LGBTQ

Texas Advocacy Day 2023: Voices of LGBTQ Texans

The 88th legislative session started on January 10 and concludes on May 29, 2023. This term sparked a sense of fear amongst LGBTQ Texans as there are more anti-LGBTQ bills than in previous sessions.

by Foster Milburn

On March 20, 2023, Texans from across the state gathered near the south side of the capitol. The goal: to use the mere presence of the community to push back on bills that directly impact the lives of LGBTQ Texans.

National and regional equality groups organized the day in a routine schedule to train and create positive energy amongst attendees. Equality Texas, GLAAD, Texas Freedom Network, Transgender Education Network of Texas, and ACLU were the backbone of the event.

Allies are a crucial part of the LGBTQIA community. “This is a joint effort of the all-in for equality coalition – it’s great to come together with allies,” Communications Director at Equality Texas Jonathan Gooch said. In support of that, Equality Texas provided advocates transportation directly to the training site at the First United Methodist Church of Austin.

Around noon, advocates marched to the capitol building and stopped to gather on the south side. Ricardo Martinez, the CEO of Equality Texas, gave an energetic opening speech. Following his speech, he introduced Cynthia Lee Fontaine, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” television show contestant from season eight and a Texan themselves. Cynthia performed directly in front of the capitol building as a direct visual protest of SB 12, the bill that defunds public libraries holding drag story hours and outlaws any public display of drag.

The bill uses vague language directed at any cisgender person portraying the opposite gender publicly. This leaves out all of the cisgender women and non-binary people who perform drag as well. The language of the bill suggests that the law could be used to target transgender people.

When asked about some of the primary goals for the day, Gooch said, “I look forward to spending some time with community members, celebrating, sharing some queer joy, and showing Texas lawmakers that we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re going to be around for a while.”

After several speeches from transgender college students, equality groups, and other advocates from the community, the crowd lined up to enter the capitol building. Five groups were assigned three different Texas representatives to discuss what bills were wrong and which ones they should support instead.

*[Ricardo Martinez – CEO of Equality Texas & Jonathan Van Ness – celebrity hairstylist, star in Netflix’s Queer Eye, and Trans activist.]* – Photo courtesy of Adam Spear

Josh Tutt, the President of the Pride Community Center in College Station, said, “I was not surprised that we only got to speak with staffers during our office visits and not directly with the elected officials. I was also not surprised that they were, for the most part, unwilling to commit to supporting the bills we were lobbying for.” Each staff member said the representatives were already on the house floor despite once the advocates entered the capitol building.

Another important event was the inspiring speech given by Jonathan Van Ness, a native Texan from the “Queer Eye” series, to Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas. As the legislative session unfolds, LGBTQIA Texans have shown that a whole group of marginalized people exists in Texas and are not going away.

On paper, it looks like the entirety of the legislative body is against the LGBTQ+ community; however, the high number of good bills is equal to the number of bad ones, which is crucial to acknowledge.

“We know Texans are generally becoming more supportive of LGBTQ equality,” Gooch said. Why these bills increase each legislative session continues to be questioned following marriage equality not even a decade ago. “As far as I can tell, this is a result of primaries – politicians playing to their primary voters – this tiny group of voters having an outside impact on what bills pass,” Gooch said.

There are Representatives in the legislative body that support bills that favor the LGBTQ population. They refer to bills that promote non-discrimination, mental health services for public education, and healthcare, such as prohibiting the coverage of conversion therapy on all healthcare plans.

The LGBTQ community is equally active in opposing anti-LGBT legislation as legislators who support it. Unfortunately, there is a wall that these bills have built up each legislative session, and the LGBTQ community in Texas is pushing back. This session represents the most visible display of a marginalized community claiming power against the harmful and incorrect stigma around not only queer expression, but the community’s very existence in this state.

OPINION: Upcoming Legislative Session Poses Threat for LGBTQ Texans

The Texas Legislative session for 2023 began on Jan. 10 and runs through May 29, 2023. Republicans control both chambers. Some bills on the agenda threaten LGBTQ Texans and women’s reproductive rights.

by Foster Milburn

Every two years, Texas representatives meet for a consecutive 140-day period. The sessions include the discussion and passing of bills that affect all Texans. We, as Texans, vote for these representatives to represent us from all 150 Texas House districts across the state, but most people need to understand how these bills pass. Understanding this element is crucial as voting is more than just who is elected governor.

After a bill is passed in both the House and Senate, it is sent to the governor for signing. The last legislative session took place in 2021 and brought much attention to itself.

During this time, two bills passed directly affecting women and critical race theory, such as House Bill 1280 after the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the “critical race theory bill” that severely restricted the teaching of current and past events.

History won’t be erased, but we must learn and move forward from mistakes made and committed in the past. You can track these and more bills on the Equality Texas website, the official state LGBTQ advocacy organization.

This upcoming session will directly attack LGBTQ Texans with laws similar to the ones passed in 2021 that restrict transgender individuals and their access to essential healthcare such as hormone therapy.

In November 2022, Texas Representative Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) hired 22-year-old Jake Neidort as his office’s legislative director. Jake was a UNT student who advocated against transgender equality alongside his twin sister, who was seen in a TikTok video designing fliers, stating, “Criminalize Child Transitions.”

In 2021, videos emerged on social media showcasing the harassment of local drag queens in Dallas, Texas. One was of a man who was driven by a queen who had just left a family-friendly drag brunch held at Mr. Mister, located in Oaklawn. Protests and harassment followed suit. Protesters suggested that drag exposure to children is “abusive, pedophilic, and confuses children.” Dallas police showed up and helped those with children out of the area. A day to celebrate LGBTQ pride disrupted diversity with violence.

Now, in 2023, a bill on the agenda opens the discussion regarding children being in the presence of drag queens and LGBTQ culture in general. House Bill 643 states that any establishment, serving alcohol or not, would have to acquire a license that would require a registration fee and annual renewal. If a venue is found to violate this would be fined $4,000 and sentenced to a year in jail. In short, no more drag brunches for the inclusion of youth to be exposed to LGBTQ culture, even if family-friendly. This bill also brings up the fear of Pride festivals/parades becoming 21 years or older.

Pride parades are a time for all ages of the queer community and allies to celebrate diversity. It is a space where people come to feel safe to celebrate the queer community. This exposure is vital, especially for Texas youth, as being a minor can feel very isolating for younger queer people. I know this because that was me, as a native Texan.

Rain, a gay bar on 4th St., holds drag shows throughout the week. At Rain, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are 18 and up, according to Scott Percifull, a partner and general manager of Rain. “So there’s no opportunity for anyone under that age to get in,” he said, “it would be very challenging to enforce.”

The bill states that any business classified as a sexually oriented business would have to be a certain distance from any school or church in the area. When asked his thoughts, Percifull said, “It is restrictive. It is two steps shy of getting into private businesses and saying you can’t do that because we disagree with the culture.” Restrictions similar to HB 643, alongside other enforcements, foreshadow the hypocrisy as Texas is a state that dislikes rules concerning small businesses.

Parents assert that children should be able to make their own choices, yet when parents who do support the LGBTQ community want to expose their children to all things Pride, it’s wrong? Unfortunately, a brick wall divides the state of Texas into two sides. The side that wants to celebrate diversity and move to a more inclusive world, and the ones who want to bully the LGBTQ community out of the state.

Activist Brandon Wolf on the Pulse Massacre and Finding a Sense of Belonging

Hosted and produced by Morris Haywood

In this podcast, ACCENT’s Morris Haywood sits down with Brandon Wolf, an LQBTQ+ advocate and survivor of the Orlando Nightclub shooting, to talk about humanizing marginalized experiences, gun safety reform, and recent Florida legislature prohibiting instruction of sexual orientation.

Listen to the full podcast on our Anchor page.

“All the moments you think you earned your place can be ripped away,” said Wolf, “part of me wanted to find a place that would see me.”

This podcast was recorded in May of 2022.

Valentine’s Day For All

Story by Gloria Nguyen

Graphic by Kate Korepova

Edited by Pete Ramirez

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!

Americans have been celebrating Valentine’s Day since the 19th century but the holiday became ubiquitous early in the 20th century.

Nowhere in the world is Valentine’s Day celebrated as wildly as in the U.S. Much like during the Christmas holiday season, stores are filled with rose-colored products weeks beforehand.

Contrary to popular belief, Valentine’s Day is not just for romantic love. Your best friend, grandpa, teacher, or even your favorite colleague from the office may participate in exchanging valentines.

**Valentine’s Day is ultimately about celebrating love – which at its heart involves the connection and unconditional acceptance of another.**

One thing about Valentine’s Day that is slowly starting to change is that historically, there hasn’t been much room for the LGBTQ community at the table.

Supervising editor at National Public Radio, Arnie Seipel, wrote about how the origins of Valentine’s Day are heteronormative itself.

Seipel writes that the early Romans would celebrate the feast of Lupercalia during Feb. 13 to 15 which would culminate in “a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar.” The new couple would be paired up for the duration of the festival or longer if the match was right.

Even though our society seems to slowly make progress LGBTQ couples may feel like they are not able to be affectionate in public because of the recent surge of anti-LGBTQ laws being passed and toxic rhetoric coming from some mainstream media entities.

According to NBC News, recent FBI data suggests that “crimes based on bias against trans and gender non-conforming people continued to increase.”

The ramifications of these threats against the LGBTQ community are even being felt in colleges across the U.S. In a recent survey of LGBTQ college students published by Intelligent, 61% said they’ve experienced more discrimination since Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special aired last year, which features transphobic and homophobic jokes.

Although Valentine’s Day does not directly help fight the day-to-day inequalities of our society, we can choose to participate in the holiday while continuing to be an ally to the LGBTQ community.

Here are some ways you can celebrate Valentine’s Day and support your local LGBTQ community.

Make Your Own Valentine’s Gifts

One way to avoid the commercialization and heteronormative standards of Valentine’s Day is to make your own valentines gifts.

This does not necessarily need to be about your partner. Your gifts can be sent to members of your family or your chosen family and friends.

Batman & Robin illustrated on a Valentine's Day card in a kissing embrace. — Valentine’s Day has been traditionally been a holiday that companies like Hallmark have used to target straight couples with products and advertisements. In recent years, companies have begun to make their products and ads much more inclusive to the LGBTQ community.
Photo by: @proyectoalegria

Shop At LGBTQ-owned Businesses

Shopping and hanging out at LGBTQ-owned businesses is another way to directly support your local LGBTQ community. Hotel San Jose, Tamalitoz and FLAVNT are a few in Austin you can consider. Check out more at this list of queer-owned businesses in Austin that Do512 compiled.

Practice Self-care

Valentine’s Day can be triggering for people depending on their dating history. If you were in a bad relationship or experienced trauma because of your dating history, Valentine’s Day can feel even more overwhelming.

If this is the case for you, taking care of yourself is much more imperative on Valentine’s Day than usual.

Be kind to yourself. Take time to look in the mirror and tell yourself “I love you.” Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you feel good about yourself while you’re doing it.

Practicing self-care should be done for yourself every day – and not just on Valentine’s Day. Remember that Valentine’s Day is just another day. Regardless of how you feel about it, your relationship status, sexual orientation or gender identity, you are valid and you will get through the day.

Surround yourself with positive people and remind yourself that love doesn’t have to look the way it is commercialized to you.

Keep doing you. You are loved!

ACC at PRIDE Parade

Written by Ruben Hernandez
Photos by Stefanie Vermillion

The annual Austin Pride Parade is a festivity that comes once a year. From across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, the festival allows self-expression in a variety of forms from all walks of life. While the Pride Parade isn’t Austin-exclusive, locals did use this as an opportunity to hit the streets and enjoy Austin’s nightlife. Many establishments, like Apple and Google, marched to show their Pride spirit. ACC was no exception to the long list of organizations that marched through downtown Austin on September 30th.

“I think it’s of paramount importance that you celebrate Pride, especially in times like these,” second-year ACC student Jacob Silverthorne said. “The point is to be loud and proud, and to remind people that no matter what they do or if they’re trying to take away our rights, that we’re not going anywhere. We’re still going to be here.”

Pride is a big deal for many. Some see it as a way to acknowledge a group of people who may not always have the spotlight. It’s a way for people to come together for a better cause.

“The Pride Parade is a celebration of our difficult past, our current place in society, and where we are going,” first year ACC Student Patrick Rodriguez said. “I feel pride is a way for people to come together and say, ‘We are gay and we deserve an equal place in the world.’ Even though the parade has evolved into many varied forms, it still shows our diverse and varied cultures within the LGBTQ and friends community.“

Not only is it important to some that the general public celebrates Pride, it is also comforting for others to know that ACC celebrates with them. Having an entry in the parade shows that ACC is supportive to those that are members of the LGBTQ community.

“Knowing that ACC is involved regardless of the political or religious rhetoric, shows me that the school supports an equitable environment that is committed to treating all of its students with respect,” SIlverthorne said. “Just simply having ACC attend, and show their support for LGBTQ rights goes a long way in making not only me feel welcome, but also other LGBTQ students as well.”

The Pride Parade is a sight to see for many first-timers. Silverthorne believes that while it may be fun to attend, there’s a lesson that attendees should walk away with.

“If someone went to Pride and had to learn something, I think that they should learn that we’re just like everyone else – people who value our freedom,” Silverthorne said. “We also value our liberty and our ability to search for happiness in the one life that we get. LGBTQ lives are just as important as theirs, or anyone else for that matter.”

Due to weather complications from Hurricane Harvey, the Pride Parade was rescheduled. The Pride Festival is set for October 21st in Austin at Fiesta Gardens.

Pride Parade: Walking with LGBT eQuity Banner

Pride Parade: holding pride flag — Photos by Stefanie Vermillion

More photos of ACC at Pride Parade can be found on the ACC LGBT eQuity Facebook page.

Leadership and Diversity Conference

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/accent-editor/lgbtq-conference-mixdown-3″ comments=”true” auto_play=”false” color=”ff7700″ width=”100%” height=”81″]

Story and Photos by Ryan Fotenette-Mitchell

Thought provoking conversations took center stage at the Nov. 21 Leadership and Diversity Conference. Attendees at the Highland Campus event explored lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender issues.

Austin Community College Student Life staff member Angela Roberston discussed the main objective for conference.

“So today, our intent was to challenge students to learn to love and respect one another even when they disagree,” Robertson said.

A religious panel addressed LGBTQ issues in the context of faith and Biblical references. Michael Saenz, a student at ACC, said that we should consider a more modern approach than that laid out in the Bible.

“A lot of people are basing what they believe on what was written thousands of years ago. The views that were applied then don’t apply now,” Saenz said. “If someone loves someone else, it baffles me that its illegal for them to get married.”

Robertson talked about how she challenged students to make their own opinions and beliefs, as well as having respect for people with different beliefs than them.

“There were people that were challenged. There were people that were emotional,” Robertson said. “And that’s kind of what has to happen. We have to get uncomfortable so that we can grow.”

ACC student Elizabeth Cognetti felt called into action by the event.

“I’ve always been empathetic towards people who struggle day by day.” Cognetti said. “It makes me want to be able to stand up and really do something about it.”

ACC holds a Leadership and Diversity Conference every year. For more information visit the Student Life website.