gloom. Activism and action without considering our own happiness leads to burnout.

Since 2021, Becky Bullard has been encouraging playfulness, a spirit of mysticism and even sexiness in political action through Democrasexy, the organization she founded. Her first event was a “Texorcism,” a gathering to symbolically “cast out the demons” at the Texas Capitol who had brought on the state’s six-week abortion ban. 

“We all dressed like witches. I had drag performers. We had a panel on abortion rights and a tarot reading for Texas,” Becky told me.

Gonzo Notes: The Left’s Texas Problem

Posted in Activism, Austin, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

The American left has a Texas problem. 

Really, it’s a problem of Red vs. Blue. I’m not talking about the problem with treating decisions about how we govern society as if it was a horse race, or between teams at a sporting event. What I’m thinking about today — in the spirit of  deescalating every conflict that isn’t with our true enemies (thank you, Margaret Killjoy) — is the way misconceptions about who lives in Texas, and how we vote, encourage an attitude of disposability and dehumanization.

As a Texas journalist, one cornerstone of my work has been making people understand that what happens in this state is relevant to them, even if they live outside of it. Southern states like Texas have been a laboratory for so much of the Republican policy that’s now being implemented nationwide by the Trump regime. More so, the lives of people here matter a great deal to me, and they should matter to you too.

So why do I see liberals from other states who are willing, even eager, to abandon the people who live here?

Understanding Bad Bills in the Texas Legislature

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and LGBTQIA

The 89th session of the Texas legislature is underway, and thousands of bills were filed before the deadline earlier this month. But only a few will actually reach the governor’s desk.

Currently, over 100 of these bills directly target LGBTQ+ rights. These include almost every aspect of life as a queer, or especially a transgender person, in our state — from health care to just generally being ‘out’ in public.

But the Texas legislature only meets for a handful of months every other year. During that limited window, lawmakers contend with a wish list of bills from the governor, lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house. This agenda gets first priority, and can eat up a lot of time. Out of the 10,000s of bills that are introduced each year, only a tiny fraction pass. While the governor can, and does abuse his authority to call an “emergency” session from time to time, doing so costs the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s valid to feel afraid — the Republican Party is open about its desire to erase LGBTQIA+ people from public life in the U.S. However, only a small portion of the bad bills will even reach committee this year, much less have a chance of becoming a law. I think it’s important to know which bills are most likely to move, because it shows us where we should focus our efforts to fight back. If we stop bad bills this session, it might be harder to pass worse ones next.

Austin Free Press: Al Green Calls for ‘Millions’ to Protest Trump

Posted in Austin, Austin Free Press, and Journalism

U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, said he didn’t intend to shout back at President Donald Trump during Trump’s speech to Congress earlier this month — but would do it again, despite the consequences, including receiving numerous death threats and being censured by his House colleagues.

Speaking to a packed room at Austin’s AFL-CIO labor hall near the Capitol this week, Green said he wanted to make clear to the president that voters didn’t give him a mandate to cut Medicaid or Social Security. He urged the public to engage in peaceful protest to protect those and other services.

“I want you to know that if the Congress won’t act and if the court can’t act because (Trump) won’t abide by the rulings of the court…there is but one remedy left,” Green said. “We the people. We the people will have the last word…this country was built on we the people. The country wasn’t built on DOGE,” Green said, referring to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency. “The country won’t be destroyed by DOGE.”