Texans, UT college students protest anti-trans laws at Texas Capitol

Texans gathered on the Texas Capitol on Monday to protest payments that might prohibit physicians from offering gender-affirming healthcare to transgender youth. 

If handed, Home Invoice 1686 and Senate Invoice 14 would ban physicians and well being care suppliers from performing surgical procedures or prescribing hormones or puberty blockers to anybody beneath the age of 18 in Texas. Physicians who violate these proposed payments would have their license to follow revoked. The rally, organized by ACLU Texas, Equality Texas, Texas Freedom Community, the Human Rights Marketing campaign, Lambda Authorized and the Transgender Schooling Community of Texas attracted roughly 200 activists and Austinites to the Capitol’s outside rotunda.

Sofia Sepulveda, neighborhood engagement supervisor at Equality Texas, spoke on the rally to protest the anti-trans laws and different payments that might enable for discrimination towards LGBTQ+ individuals. 

“I’m a trans Latina lady and freaking happy with it,” Sepulveda mentioned on the rally. “At this time I’m pissed. … Each southern state is making an attempt to remove our rights — the best of trans youngsters to play sports activities, the best to our life-saving healthcare, our proper to exist.”

Sepulveda mentioned pursuing anti-trans laws focuses on the mistaken issues Texas youngsters face. 

“They’re bullying trans youngsters and their households as a result of they’re cherished,” Sepulveda mentioned. “We’re right here to point out them that we’re right here and that we’ve got all the time been right here, and they won’t erase us.”

One counter protester interrupted the audio system, shouting that gender-affirming healthcare is baby abuse. The rally attendees surrounded the protester with trans flags and made a pathway for him to exit the rotunda whereas chanting “no place for hate.”

Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye star and Austinite, spoke on the rally, praising the gang’s peaceable response to the counter protester. 

“We’ve a proper to lift our youngsters, we’ve got a proper to freedom, we’ve got a proper to self-expression,” Van Ness mentioned. “These rights won’t be taken away by the legislature. Not now, not ever.” 

Van Ness mentioned the payments display a misunderstanding of what gender-affirming healthcare is amongst some lawmakers. 

“Gender-affirming care could be letting your youngsters put on the garments they need to put on,” Van Ness mentioned. “It’s not all the time tablets, however you realize what it’s? It’s a non-public medical choice.” 

Psychology freshman Nidhi Chanchlani mentioned she got here to the rally to seek out extra methods to assist transgender individuals. 

“Contemplating the present political local weather throughout the nation and rising anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans laws, I believe it’s vital to point out up the place you possibly can,” Chanchlani mentioned. “It was actually inspiring, and listening to everybody who was invited communicate was a really academic expertise.”

Authorities senior Jacob Turner mentioned he feels it is very important communicate out towards the anti-transgender payments within the Texas legislature. 

“I believe it’s actually vital to be right here so we are able to assist (trans individuals),” Turner mentioned. “Talking as somebody who doesn’t have that have, it have to be fairly scary to be a transgender individual in Texas proper now.”