Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Texas Primary - The Change We *Hope* to See

On March 1, 2022, Texas held its primary midterm elections. While the results haven't been published yet, they are critical to the rights of LGBTQ+ residents of Texas. Why does this primary election matter then? The primaries don't typically make a difference until it comes to the general election - where you're electing the candidate to beat the opposing party. For Texas, all parts of the election matter as they are an open primary state - voters are not restricted to their party. 

The notable red wave in Texas in elections is being threatened as more and more counties near the big cities are turning blue. Politico reported the final results of the 2020 Presidential election in a county map.




We can compare the 2016 and 2020 presidential election, where there was an increase by %3 in democratic votes. While this isn't much - it's enough to acknowledge that the tides are shifting. The LGBTQ Victory Fund, a Political Action Committee, reported that 54 of the candidates running for office in this current election are open about their sexuality. Out of those 54, the Victory Fund endorsed 19 of them. KVUEAbc reported that "The PAC [VictoryFund] said with 54 LGBTQ candidates this year, the number of out LGBTQ people running has nearly doubled since 2020." Currently, there are 13 openly LGBTQ+ elected officials in Texas, 6 of whom are serving in the state legislature (The Hill). 

So, back to our question of why does this primary matter. With the potential increase of LGBTQ+  representation in a state like Texas, there is significant opportunity for change. Especially considering that current Governor and incumbent candidate Greg Abbott signed in many bills criminalizing and dehumanizing transgender children. He is very outspoken on his hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community and has done much while in office to discriminate. On October 5, 2021,  Abbott signed a ban on transgender kids participating in school sports. It specifically will "require student athletes who compete in interscholastic competition to play on sports teams that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate at or near their time of birth," (House Bill 25). The full bill can be found here. Additionally,  Abbott has openly opposed same sex marriage and supported "bathroom bills," which denies transgender people access to the bathroom aligned with their gender. Most recently, Abbott "sent a letter to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services ordering it to investigate reports of parents allowing their transgender children access to affirming medical care, falsely labeling it as 'abuse,'" (Glaad.org). 

Depending on the results of this election, candidates like Beto O'Rourke (Gubernatorial race) and Jessica Gonzalez have the opportunity to provide a rich and safer life for LGBTQ+ residents of Texas. Attached here is a full list of candidates in the Turn Out For Texas directory which highlights their name, desired office, county, pledge for LGBTQ+ equality, and if they are a LGBTQ+ candidate.

Disappointingly, Abbott has made it his mission to restrict voters as much as possible. In September, 2021, Abbott signed a voter restriction bill (Senate Bill 1), which the Republican led legislature approved during the second special session. The house Democrats blocked the first few versions of the bill by leaving the state for week, which prevented the house from voting.
Some key points of the bill are below:
  • Bans 24 hour voting (Targeted to Harris county, Houston)
    • Harris County opened 8 around the clock voting locations --> voting is now 6am to 10pm
    • Early voting eligible for those 12 hours prior in counties with populations above 55,000
  • Bans drive thru voting (Targeted to Harris County)
  • Vote by Mail mandate
    • Those who are over 65, out of the country on election day, or has an illness/disability that prevents them from in person voting will need to provide either their drivers license number or last four digits of their Social Security
  • Empowers poll watchers
    • Poll watchers are "entitled to sit or stand near enough to see or hear activity"
    • Entitled to watching poll closing activity and to follow the ballots from the polling locations to the tabulating center
Where do we go from here? We can only hope that LGBTQ+ voters get out to the polls to vote in those who will advocate and make change for them.

Sources: 
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