The Texas state affairs committee is currently reviewing house bill 1035 by representative William Zedler, and 3172 by representative Matt Kraus. Texas residents are writing to their specific state affairs committee due to their belief these bills encourage discrimination and childcare issues against LBGTQ people. General counsel for Texas Impact, Joshua Houston explains exactly what these bills entail.
[su_quote] “They are two big religious exemption bills, so 1035, a big overview of it is favors a particular religious viewpoint about marriage and gender over all other viewpoints that might exist by codifying a particular religious belief into law and then giving it preferential treatment. 3172 it is a slightly different bill with a similar intent.”
-Joshua Houston, Texas Impact[/su_quote]
The Texas House of Representatives scheduled hearings for these bills on April 17th, where testimonies from the public were shared. University of Texas graduate Ashe Hall testified in opposition to both bills.
[su_quote] “I don’t think the problem these bills are trying to address are ones we can address in the legislature. I think these need to be round table discussions we have full of Kleenex, full of hard conversations, and they don’t need to take place in this building.”
-Ashe Hall, UT graduate[/su_quote]
While Hall made her voice heard at the hearing, Houston says many from south Texas don’t, and they should by contacting their specific representatives.
[su_quote] “The first thing university students should do is contact their state representative. It doesn’t really matter if they are on the state affairs committee or not, the best thing to do is to make sure your state representative has heard from you on these bills. If you didn’t know who your state representative is, the easiest way to find out is to google who represents me.”
-Joshua Houston, Texas Impact[/su_quote]
For more information on the progress of these bills visit house.texas.gov.
