UPDATED: The version of Senate Bill 12 headed to the House floor for a vote on Friday, May 19, no longer includes language banning drag performances, according to a copy of the amended legislation provided to Dallas Voice late on Wednesday night, May 17. 

UPDATE: The Texas House of Representatives also voted today to advance Senate Bill 15, which would ban transgender athletes from competing in gender-specific sports according to their gender identity in Texas public colleges and universities.

Andrea Segovia, senior field and policy advisor for the Transgender Education Network of Texas,  said: “Texas lawmakers have made it a priority to target transgender youth in every aspect of their life. Every session there is a new attack, and today’s attack is an extension of last session’s sports ban that allows hate and discrimination to follow trans kids from childhood through their collegiate years. Trans Texans should be free to enjoy hobbies in public and pursue careers like every other Texan.

“The Texas Legislature prioritizes trans discrimination and hate while trans folks are simply trying to exist. Enough is enough.”

ORIGINAL POST: The Texas Senate has voted, 19-12, to accept the House version of Senate Bill 14, sending the measure that will ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The governor is expected to sign SB 14 into law, setting it in motion to take effect Sept. 1.

Pick up the Friday, May 19, issue of Dallas Voice to read David Taffet’s article on SB 14 and how LGBTQ advocates plan to respond.

SB 12, which would effectively ban drag shows in Texas, is once again set for a vote on the floor of the House on Friday, May 19. The bill — which right-wing forces claim is intended to “protect” children — puts drag performances on the same level as performances that include nudity, simulated sex acts and anything that “appeals to the prurient interest in sex.”

The bill reads:  “Sexually oriented performance” means a visual performance that: (A)  features: (i)  a performer who is nude, as defined by Section 102.051, Business & Commerce Code; (ii)  a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience; or (iii)  any other performer who engages in sexual conduct; and (B)  appeals to the prurient interest in sex.”

JUST SO YOU KNOW: Since Jan. 1, 2023, as of 8:50 p.m. on May 17, 15,936 people have died due to gun violence in the United States. Another 12,905 were injured. Of those killed, 667 were children ages 0-17. And 1,667 of those injured were children in that same age range.

In the last 72 hours, 79 people have died due to gun violence, and seven of those 79 were in Texas. Another 23 people have been injured in gun violence in the last 72 hours.

Texas legislators, who have moved so quickly and efficiently to ban drag shows and to take necessary healthcare away from trans youth, managed last week to drag their feet just long enough to kill a bill that would have raised the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.

They don’t give a damn about protecting children. They just want to attack LGBTQ people.

 

— Tammye Nash