In this episode, we ground Republican anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in history, including the historical trope of protecting cisgender White girls from perceived threats that have no basis in reality. Then we’re joined by Rebecca Marques, Texas State Director for the Human Rights Campaign to talk about the organization’s efforts to fight back against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the state and across the country.
Rebecca explains why we need to pass the Equality Act and put civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people into law, the importance of intersectionality within the fight for equal rights, and what’s keeping her hopeful as these battles play out in statehouses.
REFERENCES:
Rebecca Marques – Texas State Director, One America, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – @_RebeccaMarques
Organizations
Equality Texas – @EqualityTexas
Texas Freedom Network – @TFN
Texas Organizing Project – @OrganizeTexas
Articles
The Atlantic // Ronald Brownstein – Why the 2020s Could be as Dangerous as the 1850s https://theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/biden-2020-trump-election/616912/
GLAAD // Mary Emily O’Hara – Guide for Journalists: The Supreme Court’s Fulton v. Philadelphia Ruling This June https://glaad.org/blog/guide-journalists-supreme-courts-fulton-v-philadelphia-ruling-june-0
GLAAD // Ryan Roemerman – LGBTQ voters helped tip the 2020 election and we can do it again in Georgia https://glaad.org/blog/lgbtq-voters-helped-tip-2020-election-and-we-can-do-it-again-georgia
MAP (Movement Advancement Project) – New Report Highlights Unique LGBTQ Landscape and Advocacy in the U.S. South https://lgbtmap.org/release-2020-southern-broad-report
The New York Times // Kara Swisher – Inside the Republican Anti-Transgender MachinePew Forum – Attitudes on Same- Marriage https://nytimes.com/2021/05/13/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-chase-strangio.html?showTranscript=1
19th News // Kate Sosin – The Supreme Court rules unanimously in LGBTQ+ rights vs. religious liberty case https://19thnews.org/2021/06/the-supreme-court-rules-unanimously-in-lgbtq-rights-vs-religious-liberty-case/
Background
Bostock vs. Clayton County – Supreme Court ruling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bostock_v._Clayton_County
HERO – Houston Equal Rights Ordinance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Houston,_Texas_Proposition_1
Proposed Federal Protections for LGBTQ+ people: The Equality Act https://hrc.org/resources/the-equality-act
Emmett Till – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till
1712 Slave Codes – https://books.google.com/books?id=ErPg7VegkcMC&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=preamble+1712+slave+code&source=bl&ots
Juneteenth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth
Wendy Davis – Filibuster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Davis_(politician)#2013_filibuster