HB 25 and SB 3 in 3rd Called Session of the 87th Legislature
October 14, 2021
TODAY, Thursday, October 14, House Bill 25 will go to the floor of the Texas House for debate. Log Cabin Republicans of Texas is in support of HB 25, as we stated in our October 6, statement (at bottom). We committed in that statement to provide full responses to all the main arguments presented. Below them you will find our statement of October 6, and links to more information.
THE ARGUMENTS
KIDS IN CRISIS
FALSE Argument: A 150% increase in calls from LGBTQ+ Texas kids in crisis.
RESPONSE: This stat says nothing. First, it is self-reported by an institution with a stated ideological agenda. Second, it does not say what the calls are for, nor for what period of time, nor explores possible causes, such as the increasing number of children (mostly girls) identifying as trans growing exponentially [in the UK, Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) reports up to nearly 1000% in six years (2010-2016) – see, we provide a timeframe, and a source].
THREAT OF SUICIDE
FALSE Argument: That is what the Trevor Project, an “LGBTQ+” crisis hotline, has reported from Texas kids who have stated that “they are feeling stressed, using self-harm, and considering suicide due to anti-LGBTQ laws being debated in their state.”
RESPONSE: The Trevor Project is open about its political agenda, and self-reports and self-assessments are the least reliable in the medical profession. There is simply no scientific evidence showing the reliability of the numbers, nor causation. Further, “anti-LGBT” is completely subjective, and can include just about any law not to the progressive Left’s liking. Lastly, the argument that suicides will come from an open and free debate over laws considered by duly elected representatives of the people is a twisted attempt at emotional blackmail of a representative democracy.
EXCLUSION FROM PARTICIPATION
FALSE Argument: House Bill 25 is unnecessary, damaging legislation that is designed to exclude transgender students from participation in normal school activities, like sports.
RESPONSE: House Bill 25 does NOT exclude any child from participation in in any school activities simply by virtue of the student’s self-reported gender identification. This is the most frequently repeated lie, and it is an absolute, and complete falsehood.
GAY BASHING
FALSE Argument: In 2019, LGBTQ+ Texans and those who love them were so grateful when you said that you were “done talking about bashing on the gay community.” Your voice gave hope to so many of us.
RESPONSE: This issue has nothing to do with gay people, and there are vocal gay and trans people, and allies who support them, that support HB 25 and do not see it as “bashing anyone.” Log Cabin Republicans of Texas has made that clear.
KIDS LISTENING TO LAWMAKERS
FALSE Argument: For 10 months now, transgender kids have listened to lawmakers claiming that they are an inherent danger to their peers, that they are duplicitous, and that they are a “problem” that needs to be solved. They have pleaded for their own dignity in front of those very same lawmakers and watched, heartbroken, as bills continued to be filed and to move anyway.
RESPONSE: We know of no lawmaker making any statements of the kind, certainly not the sponsors who have been careful and respectful in their language. But even if some irresponsible outlier made such comments, the purpose of this unsubstantiated charge is to distract from the actual contents of the bill, which is to preserve in Texas the original purpose in Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972.
NO NEED DEFINED
FALSE Argument: In all the debate on this issue, supporters of the bill, including bill authors, have failed to come up with even a single Texas example for why this bill is needed.
RESPONSE: The issue is coming up with greater frequency in Texas schools asking for guidance, and has already caused turmoil in other states, for which examples were provided. The question before us is, should segregation of sports be permissible by sex, as original intended by Title IX for the purposes of protecting girls’ and women’s’ sports from competition from males, or should segregation terms be changed to be permissible only by a self declaration of gender identity? WITHOUT input from the public or its elected representatives, those that support the latter are deciding this question gradually via ‘fait accompli’ actions. HB 25 puts a stop to that, and this is why it is so violently opposed.
KIDS UNDER ATTACK BY LEGISLATURE
FALSE Argument: Meanwhile, this endless debate places our most vulnerable – our kids – under constant attack from the Texas legislature. Across the state, the rhetoric from these legislative attacks has embedded itself into these kids’ daily lives. In the past year, there has been a dramatic increase both in number and severity of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents across the state – including in some cases, literal “gay bashing” that has put kids in the hospital.
RESPONSE: Kids are not “under attack” by virtue of the legislature conducting the business of the people. That parents choose to involve their very young children in complex and difficult matters is not under the control of the legislature. As for “increase both in number and severity of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents across the state,” there is no reputable objective substantiation for this, and here we don’t even have a definition of what qualifies as “incidents.” At some college campuses, merely laughing while looking at someone, or using a pronoun not preferred by a person, qualify as an act of “hate” or bias, and would be a reported ‘incident.’ During the hearing last Wednesday, Rep. Rafael Anchia made a big issue citing a recent murder in Fort Worth as evidence of rising anti-trans violence. EXCEPT the police made clear there was NO evidence the victim was targeted for that reason. In fact, so far, of the five cases in Texas (where many non-trans people are also murdered), there has been no evidence any of them were a result of targeting of trans people.
TEXANS SUPPORT
FALSE Argument: Over 70% of Texans support nondiscrimination laws for LGBTQ+ people and almost 300 Texans registered against HB25 in the last committee hearing on October 6th – six times more than those who showed up in favor of it.
RESPONSE: Texans respond favorably to any question that simply asks if gay and trans people should be treated fairly and justly. BUT, the answer changes when you specifically ask if a person who is biologically a boy should be allowed to compete against girls. In that scenario, the answers change dramatically. That shows Texans can see the difference between promoting Gender Ideology, which is hostile to notions of difference between male vs. female (except – in contradiction – when it comes to trans people), and simply being fair and reasonable with everyone.
CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
FALSE Argument: Court decisions have already set a framework that makes HB 25 clearly unconstitutional, particularly in the wake of Bostock vs. Clayton County.
RESPONSE: While it is true that activist judges have been turning words inside out, so that clear references in the law that permit segregation by sex under certain circumstances are now interpreted to forbid that same segregation, the Supreme Court did NOT indicate that the new, strictly literal interpretation of the word ‘sex,’ in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, relating to employment, would mean the elimination of the same definition of the word ‘sex,’ in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which is very different in purpose. Unlike Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX and supporting regulation explicitly allow segregation (discrimination) by sex, which is not permitted elsewhere, for the purpose of protecting women in sports, and accounting for the consequential biological differences between the sexes.
TEXAS BUSINESS
FALSE Argument: Texas Competes says that their study shows Texas businesses will leave Texas if HB 25 passes.
RESPONSE: Texas Competes is composed largely of woke corporations that do not reside in Texas. Its study, like the one the Texas Association of Business pushed in 2015 to defend Houston’s ordinance attempting to enforce Gender Ideology, is entirely speculation based on absolutely no hard science. In fact, the TAB report, partly funded by agenda-driven organizations, turned out to be flat wrong in its prediction that Houston would lose business if its citizens rejected the so-called “pro-LGBT” ordinance. The citizens voted almost 2 to 1 to reject the city council’s effort to impose Gender Ideology, even as they elected a liberal black mayor, and after electing a gay mayor three times in a row. NO businesses or people left as a result. It is also worth noting, that in the years since, as California has been accelerating its woke, falsely called “pro-LGBT” policies (that are in fact, Gender Ideology), and as Texas has started hitting the brakes on the same, California has started to lose people, actually losing population for the first time in 2019. And, where did many people leaving California go? To Texas.
THE FINAL ARGUMENT
Equality Texas has urged its followers to use its automated forms to urge the Speaker to kill the bill. We have a different message:
Speaker Phelan, we urge you to do everything in your power respect science, religious concerns, the original intent of the law, fairness for women, and the will of the people, which all happen to converge on this bill. Please protect the education, sports opportunities, and lives of ALL Texas children.
