Texas Archives - STR8DAR

23May

By Sara BanksNo Comments

US

Texas Senate Pass ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill

The Texas Senate advanced a bill mirroring Florida’s infamous “don’t say gay” bill without much debate. In a 19-12 vote on Monday, the senate’s upper chamber decided to preliminary advance House Bill 890. The legislation seeks to drastically limit teacher guidance, classroom lessons and school programming about gender identity and sexual orientation. If signed into law, the bill will ban discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in Texas classrooms from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. While critics are accusing the Texas GOP of mirroring Florida’s efforts to suppress the LGBTQ+ community. Texas republicans claim that the bill is an effort to protect parental rights. "This bill takes a stand by enshrining parental rights and ensuring that Texas parents ar...

Border Patrol Deactivates Twitter Account After Liking Homophobic Slurs

11Sep

By Sara BanksNo Comments

US

Border Patrol Deactivates Twitter Account After Liking Homophobic Slurs

U.S. Border Patrol has deactivated the agency’s Twitter account for the Western Texas region after it liked homophobic slurs directed at Pete Buttigieg and retweeted posts that criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policy. In a statement, CPB officials said that the discrepancies will be investigated by the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility and that this must not happen again. The agency “has become aware of unauthorized and inappropriate content” that was posted on the @CBPWestTexas Twitter account, Customs and Border Protection officer Chris Magnus tweeted late Saturday. The official CBP West Texas Twitter account retweeted statements by former Trump lackey, Steven Miller, early Saturday morning. In his tweets, Steven Miller critiqued President Biden's im...

Texas Judge Rules That Denying Gay Men HIV Preventive Care Is Religious Freedom

8Sep

By Sara BanksNo Comments

Health

Texas Judge Rules That Denying Gay Men HIV Preventive Care Is Religious Freedom

The Affordable Care Act’s process for determining what kinds of preventive care insurers should cover has been found unconstitutional by a federal judge in Texas. The decision means insurance policies no longer must cover pre-exposure prophylaxis also known as PrEP, a drug that has been proven to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus. Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas' ruling puts other preventive care services such as cancer screenings and alcohol abuse counseling in jeopardy as well. The ruling says that the Preventive Services Task Force, a group of volunteer experts that recommends which preventive care services should be covered by law, is unconstitutional. This because the group of experts isn’t appointed by the pre...

18Jul

By str8darNo Comments

Politics, US

Ted Cruz Attacks Same-Sex Marriage

Republican senator Ted Cruz attacked the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage calling it an overreach. In his podcast episode that aired last weekend, the Texas lawmaker discussed the possibility of the Supreme Court dismantling Obergefell. This comes as the Supreme Court recently went against precedent by taking aim at Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortion. According to Cruz, Roe v. Wade & Obergefell “ignored two centuries of our nation’s history.” Arguing that it should be up to the states to define marriage. “Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states, we saw states before Obergefell, some states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships,” Cruz said. Cruz argued that the constit...

First LGBTQ+ Inclusive Mosque to Open in Houston

8Jun

By str8darNo Comments

Community

First LGBTQ+ Inclusive Mosque to Open in Houston

HOUSTON - LGBTQ+ inclusive Mosque to open within the next few weeks. Pakistani-American Erum Rani who identifies as a queer muslim is spearheading the project. Once open it will become one of the few mosques in the U.S. that serve the LGBTQ+ community. In an interview with Fox 26 Houston, Rani reveals that she’s felt judged as a queer person at Mosque’s in the past. Which is what has inspired her to work towards opening an affirming Mosque. She argues that although religious conservatism may seek to vilify members of the LGBTQ+ community, queer people still have a right to safely practice their religions. Rani states that her past experiences are a testament to how necessary it is for the LGBTQ+ community to have secure places to practice their religions. The opening date has ...

8Jun

By str8darNo Comments

Politics

Kid-Friendly Drag Shows Spark Outrage

The attacks on the LGBTQ+ community continue as kid-friendly pride month events have sparked outrage among conservatives. This has led Texas republicans to promise to work towards introducing legislation that prevents minors from being able to watch drag shows. Texas republicans now threaten to move towards prohibiting minors from attending drag shows. State Rep. Bryan Slaton announced on Monday that he will introduce a bill that bans children from being present at drag performances. This after a Dallas Gay bar hosted a kid-friendly drag brunch last weekend. The event titled "Drag Your Kids To Pride" went viral when videos of kids tipping drag queens hit social media. Slaton took to twitter to call the events “disgusting and dangerous.” On Friday June 3, 2022. DC Public Schools h...