Texas Takes the Lead in Advancing Christian Nationalist Agenda
Texas Republican lawmakers are set to curtail trans rights and LGBTQ content in the classroom.
Texas has long been the test case for the conservative agenda in America, and the fall of Roe v. Wade is only the beginning of the Christian nationalist project. Up next? The rest of your reproductive rights and sexual privacy.
A new legislative session will begin in Texas, where Republicans control the state legislature and executive branch, and the attacks on abortion rights are coming hand-in-hand with attacks on trans people—including children.
At the top of Texas Republicans’ agenda is derailing LGBTQ rights. The Texas GOP’s new platform considers homosexuality an “abnormal lifestyle choice” and opposes “all efforts to validate transgender identity.” You can’t say they aren’t transparent about their bigotry.
Texas lawmakers are also considering yet another ban on transgender students playing sports in public schools, because, if nothing else, they’re consistent. And riding the wave of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, Republican lawmakers in the Lone Star State are seeking to ban LGBTQ content in the classroom under the guise of “parental rights.”
(Ah yes, the parental rights movement is BACK, baby.)
In an attempt to curtail First Amendment rights of expression, Texas’ Republican lawmakers also want to deem businesses that host drag performances “sexually oriented,” prohibiting minors from entering. (See: Idaho.)
They’re also seeking to ban gender-affirming care for youth, designate gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse under Texas law, and go after medical providers who give this life-saving care.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has already been thrown into disarray under attempts by Attorney General Ken Paxton to target transgender children and their families, forcing some families to flee the state.
Things are, in all honesty, looking pretty bleak in Texas—which means the future is pretty bleak for the rest of us as well. When they come for trans people, will you speak out?
This post was adapted from a Twitter thread.