Of Undocumented Immigrants and the Moses Story

1:8 Now there arose up a new president over the United States, which knew not hardship.
1:9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of undocumented immigrants are more and mightier than we:
1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any economic hardship, they rise up, and compete against us, and so get them up out of the land.
1:11 Therefore he did set over them law enforcement to afflict them with their burdens. Yet they built for the nation, and educated themselves and delivered many public services.
1:12 But the more the law afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And the President and his followers were grieved because of the children of immigrants.
1:13 And the United States made the children of undocumented immigrants to serve with rigour:
1:14 And the law made their lives bitter with hard regulation, in education, and in housing, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
1:15 And the president spake to the administrators of cities, who were called the mayors, and the police chiefs and the school superintendents,
1:16 And he said, When ye do the duties of your office to the children of undocumented immigrants, and see them in your cities; if they be undocumented themselves you shall turn them over to me, that I may rid them from the land.
1:17 But the administrators feared God, and did not as the president commanded them, but spared the children of undocumented immigrants.
...
1:21 And it came to pass, because the administrators feared God, that God made for them great cities, rich in culture and blessed by the children of undocumented immigrants.
1:22 And so the president and the state legislatures bound all the cities, saying every undocumented immigrant that interacts with the city you shall turn them over to me, that I may rid them from the land.

On the Passage of HB 214, Gay Men Should Be Paying Attention

Dear fellow gay men:
Today the Texas House passed HB 214, a bill that prohibits health insurance paying for most abortions, requiring people to carry additional insurance (which Rep. Moody coined "rape insurance") ahead of time or pay for abortions out of pocket. Why should you care? Well, for one because it's an attack on the rights of other people, but for two because the rational used to support the bill is that some people feel that paying into an insurance risk pool that might then pay for abortion violates their religion and, it was argued, forcing people to carry "rape insurance" will encourage them to "be more responsible." Now imagine how those same people who don't want to pay into insurance pools that pay for abortion feel about PrEP, or about HIV meds. Imagine how they feel about using surrogate mothers to grow your family. Imagine how they feel about supplemental insurance that covers spousal bereavement or care for same-sex couples... Right now uterus-having folk are on the front-line of a battle to reshape healthcare as a tool of right wing policy and everything we've fought for for the last 48 years is at risk. Speak up! Call your state representative and senator and tell them what you think.

Interview with KPFT 90.1's Queer Voices

The Texas Legislature returns to the pink dome on July 18th to tackle 20 issues selected by Gov. Abbot for the special sessions, including legislation to restrict transgender Texans access to public spaces. KPFT's Queer Voices invited me over yesterday to talk about special sessions, how they work and what to expect. Listen below.

KPFT is in the middle of their summer pledge drive right now, so if you appreciate these kinds of conversations and progressive radio consider making a contribution and let them know you appreciate Queer Voices.

Konni Burton's SB 242 Will Kill Children

For the last year and a half people have been asking me if I think someone in Texas will file a bill like North Carolina's notorious HB 2 to override nondiscrimination ordinances and set up the potty police - and for the last year and half I've been telling them that yes, that bill will be filed (probably a couple of versions of it) and yes, we'll have to work hard to defeat it, but that's not the bill that scares me. The bill that scares me, and it will be filed by someone out of Fort Worth, is a bill to force schools to out kids to their parents. It will be hard to fight, because it will be shrouded in a veil of parent's right to know about their kids, and, if passed, it will lead to children's deaths.

The bill I fear most has been filed by Sen. Konni Burton (R-Fort Worth). As John Wright reports over at the New Civil Rights Project, SB 242 would require "general knowledge regarding the parent's child possessed by an employee of a school district" to be given to the parent, failure to deliver the information would result in the firing or suspension of the employee.

SB 242 radically expands an existing provision that provides parents access to their children's school records, and makes it apply to every interaction a school employee has with a child. An on-the-face reading of the bill would require a teacher to contact a parent if they became aware that a student had a zit, or a crush on a classmate, or really wanted a certain pair of sneakers. If not the teacher would be fired.

While the poor drafting and wide scope of the bill make it risible. Burton's sinister intent in filing SB 242 is chilling. In a press release Burton says she filed the bill in response to a policy adopted by Fort Worth ISD on how to sensitively and reasonably accommodate transgender students. Her stated intent in filing the legislation is to out queer youth.

And that will get kids killed.

• The Suicide Prevention Resource Center estimated that between 30-40% of LGBT youth have attempted suicide. Family rejection is thought to be a major contributing factor.
• According to the William's Institute 40% of homeless youth are LGBT and the primary cause of their homelessness is family rejection.
• One statistically proven way to reduce the rate of LGBT teen suicide is the availability of Gay-Straight Alliances in schools. Burton's bill would require the teacher sponsor of those clubs to report the attendance of any student to their parents.
• And threats can come directly from parents as well
• In 2015 a Ohio father killed his trans daugher
• In 2014 a Houston father murdered his lesbian daughter and her girlfriend

Teachers are there to teach our kids, not spy on them. Burton's vision of an Orwellian school environment where every move is reported is nightmarish - but worse, it's deadly.

Burton is taking a "Legislative Survey" to learn what people think of her legislation, you can find it HERE. You can comment on her press release HERE, visit her Facebook HERE, or find her on Twitter HERE.

HB 331 Equalization of Romeo and Juliet and Consent Education

Rep. Mary González (D-Clint) on Monday refiled her Romeo and Juliet legislation with some updates not included in her previous versions of the bill.

It is a felony in Texas to engage in sexual contact with a person under the age of 17. However the law creates an “out” in situations where the contact was consensual, the parties involved are over the age of 14, the parties are within three years of each other’s age and are of the opposite sex - called the "Romeo and Juliet defense." This is a logical approach to the reality that adolescents sometimes make sexual decisions that adults may wish they hadn’t made, but that adolescents have been making since the beginning of time. Those decisions should be the concern of parents, not a matter for the police. This “out” does not exist for teen sweethearts who are dating someone of the same sex creating a risk that a teenager may be sent to prison and forced to register as a sex offender for becoming physical with their sweetheart.

A similar inequity in the law in Kansas was found unconstitutional in 2005.

HB 331 equalizes the defense, places in statute the existing practice of not reporting teen relationships that fall under the defense to the police, and requires the Texas Education Agency to make curriculum on consent available to school districts. The bill would not require the school districts to use the curriculum. The provisions clarifying the duty to report and creating consent curriculum have not been included in previous versions of the bill.

González has filed Romeo and Juliet equalization legislation every session since she was first elected in 2012. Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) filed it prior to that. González successfully navigated the bill out of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in both 2013 and in 2015 when it passed committee unanimously. It received a vote on the House floor in 2015 but was defeated 51 to 79.

When the bill went up for a vote last session Rep. Ken Sheets (R-Dallas) amended it to include a provision that removed the availability of the Romeo and Juliet Defense if the minor was given alcohol or other drugs that made them unable to physically resist sexual assault. That amendment is redundant because mental impairment already precludes the ability to consent (a component of the defense) whether or not the alleged victim physically resists, but one wonders why the amendment, which González accepted on the floor, was not included in this new draft.

HB 331 will likely be referred to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee which will likely be half first-term members who didn't vote on this the first time around. So there's no guarantee it will pass committee the way it has the two previous sessions. But González is an extraordinary adept member and has a real talent for navigating her agenda through the process so I am very hopeful.

HB 258: Boycott North Carolina and Arkansas

Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) is one of my favorite people. His office is consistently one of the strongest and most vocal advocates for equality in the Texas Capitol and he's further proved his commitment by filing HB 258 which would prohibit the State of Texas from doing business with companies based in states that have passed legislation overriding local non-discrimination ordinances or legislation that allows or requires discrimination against same-sex married couples.

By my count three states have passed laws that fit that description:

• Arkansas 90R SB 202 - which attempted to override local non-discrimination ordinances but is now tied up in court.
• Tennessee 107R SB 632 - which overrode local non-discrimination ordinances and defined gender in all laws as being the gender on a birth certificate.
• North Carolina 2016(2) HB2 - which overrode local non-discrimination ordinances and required the use of restrooms based on Gender assigned at birth.

HB 258 only applies to state's where the law in question went into effect after June 26th, 2016 (the date of the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergerfell). So Tennessee would not be included because their bill went into effect in 2011, but Arkansas (whose bill went into effect on July 22, 2015) and North Carolina (March 23, 2016) would.

Ironically, on the same day Anchia filed his bill Sen. Hall filed his own versions of North Carolina's legislation. In the unlikely event both were to pass the State of Texas would be prohibited from doing business with itself.

It's been estimated that North Carolina's bill has cost the state more than "1750 jobs and more than $77 million of investments and visitor spending." Gov. Pat McCrory's defeat in his re-election bid last week has largely been credited to voter dissatisfaction with his defense of the bill.

HB 258 will likely be referred to the House Committee on State Affairs, along with most of the other LGBT-related bills (pro and con). I would be surprised if it received a hearing, but by merely filing the bill Anchia has contributed to the conversation about the negative fiscal impact of discriminatory laws.

HB 225: Employment Non-Discrimination

Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) refiled his inclusive employment non-discrimination bill on the first day of early filing. Identical legislation has been filed in the House every session since 2007 (78R HB 1136, 79R HB 1515, 80R HB 900, 81R HB 538, 82R HB 665, 83R HB 238 & HB 1146, 84 HB 672) and by Johnson for the last two sessions.

Under current law it is illegal in Texas to discriminate in employment based on a person’s race, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability. It remains legal to discriminate based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. There is no federal law prohibiting employment discrimination against the LGBT community (although, according to  a poll by the Center for American Progress, 9 out of 10 American voters erroneously believe that federal law does provide LGBT people employment protections).

HB 238 would allow the Texas Workforce Commission's Civil Rights Division (TWC CRD) to investigate claims of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in the same way that it investigates claims of discrimination based on the other protected attributes. The TWC CRD allows individuals who believe they have experienced prohibited employment discrimination to file a complaint in person in Austin, over the phone, or via notarized form. If the complaint warrants investigation the TWC CRD pursues it further. The Legislative Budget Board (an agency of the State of Texas) estimates that if employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression was prohibited that the TWC CRD would need to investigate 474 credible cases a year.

There is a great deal of evidence that employment discrimination is pervasive and widespread in Texas:

• Men in same-sex relationships in Texas make 9% less on average than their straight married counterparts according to information from the Census Bureau,
• Households in Texas headed by two women make one average 11% less than households headed by a man and a woman according to information from the Census Bureau,
• In a 2010 survey 26% of transgender Texans reported losing a job because of their gender identity or expression.

Prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression has overwhelming public support. In a poll conducted by Equality Texas,

• 76% of registered voters in Texas said they support ending employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation,
• 70% said they supported ending employment and housing discrimination for transgender citizens.

With the reality of employment discrimination clear, a mechanism already in place for investigating it and strong public support for addressing the issue why has the decade long effort to pass legislation thus far been fruitless? Because there is a disconnect between the people of the state of Texas and the 183 elected officials who create laws in Texas. If HB 225 is to become law we must bridge that disconnect, and the only way to do it is by contacting your members of the legislature and telling them that you expect their support for HB 225.