State Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center
State Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, has filed two amendments to a bill that’s on today’s Texas House schedule designed to eliminate LGBT resource centers from Texas’ state universities.
Christian intends to offer the amendments to Senate Bill 1811, a large fiscal bill that has been stalled in the House for the last week. The first of the amendments is identical to language Christian added to House Bill 1 in April. It would require universities that appropriate state funds for their LGBT resource centers to equally fund centers for “family and traditional values.” Resource centers at both UT-Austin and Texas A&M are funded by student fees, not state funds, so it’s unclear how much of an impact the amendment would have.
Chrisitan’s second amendment, which is new, would prohibit any state funds from being spent on campus LGBT resource centers. It would also prohibit universities from housing the centers in state-owned buildings, effectively banning them from college campuses.
Read the full text of Christian’s proposed amendments to SB 1811 by going here and here.
SB 1811 was originally scheduled for the House floor on Thursday, but was delayed until today. With fights over the state’s budget getting increasingly heated, the debate on the bill is likely to take hours, which may cause the House to delay it until other business is finished. The bill must pass the House by midnight next Tuesday, May 24.
Students for Inclusive Resources, a group formed in response to Christian’s amendment to HB 1, has issued an action alert asking Texans to call their state representatives and tell them to oppose Christan’s amendments. To look up contact info for your representative, go here.
Stay tuned to Instant Tea for updates …
SB 1811 had been scheduled to be brought up for debate at 2 pm today but has been pushed back to 4 pm. This is the 10th time the bill has been postponed.
House debate on SB 1811 is on going – Simpson’s amendments have not come up yet. Chairman Pitts, who is carrying SB 1811 in the House, is opposing all but a small handful of agreed upon amendments.
His name “Christisan” is obviously an incredible error
Thank you for the update.
How in the world does Rep. Christian’s language eliminate LGBT resource centers? You must be a fool if you actually read the text (which most of you won’t bother to do) and conclude that this eliminates LGBT resource centers. It merely creates another center to promote and teach heterosexual values. Maybe you don’t like creating a heterosexual, traditional values center. If that is the case, then simply admit it. Don’t be an idiot, blatantly lie and say that it is going to eliminate the LGBT centers. I sure hope that this site does limit freedom of speech, thought and opinion and not post my factually accurate post.