TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – As Pride month draws to a close, some gay and lesbian Texas lawmakers from North Texas expressed concern and disappointment about the recent regular legislative session.
State Rep. Julie Johnson, (D) Farmers Branch, a lesbian who has fought for LGBTQ equality for nearly 28 years, said, “The LGBT community is really under attack in the Texas state legislature.”
Johnson and Rep. Venton Jones, (D) Dallas, who is gay and has advocated for black and LGBTQ residents, have a bit of a battle.
“It was very exhausting to come in day after day after day after day to make another attack on LGBTQ people and that’s what it felt like going through these 140 days when the bills started moving,” Jones said. “There was a fight we had to prepare for every week.”
During an interview with CBS News Texas, both blamed Republicans for introducing legislation they said makes their community feel unworthy. “They introduced 144 anti-LGBT bills, really targeting our community. Representative Jones and I are part of the LGBT caucus, and we were able to defeat 141 of them, but the three that passed had devastating consequences for in our community.”
Johnson said during the 2021 regular legislative session, there were 77 bills that were introduced and targeted at his community.
Currently, there are 180 state legislators in the House and Senate.
Of these, only nine members identify as LGBTQ.
Three, including Johnson and Jones, and Jessica Gonzalez, D-Dallas, represent the North Texas region.
They are also members of the House LGBTQ caucus, which also includes straight lawmakers.
We are all democrats.
Among the three bills that became law this past regular session that Johnson and Jones expressed the most concern about is Senate Bill 14.
It prohibits medical professionals from providing drugs, hormones or surgery to anyone under the age of 18 to change their gender.
As a parent, I am very resentful of the politics of Republican politicians who know nothing, who never had transgender children, never went to a doctor, never had to explore any of these issues, calling me as father what I can do and what I can’t do and what I think is in the best interest of my children.”
Republicans said they were trying to protect children from surgery or hormone therapy at an early age, something they could not reverse if they changed their minds when they grow up.
Both Johnson and Jones said that when children struggle with their gender identity, it’s their parents who have their children’s best interests at heart.
“What you saw was families flooding into the Capitol, day after day, to speak out against this legislation and desperate to make sure lawmakers heard the strong opposition to these bills,” he said. said Jones.
Both representatives criticized Senate Bill 15, which requires athletes at Texas public colleges and universities to compete only on teams of their biological sex.
It comes a year after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas made headlines after transitioning from male to female and competing against women instead of men.
Another bill that became law is Senate Bill 12, which prohibits children under the age of 18 from attending sexually oriented shows on public property and private businesses.
Jones said, “It was just another attack on LGBTQ people who, unfortunately, used our children as weapons to make these things happen.”
Asked what they’re worried about coming next, Johnson said: “Just more. The Republicans, they can never get enough of our community.”
State Rep. Matt Shaheem, (R) Plano, denied the allegation. “There is no goal at all.”
Shaheen insisted he and other Republican state lawmakers don’t have it in for LGBTQ Texans.
He said Republicans want to protect children. “These are not debatable outside the capital. Nobody, almost nobody wants this kind of trash in front of our children. Almost nobody, nobody wants sexual acts in front of our children. Any common, sensible individual does not want a child to change their genre”.
Shaheen pointed to a recent poll showing that most Texans support Republican positions. “I think the Democratic party needs to be careful. A lot of a more extreme base is taking over the party. That’s a lot of common sense. The vast, vast majority of Texans agree with that. positions.”
Asked what he and other LGBTQ lawmakers in his community have heard, Rep. Jones said, “Concern. There are a lot of LGBTQ people who are worried that they need to leave the state right now.”
“Our community, we’re afraid. We’re tired of this. We don’t need to be the GOP’s political punching bag and we need a state that values LGBT people.”
Both she and Jones said they believe more legislation against the LGBTQ community will be introduced.
They said they will remain vigilant and continue to fight.
Jack Fink
