Cathryn Oakley

Trans folks remain legislative targets in statehouses

JAMES RUSSELL | Contributing Writer
james.journo@gmail.com

Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 470,000 people in the U.S., legislators across the country are still filing bills targeting LGBTQQ people. That was the takeaway from a recent Human Rights Campaign press call lead by Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director for the LGBTQ advocacy organization.

The three most common types of bills now winnow in on creating barriers for transgender people participating in sports, those seeking medical care and those obtaining identity documents.

“These anti-transgender attacks are just the latest assaults on the LGBTQ community. These political extremists are taking painstaking efforts. They should focus on educating children, not solutions to non-existent problems,” Oakley said.

At least 44 transgender and gender nonconforming people were murdered in 2020, the highest number of recorded deaths ever, she noted, adding, “The past five to six years in particular have shown where our opponents are.”

LGBTQ opponents have moved from religious discrimination bills, such as Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, in 2015, to so-called bathroom bills restricting access to bathrooms, locker rooms and other intimate spaces to now targeting transgender youth.

A new study by the Center for American Progress, a progressive Washington, D.C.-based think tank, noted that among the 16 states that have trans-inclusive policies for youth sports, girls’ participation in sports has stayed steady or increased while it has dropped in states that have policies that exclude trans kids from sports.

Texas LGBTQ advocates are concerned about two bills in particular: House Bill 68 by House Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, and SB 373 by Senate Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Chair Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. Both are part of the trend identified by Oakley.

HB 68 would ban transgender youth from accessing health care like puberty blockers and hormone treatment by reclassifying it as child abuse. SB 373 would require youth to participate in sports according to the gender on their birth certificate.

Toth’s bill is among the top priorities of the House Freedom Caucus, the hard-right group of legislators of which he is a member. Some members were named committee chairs on Thursday by House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican. Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, was named Elections chair. Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, was named General Investigating chair.

Wesley Story, communications manager for Progress Texas, an Austin-based progressive messaging organization, is concerned about the bill. But he’s not surprised.

“Unfortunately, none of this is surprising. This is the Republican playbook. Texas Republicans are fabricating a new emergency. Then they go to their base and say, ‘These kids are being harmed.’ They’re just using this legislation as a weapon to discriminate,” he said.

Emmett Schelling, executive director of Transgender Education Network of Texas isn’t surprised a that small cabal of legislators are focused on discriminating against trans people.

“While Texas has real issues that would improve and impact our quality of life, such as focus on the health, economic and public education impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, these legislators seem more focused on continuing to launch their anti-trans agenda yet again this session,” he said in a statement.

These may be the priorities of the Freedom Caucus and of some members hold powerful sway in the House, but Gov. Greg Abbott did not make them “emergency items” which the Legislature can vote on within the first 60 days of the session.

Among those priorities were rural broadband expansion, recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, municipal police funding and the vaguely-worded “election integrity.”

“We were pleased to hear Gov. Abbott say that the most important issues this session are COVID-19 response and economic relief,” said HRC Texas State Director Rebecca Marques. “We hope the House and Senate will not waste valuable legislative time on the kind of anti-LGBTQ bills that were distracting and harmful the last two sessions.”

She added that their polling shows that 88 percent of Texans, including voters across all political persuasions, support transgender access to medical care.

“Texans are also more likely to support a pro-equality candidate than one who stands against equality,” she added. “That overwhelming support for equality, and the pressing need for a COVID-19 response, should guide State Legislative actions this session.”

HRC President Alphonso David predicted the legislation will fail based on previous battles.

“They lost on marriage. They lost on bathroom bills. They will ultimately lose here as well,” he said.