Lauren Ashley Simmons, left, has been endorsed by The Houston Chronicle, several LGBTQ lawmakers and numerous LGBTQ and progressive groups and leaders over Democratic incumbent state Rep. Shawn Thierry, right, who voted against transgender student athletes and against gender-affirming health care for trans youth.

The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board has endorsed Lauren Ashley Simmons, the primary opponent to Democratic Rep. Shawn Thierry. An endorsement from an editorial board should not be news. But for a LGBTQ audience, and anyone who cares about human decency, here’s why this one is important.

Thierry is the Democrat who backed the book ban bill and the ban on gender affirming care this past session. And she backed law barring trans college athletes from playing school sports based on gender.
I’m fine with people voting their conscience, even if ill-informed, and she has led the charge on addressing maternal mortality in the state. But she pissed off LGBTQ and progressive activists by regurgitating the GOP talking points on the House floor during debate over the gender-affirming health care ban, sometimes crying when talking about protecting children. The very conservative Insurance Committee Chair Dr. Tom Oliverson, the bill’s author, praised her vote, calling it “intellectually honest.” She also slammed activists for going after her vote and alleged racism, even when many of the opponents replying to her on X (aka Twitter) were women of color.
For her accusations and grandstanding she earned a Texas Monthly Worst Award.  And when asked by Texas Monthly about a 2021 letter brought by former staff about her behavior circulated on X, she outed them and alleged retaliation for the vote because they are LGBTQ.
Anyway, the Chron endorsement of Simmons, who is queer and uses she/they pronouns, noted really unbecoming and homophobic behavior on Thierry’s part.
One highlight:

“After a combative and petty performance that was beyond the debating showmanship we typically see, Thierry again interrupted Simmons during what was supposed to be her closing statement. Simmons, 36, was noting that she had earned the support of three of Thierry’s colleagues.
“‘The gay ones,’ Thierry interjected sharply.

“The gay ones” she’s referring to North Texas Reps. Julie Johnson, Jessica González and Ana-Maria Ramos, who backed Simmons when she emerged as the frontrunner of the two challengers. (2022 opponent and Ashton Woods, who is LGBTQ,  is also running.) Johnson and González are lesbian. Ramos, however, is straight.

And this:
“Thierry urged voters to judge her on her record, which includes strong advocacy to address Texas’ maternal mortality rate, earning a powerful spot on the House budgeting committee, and attempting to undo the state takeover at Houston ISD.
…
“Still, we were irked when Thierry seemed to misrepresent what happened during the negotiations over the transgender care bill. She claimed she was unable to get her fellow Democrats to bend at all on a compromise she might accept. We checked the record, and it’s full of amendments that could’ve offered a principled middle ground.
…
“Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, offered an amendment replete with layers of necessary interventions and restrictions on treatment, including an evaluation by a state-appointed commission of professionals that would have to be completed before a young person could receive certain prescriptions. So much for intellectually honest.”
 
For the Chron’s editorial board, which has expressed caution on trans care for youth, Simmons is described as “a mature, trustworthy leader who can play well with others to get things done.”
Simmons is also endorsed by former gubernatorial candidates Beto O’Rourke and Wendy Davis, who are straight and LGBTQ allies, and by the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus, Equality Texas, Victory Fund as well as unions and progressive groups, which also have straight members.
You can see the difference on their website: Thierry’s here, Simmons is here  and Woods is here.
— James Russell