Tag Archives: gay rights

November 2023 Texas School Board Election Recap

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From Franklin Strong: Since Tuesday, headlines across the country have highlighted crushing defeats book-banning school board candidates, often associated with Moms for Liberty, suffered on Election Night. That trend carried over into Texas elections, too— but only to an extent. … Continue reading →

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Keep an eye on the Cy-Fair ISD elections

Posted on November 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There’s potential for a lot of badness here. Conservative political-action committees and GOP U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz are backing four Cy-Fair ISD trustee candidates in next week’s election for four positions that could sway control of the board in one … Continue reading →

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Anti-gay Waco JP’s lawsuit heard by SCOTx

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Now we wait. Texas Supreme Court justices Wednesday questioned whether a Waco justice of the peace should remain under threat of a judicial oversight body’s sanctions if she continues refusing to marry gay couples. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct … Continue reading →

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Drag ban officially ruled unconstitutional

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas cannot enforce a new law that restricts some public drag shows, a federal judge said Tuesday in declaring the legislation unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge David Hittner found Senate Bill 12 “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills … Continue reading →

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Drag ban blocked

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. District Judge David Hittner temporarily blocked a new state law Thursday from going into effect that would have criminalized sexually-oriented performances in front of children or effectively banned some public drag shows. LGBTQ+ groups sued the Texas attorney … Continue reading →

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Katy ISD attacks its LGBTQ+ students

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Shameful. Katy Independent School District trustees narrowly voted Monday to enact several restrictions on how employees can handle gender identity matters after listening to over four hours of public testimony overwhelmingly against the measure. In a heated 4-3 vote, Katy … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against anti-drag bill

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The lawsuit count increases again. LGBTQ+ Texans and advocates filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to block a new state law that criminalizes some drag shows — and other performances — if they occur in front of children. Senate Bill 12, … Continue reading →

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Anti-gay Waco JP’s lawsuit to be considered by SCOTx

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The end of the line one way or the other. The Texas Supreme Court will review a case involving a Waco justice of the peace’s refusal to perform same-sex weddings. McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley sued the … Continue reading →

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Who you calling “groomer”?

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Bryan Slaton is the poster boy for that epithet. In public, former state Rep. Bryan Slaton was a conservative champion unafraid to ruffle feathers and pick fights, even with Republicans he deemed insufficiently conservative. A self-described “bold and brave Christian-Conservative” who’d worked … Continue reading →

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What would that ban on drag actually look like?

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It would be a mess, to put it charitably. Controversy surrounding Senate Bill 12, which aims to restrict “sexually oriented performances” and drag shows to protect minors, has stirred up concerns that it could have far-reaching implications beyond its intended … Continue reading →

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You can always count on Sid Miller to be a bigot

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There are other words I could have used as well. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is ordering his employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender,” the latest move by the state’s Republican leaders against transgender people. … Continue reading →

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We wait to see how much harm the House will do to LGBTQ+ people

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a very scary time. Chants of “Protect trans kids” echoed across the Capitol as hundreds of LGBTQ Texans and their supporters gathered Saturday afternoon to express anger and fear over a slate of rapidly moving bills targeting queer people. … Continue reading →

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A brief but dismal legislative update

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few recent news stories, to give you an idea of what’s happening in the Legislative session, and why I have been avoiding it. Item 1: Republican Texas senators on Monday reversed themselves and voted against allowing transgender kids currently being treated with puberty … Continue reading →

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The upcoming week in legislative gay-bashing

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, from Equality Texas: Monday, 3/27 Action Alerts & Upcoming Hearings HB 1686, the companion bill to SB 14, would ban trans youth from access to health care. We cannot let this pass. The hearing for HB 1686 begins … Continue reading →

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Where we are on the agenda

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott targets transgender college sports ban. Gov. Greg Abbott wants to ban transgender college students from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity, adding momentum to a Republican proposal that’s condemned by LGBTQ advocates and progressive … Continue reading →

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It’s going to be a brutal legislative session for LGBTQ folks in Texas

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I really wish this weren’t the case, but it is. It’s going to be bad. Two bills that would ban classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in Texas public schools before certain grade levels are poised to receive … Continue reading →

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Department of Education investigating removal of LGBTQ books from Texas school library

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books. Education and legal experts say the federal probe of … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton’s hatred of LGBTQ+ people continues unabated

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Item #1: Texas attorney general’s office sought state data on transgender Texans. Employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety in June received a sweeping request from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office: to compile a list of individuals who … Continue reading →

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League City to mess with its libraries

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is watered down from the original proposal, which was a true book ban situation, but it’s still bad and dumb and ominous. At a packed League City council chambers Tuesday night, residents made their voices heard about a proposed … Continue reading →

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Senate passes Respect For Marriage Act

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. And remember who opposed it, kids. Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz tried to block a Senate vote to explicitly enshrine equal marriage rights for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans into federal law Wednesday, after 12 GOP … Continue reading →

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Anti-gay Waco JP’s lawsuit still tossed

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. An Austin intermediate appellate court has upheld a Travis County judge’s decision to throw out McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley’s lawsuit against the state panel that sanctioned her in 2019 for refusing to perform same-sex weddings. … Continue reading →

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It’s really tough on LGBTQ students right now

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise, unfortunately. Schools remain a hostile place for LGBTQ students, according to a new report from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, which found a decline in access to resources, books and supportive clubs for those students. … Continue reading →

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You can be gay, you just can’t act gay

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So rules a notoriously anti-gay Trump judge, narrowing a SCOTUS ruling from just two years ago at the behest of the usual suspect. A federal judge has ruled that Biden administration guidelines requiring employers to provide protections for LGBTQ employees … Continue reading →

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Whither the Log Cabin Republicans

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A whole lot of words about a group of people that make no sense to me. In June 1998, a group of gay and lesbian conservatives, pushing for greater representation at the Texas Republican Party convention in Fort Worth, found … Continue reading →

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The book ban requests are coming from inside the house

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Typical “grassroots” campaign. The wave of book reviews and removals that swept across Texas in the last year was driven more by politicians than parents, a Houston Chronicle analysis found, contradicting claims that recent book bans were the result of … Continue reading →

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Ted Cruz says Texas should repeal its anti-sodomy law

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I feel obligated to note this. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the most socially conservative Texans serving in Congress, told The Dallas Morning News that Texas should repeal its now-dormant law that bans gay sex. “Consenting adults should be … Continue reading →

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Texas sues USDA over LGBTQ protections

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the story, which I’ll get to in a minute. It might be best to try to summarize this more accurately, because this is one of those technical situations where it takes a lot of qualifiers to get at what’s … Continue reading →

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There’s a lot of anti-LGBTQ litigation out there

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is where we are. In the wake of the toppling of Roe v. Wade and with Justice Clarence Thomas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit rulings on gay sex … Continue reading →

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House passes bill to protect same-sex marriage

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A surprisingly bipartisan vote, by which I mean “more Republicans than you can count on your fingers voted for it as well”. The Democrat-led House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to pass a bill that would enshrine protections for same-sex … Continue reading →

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How are Texas businesses going to react to the forthcoming criminalization of abortion?

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s too soon to say. Certainly too soon for most of them to say. In overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court presented corporate America with a question that may prove uncomfortable for big companies headquartered in states such as … Continue reading →

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Maybe this is finally the end of that zombie same sex employee lawsuit

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I dream a dream. The Texas Supreme Court has declined to consider a challenge aimed at preventing the city of Houston from offering benefits to employees’ same-sex spouses. The ruling is the latest blow to two Houston residents’ prolonged fight … Continue reading →

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I’m just going to say this one thing about the pending evisceration of abortion rights

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Chris Tomlinson gets at the issue but doesn’t take it all the way. The Supreme Court’s apparent decision to allow state lawmakers to make women’s health care choices puts chief executives in a tough spot, forcing them to choose between their employees’ rights … Continue reading →

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Air Force aims to care for its families with LGBTQ members

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them, but… The Air Force has issued a reminder to service members that it can help protect them from anti-LGBTQ state initiatives, such as the one in Texas that raised the possibility of child welfare investigations against parents … Continue reading →

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Our new school library standards

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I am casting a gimlet eye at this, at least for now. The Texas Education Agency released statewide standards Monday for how school districts should remove and prevent “obscene content” from entering Texas public school libraries. In the agency’s model … Continue reading →

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