On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court stck down a Texas law banng gay sodomy — a watershed moment for gay rights. But 15 years later, same-sex upl face another urt se that aims to roll back their rights.
Contents:
- TEXAS GOP'S NEW PLATFORM LLS GAY PEOPLE 'ABNORMAL' AND REJECTS TRANS INTI
- TEXAS GOP ADOPTS ANTI-LGBTQ PLATFORM, REFERS TO BEG GAY AS ‘ABNORMAL’
- FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER LANDMARK GAY RIGHTS SE, SAME-SEX UPL TEXAS STILL FACE CHALLENG URT
TEXAS GOP'S NEW PLATFORM LLS GAY PEOPLE 'ABNORMAL' AND REJECTS TRANS INTI
The Legislature banned puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans kids, rtricted the llege sports teams trans athlet n jo and expand the fn of sexual nduct to clu some drag shows. But a “Don’t Say Gay” provisn for schools missed key adl. * texas on homosexuality *
The Texas Republin Party unveiled s official posn on LGBTQ issu over the weekend, fg homosexualy as an "abnormal liftyle choice" and also opposg "all efforts to validate transgenr inty. "Thoands of Republin activists met at the party’s biennial nventn Hoton on Saturday to agree to the party's platform on a range of issu, cludg the rejectn of the 2020 electn rults and a ll to repeal of the 1965 Votg Right Act, which was enacted to prevent discrimatn agast Black a sectn tled "Homosexualy and genr issu, " the party suggted that LGBTQ people should not be legally protected om discrimatn and that beg gay or trans is a choice. "Homosexualy is an abnormal liftyle choice, " the 40-page rolutn reads.
"We believe there should be no grantg of special legal entlements or creatn of special stat for homosexual behavr, regardls of state of orig, and we oppose any crimal or civil penalti agast those who oppose homosexualy out of fah, nvictn, or belief tradnal valu. "The Texas Republin Party blocked the Log Cab Republins, a longstandg group of gay nservativ — which also supports many of the party’s anti-LGBTQ polici — om havg a booth at Saturday's nventn. "The party's new official stance on sexual orientatn and genr inty also cis wh a recent natnwi surge charged rhetoric om media punds and policians about LGBTQ recent months, nservative lawmakers, televisn punds and other public figur have acced opponents of a newly enacted Florida tn legislatn — which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — of tryg to “groom” or “doctrate” children.
The word “groomg” has long been associated wh mischaracterizg LGBTQ people, particularly gay men and transgenr women, as child sex abers. They were among several bills the Legislature nsired that would brg major chang to the liv of gay and transgenr Texans.
TEXAS GOP ADOPTS ANTI-LGBTQ PLATFORM, REFERS TO BEG GAY AS ‘ABNORMAL’
But the lower chamber didn’t brg the amend legislatn up for nsiratn, killg the Senate’s third attempt at phg what crics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” provisn.
Crics say the provisns about LGBTQ lsons — patterned on ntroversial “Don’t Say Gay” law om Florida — nta vague language that uld stifle even rmal discsn about LGBTQ people, such as teachers discsg their same-sex spo.
The Republin Party of Texas, which oppos any efforts to validate transgenr inti and claims that homosexualy is “an abnormal liftyle choice, ” also nsirs banng the “teachg, exposure, and/or discsn of sexual matters (mechanics, feelgs, orientatn, or ‘genr inty’ issu)” to be a legislative prry.
FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER LANDMARK GAY RIGHTS SE, SAME-SEX UPL TEXAS STILL FACE CHALLENG URT
One bill signalg a shift opn toward the LGBTQ muny was Hoe Bill 2055, which would have repealed the state law crimalizg gay sex.
Venton Jon, a Dallas Democrat who is the first Black, gay and openly HIV-posive lawmaker to serve at the Capol. The Texas Republin party adopted a new platform on Saturday that refers to homosexualy as “abnormal” and “oppos all efforts to validate transgenr inty.