LGBTQ Texas lawmakers 'scared', 'tired' of political targeting of their community

TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) –  As pride month wraps up, some gay and lesbian Texas lawmakers from North Texas expressed concern and disappointment about the recent regular legislative session.

State Representative Julie Johnson, (D) Farmers Branch, a lesbian who has fought for LGBTQ equality for nearly 28 years said, "The LGBT community is really under attack in the Texas State Legislature."

Johnson and Representative Venton Jones, (D) Dallas, who is gay and has advocated for black and LGBTQ residents, are a little battle worn. 

"It was very exhausting to come in day after day after day after day to put another attack on LGBTQ people and that's what it felt like going through these 140 days when bills started moving," said Jones. "There was a fight we had to get ready for every week."

During an interview with CBS News Texas, they both blamed Republicans for filing legislation that they said makes their community feel unworthy. "They filed 144 anti-LGBT bills, really targeting our community. Representative Jones and I are part of the LGBT caucus, and we were able to defeat 141 of them, but the three that passed had devastating consequences to our community."

Johnson said during the 2021 regular legislative session, there were 77 bills that were filed and aimed at their community.

Currently, there are 180 state lawmakers in the House and Senate. 

Of those, only nine members identify as LGBTQ. 

Three, including Johnson and Jones, and Jessica Gonzalez, D-Dallas, represent the North Texas region.

They're also members of the House LGBTQ Caucus, which also includes heterosexual lawmakers.

All are Democrats.     

Among the three bills that became law this past regular session and that Johnson and Jones expressed the most concern about is Senate Bill 14.

It outlaws medical professionals from providing drugs, hormones, or surgery to anyone younger than 18 to change their gender. 

As a parent, I am very resentful of the politics of the GOP politicians who don't know anything about it, who never had transgender children, never been to a physician, never had to explore any of these issues, telling me as a parent what I can and cannot do and what I think is in the best interest of my children."  

Republicans said they were trying to protect children from having surgery or hormone therapy at a young age, something they couldn't reverse if they changed their minds when they grow older.

Both Johnson and Jones said when kids struggle with their gender identity, it is their parents who have their children's best interests at heart.

"What you saw was families flooding into the Capitol, day after day, to speak against this legislation and desperately wanting to make sure that lawmakers heard the strong opposition to these bills," Jones said.

Both representatives criticized Senate Bill 15, which requires athletes at public colleges and universities in Texas to compete only on teams of their biological sex.

It comes a year after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas made headlines after making the transition from a man to a woman and competing against women instead of men.

Another bill that became law is Senate Bill 12, which bans those younger than 18 from attending sexually oriented performance shows on public property and private businesses.

Jones said, "It was just one more attack on LGBTQ people that unfortunately, used our children as the weapons to make those things happen."

When asked what they are worried about coming next, Johnson said, "Just more of it. The Republicans, they never have enough targeting our community."

State Representative Matt Shaheem, (R) Plano, denied the accusation. "There's no targeting at all."

Shaheen insisted that he and other Republican state lawmakers do not have it out for LGBTQ Texans.

He said Republicans want to protect children. "These aren't debatable outside the capital. Nobody, hardly anybody wants this type of trash in front of our children. Hardly anybody, nobody wants sexual performances in front of our children. Any common, sensitive individual does not want a child changing their gender."

Shaheen pointed to a recent poll that shows most Texans support the Republicans' positions. "The Democratic party, I think, really needs to be careful. A lot of it's a more extreme base is getting more and more of a hold of the party. These are very common sense. The vast, vast majority of Texans agree with these positions."

When asked what he and other LGBTQ lawmakers have heard from their community, Representative Jones said, "Concern. There are a lot of LGBTQ people who are concerned they need to leave the state right now."

"Our community, we're scared. We're tired of it. We do not need to be the political punching bag of the GOP and we need a state that values the LGBT people in it."

Both she and Jones said they believe there will be more legislation filed against the LGBTQ community.     

They said they will remain vigilant and continue to fight back.