Let us now drag ourselves over the finish line
while screaming in agony
Monday is the final day of the regular legislative session, also known as sine die. In the following days we’ll see what bills Gov. Abbott will veto. (I am very curious to see if he’s actually going to sign the THC ban.) We will possibly hear mumblings about special sessions. And I will be trudging through bill after bill to see what our Houston-area representatives actually accomplished in order to report back here.
I am not feeling particularly reflective today, so I don’t have much to say about what I just witnessed with my own eyeballs over the past five months. You can probably tell by my infrequent posts lately that it became incredibly overwhelming to try to keep up with what our state government is doing AND hold down a job AND not go entirely insane.
I am in awe of the work of
and and their relentless witnessing of a process that is incredibly difficult at times to witness. Sometimes because it’s boring, or goes well into the night, or there are long delays. Sometimes because it’s incredibly toxic and hard to watch the cruelty, the stupidity, the smug smiles, the “we know what’s best for you” nanny state nonsense.All I can say is that I learned a lot. I winced a lot. And now we will brace ourselves for the changes that are to come.
Here’s what the Texas Tribune has to say about where the most consequential bills are as of today:
There was a long debate on Saturday over SB 12, the public school DEI ban. Because it’s a bad bill, obviously, but in particular about the way it bans LGBTQ+ clubs in Texas public schools. Bill author Jeff Leach (R-Gelled Hair) referred to these clubs early on in the discussion as “sex clubs,” which is a crazy thing to call an afterschool meeting of acne-ridden teens just trying to exist in the world. This triggered the righteous anger of the House Democrats.
Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, emphasized that these clubs exist because of a long history of oppression against the LGBTQ+ community. He warned against demonizing students and teachers for discussing gender and sexuality.
“The real monsters are not kids trying to figure out who they are,” Wu said during the House discussion. “The monsters are not the teachers who love them and encourage them and support them. They are not the books that provide them with some amount of comfort and information. The real monsters are here.”
Lawmakers shared personal stories about LGBTQ+ youth. Rep. Rafael Anchía said his daughter was a vice president of a pride club at her school. He stressed that these clubs “are no more about sex than 4-H or ROTC or the basketball team.”
“It wasn't a sex club,” Anchía said. “They'd get together and they'd watch movies. They'd color. They'd go to musicals. It was about a kid who felt weird who found her people and everything about it was good. I don't know why grown-ups in this body are so triggered with my daughter getting together with her classmates in a school-sponsored activity.”
Please watch some of the key moments from the Democrats’ fiery feedback:
So yeah, LGBTQ clubs will be banned in Texas public schools next year.
Three. Good. Things.
We got so much rain last week! It was nice!
Two whippets just walked past my house with their owners.
Jason Mantzoukas, just in general.