At Every Texan, we join with the LGBTQ community and allies in opposing harmful legislation targeting the LGBTQ Texans. We oppose these relentless efforts to perpetuate discrimination and hate by elected officials in our state. This session, like so many before, lawmakers in Texas will spend much of the limited time the state has for consideration of laws to attack the rights of minority groups rather than focus on the real needs of Texans. What’s more, lawmakers have disgracefully stooped so low as to focus their oppression this legislative session directly on Texas children.
This session’s anti LGBTQ legislation includes:
- Bills attacking transgender youth: HB 1458, HB 3455, HB 4042, HB 4043, SB 29, SB 373, SB 1148
- Elimination of local non-discrimination ordinances or executive orders that may provide protections: HB 610, HB 3955, HB 4522, SB 1206, HJR 33
- License to discriminate under religious exemption: HB 1424, HB 3083, SB 247, SB 738
The historic and ongoing discriminatory treatment of members of the LGBTQ community in both law and in society has grave impacts on the health and wellbeing of our fellow Texans.
- We know the rate of attempted suicide of heterosexual students is 6.4%, while that rate jumps to 29.4% for LGBTQ students.
- We know that 22% of the LGBTQ community lives in poverty compared to 16% of straight people. Transgender people experience an even higher rate of poverty, at 29%.
- We know that the passage of discriminatory laws has significant negative impacts on the physical and mental health of LGBTQ youth. Past bans on same sex marriage resulted in a 248% increased rate of anxiety disorder and a 42% increase in alcohol use disorder.
It’s truly disheartening that, in the wake of both a global pandemic and one of the most devastating winter storms in recent history, our state leaders are prioritizing legislation that seeks to solve a non-existent problem by attacking Texas’ transgender youth and their families for political gain. Past legislation attacking the Texas LGBTQ community has been met with a swell of opposition from Texans all over the state including our business community.
Y’all means all, and at Every Texan we certainly mean every single Texan — regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. Every Texan praises the efforts of lawmakers who have filed legislation seeking to reverse decades of LGBTQ oppression.
We urge you to call your Texas representatives and ask for their support in opposing discriminatory and hateful legislation, and to support pro-equality legislation currently under consideration by the Texas Legislature.
To stay up to date on equality related legislative news and learn how to take action, visit Equality Texas.