88th Texas Legislature: 64 LGBTQ+ Bills Submitted

Austin, Texas – In the 2023 legislative session, 64 bills were submitted in relation to the LGBTQ+ community. The largest number of invoices must be submitted in one regular session.

“We start the session on the first day of the session, all 140 days, knowing that, as you know, we have a lot of anti-LGBTQ bills filed, but there are also a lot of good bills,” said Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas.

Equality Texas claims that 29 of these bills provide protection, while the remaining 35 bills target the LGBTQ+ community.

“Does this surprise me? No. Does it make me angry? Yes, because we deserve to be reckoned with. We deserve peace. We deserve safety,” Martinez said.

However, not everyone thinks so.

“A lot of the legislative process is about finding solutions to problems, so a lot of the legislation you see is about solving some of the current problems of our time,” said Jonathan Saenz, president and attorney for Texas Values.

The 35 bills that Equality Texas has identified as anti-LGBTQ+ include:

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Saenz says these bills are in response to what Texas Republican voters have told them to do.

“They don’t want children to be forced to undergo gender reassignment surgery. They don’t want naked women and men dancing with kids at these drag queen events, and they don’t want women giving up opportunities in college sports to men.” he said.

Martinez says these anti-LGBTQ+ bills are harmful.

“LGBTQ people want to live in peace and protect the gains we have made over the last 50 or so years, and this year Texas legislators put together a list of aggressive bills that spy on our teachers, that peep into our medical decisions and dictate our entertainment. at brunch, and these accounts are aimed at all aspects of our daily lives. I think, you know, this should apply to all Texans,” Martinez said.

He says his organization is going to announce its presence during this legislative session.

“I would tell people that in this moment when you may be feeling desperate, just know that there are thousands of people, and this is all over Texas, who have your back, have your interests and fight everyone. day,” Martinez said.