Texas House Democrats to hold rallies in Plano & other cities to protest Republican bills
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Texas House Democrats are set to hold rallies in Plano and other cities Saturday to protest against Republican bills they say will pull the state backwards.
The vice chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston said, "I think it's really important for all of us—and not just Democrats, for just people in general—to say, 'Start sounding the alarm.'"
Wu said they are sounding the alarm over bills including Senate Bill 17, which passed this week.
If it's also approved by the House, it would prohibit state colleges and universities from maintaining or establishing a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office, and certain training for DEI.
"These programs were set up so that everybody has a fair shot," Wu said. "By taking these programs away, it means that the people who have been historically discriminated against may not have a fair shot again."
The author of the bill, Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), explained the rationale for it as debate began in the Senate Chamber. "DEI programs have been shown to be exclusive, they have shown to be ineffective and they have shown to be politically charged."
Democrats also sharply criticized another bill passed, Senate Bill 16, that won't allow faculty at state colleges and universities to compel students to believe that one race, sex, ethnicity, political or religious belief is better than another.
They also oppose House Bill 900—which has now passed—that seeks to keep books with sexually explicit material out of public school libraries.
And Wu said he believes it's just the start. "Book by book, there may have been examples of books that shouldn't have been in schools, but they're using that as an excuse to do a blanket ban on so many other different things."
Republican legislator Jared Patterson of Frisco denied that as lawmakers considered the bill.
"This is not a race issue or anything else like that," he said. "This is a problem with sexually explicit material. If there's a classic piece of literature, especially that's part of the curriculum in a school, those would be exempted from this bill."
Democrats also oppose a bill that eliminates tenure for college professors hired after Sept. 1. That passed the Senate Thursday and will now go to the House.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said Wednesday that Republicans are passing bills favored by their supporters.
