Here's why hundreds of LGBTQ Texans rallied against anti-trans bills: 'We have to show up'
Decked in colorful decor, sparkly drag attire, formal suits and rainbow heart-shaped pins, hundreds of LGBTQ rights activists rallied at the Texas Capitol on Monday to protest hundreds of bills they decried as harmful to queer Texans — and to emphasize the importance of joy, authenticity and fight in this time.
Activists marched from South Congress Avenue to the Capitol's south steps holding signs promising "We will not be erased." A blue sign, decorating the podium at the south steps, boldly declared "Trans Texans are Beautiful," as LGBTQ, transgender and American flags bellowed in the breeze.
"When I say people, you say power," Brigitte Bandit, an LGBTQ activist and drag performer dressed in ruffly pink and purple chaps and a sparkly pink hat, called. "People!"
"Power!" the group resounded.
The "All in for Equality Advocacy Day" at the Capitol united activists from Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin as well as from advocacy organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Human Rights Campaign, Lambada Legal, the Texas Freedom Network and Black Freedom Factory to meet with lawmakers and rally outside the pink dome to demand justice for LGBTQ Texans.
Equality Texas, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization which led the advocacy day event, has identified 205 "anti-LGBTQ" bills proposed in Texas this year, including proposals to limit education of queer and diverse populations, prohibit teachers from recognizing a transgender student's chosen pronoun or from connecting students to LGBTQ affirming resources, make medical support for gender affirming care a criminal offense, and deny gender changes on identity documents.
"This is legislation that serves no purpose other than to attempt to confine us into boxes that just don't fit and deny us the right to live authentically," said Brad Prichett, interim CEO of Equality Texas.
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Activists at the rally warned of the injurious effect the proposed state bills could have on LGBTQ Texans, on top of President Donald Trump's executive orders directing the U.S. government to recognize only male and female sexes as well as eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in federal agencies.
Speakers at the event also peppered their remarks with messages of hope. Pritchett celebrated the rally as the largest LGBTQ advocacy day in Texas history and promised that no state action would stop anyone from being "anything other than our true authentic selves."
"Once upon a time we would say these attacks were unprecedented. That is not the case anymore," Pritchett said. "If we were going to break as a community, it would have happened by now. And guess what? It hasn't and it won't.
"We are going to get louder. We are going to be more visible and even more fabulous."
More: Texas 'most extreme' in anti-LGBTQ bills, advocates say. How supporters plan to fight back
Numerous state lawmakers spoke in support of queer advocacy and its ties to civil rights. Rep. Venton Jones, the vice chair of the Texas LGBTQ Caucus, an LGBTQ Texan and a Democratic lawmaker from Dallas, emphasized the importance of centering transgender people in today's fight for justice, as conservative lawmakers from the presidential administration to the Texas Legislature target their health care, rights and visibility.
"Remember that this movement has been on the backs of trans people, and right now, we have to show up for that community," Jones said. "This is a trans conversation. This is a queer conversation. This is a gender non-conforming conversation, and we as a community have to not be afraid to say that."
More: 'In crisis mode': Rights groups petition UN to intervene for LGBTQ+ people in Texas
Morgan Davis, a volunteer with the Human Rights Campaign who made headlines in 2022 when he and several Texas Department of Family and Protective Services workers resigned in protest after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the agency to investigate parents of transgender kids. In his remarks Monday, Davis held up the Human Rights Campaign's equal sign logo, promising that the symbol meant there were 3 million people on LGBTQ Texans side.
"Not a president, not a senator, not an attorney general, will change the fact that my name is Morgan H Davis," said Davis, a transgender man. "You are the light, you are the ones that are going to win."
Shelley Skeen, the south-central regional director of Lambda Legal, said the organization has fought and won on numerous legal actions threatening LGBTQ Texans' rights and it is prepared to do so again.
"Lambda Legal and the All-In for Equality Coalition will fight, and we will defeat the vast majority of the legislation that seeks to prohibit us from participating fully in society," Skeen said. "Lambda Legal fights for civil rights of everyone, because when you restrict the rights of anyone, you restrict the civil rights of everyone."
More: 'We are not going away': Queer joy persists at UT, St. Edward's after Texas DEI ban
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature: LGBTQ Texans protest anti-trans bills at Capitol
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