For a state that gives a lot of lip service to individual liberty, Texas state legislators seem to go out of their way to find ways to restrict LGBT rights. The latest: a bill designed to make it harder for transgender people to marry.
Senate Bill 1218 would require people to present photo ID to obtain a marriage license. It’s not because the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Donna Campbell, believes that only heterosexuals are drivers. It’s that the bill would stop transgender people from using an affadavit of sex change to get a marriage license to marry an opposite-sex partner. Because nothing says liberty more than changing the law to restrict rights.
Texas being Texas, Campbell’s bill has passed the state Senate. The defenders of homophobia in the legislature have been on a roll this session. Another bill would allow students to ignore their school’s nondiscrimination policy because of the Bible! And then there was a failed attempt to defund LGBT centers at public universities. Good thing there aren’t bigger issues for the legislature to worry about like huge numbers of uninsured, dead last ranking in number of high school graduates, and national top producer of hazardous waste. That way the legislators can’t distracted from what really matters: figuring out ways to make life worse for its LGBT citizens.
Photo credit: Donna Campbell’s Facebook page.
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jeff4justice
May karma do it’s thing with these people.
Caleb in SC
Texas sucks. And so does Rick Perry.
Dionte
Stagnum Ignis.
Mark
“Texas being Texas…”
That pisses me off. Texas is a great state. We have a very large, very vocal, very active gay population. It doesn’t make our fight any easier when high profile websites use terms like “Texas being Texas” as a negative. Just because the majority of people sitting in office are bigots doesn’t mean all of them are, nor does it mean Texas is a bad place. Believe it or not, we have politicians who are fighting for and with us instead of against us here in our great state.
Mark
@Caleb in SC: While you are correct in that fact that Rick Perry does, indeed, suck, you couldn’t be more wrong about Texas. She’s a great, beautiful state, and many of us are here fighting not only for our rights, but to show the world that Texas isn’t as backwards as our leaders would like you to believe.
tdx3fan
@Mark: Just because 10% of your politicians actually have hearts does not mean that the state suddenly is great. They were right in what they said. Your state has a LONG history of being filled with bigots (rather it is bigots that hate Hispanics, blacks, Jews, Asians or gays). You cannot argue with that history just to make yourself feel better.
Charli Girl
@tdx3fan:
I don’t think he meant that,think he was just referring to the “other side”of Texas. I too was born and raised here.
But as we progress nationally,I too am growing bored of the hate here. But the economy is wonderful so Tx it is for awhile. Besides if there were no gays here,it’d be all left to the haters,and uh uh uh,we ain’t having that!
I love agrrevating them as much as possible.lol