Texas legislation

*This is being reported by the Dallas Voice.

Friday was the bill filing deadline for Texas’ 2025 legislative session, and Equality Texas’ Interim Executive Director Brad Pritchett today issued a fundraising message warning the state’s LGBTQ community that “we have reached a grim milestone:”

As of Monday, March 15, 205 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been filed in the Texas legislature, Pritchett noted. That is, he said, the highest number ever recorded in Texas, surpassing the previous record of 141 bills filed in 2023.

“This is a distinction no Texan should be proud of,” Pritchett wrote. “These bills target our community’s basic rights and freedoms, from healthcare access to education to simply being able to live our lives with dignity. They aim to marginalize LGBTQIA+ Texans and erase our existence from public life.”

Pritchett pointed to Equality Texas’ efforts so far in 2025 which include hosting 30 advocacy training sessions across the state and training more than 1,000 advocates to mobilize at the Capitol, launching the largest pro-transgender TV ad campaign in Texas history, conducting more than 30 issue briefings on LGBTQ rights with legislators and stakeholders and organizing the “largest LGBTQIA+ advocacy day in Texas history.”

Pritchett said that while Equality Texas knows such strategies work, “we need your support to implement them, effectively … . The sheer volume of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation means we must redouble our efforts.”

Help fund Equality Texas’ efforts in the fight for LGBTQ equality in the Lone Star State at this link.

This blog originally appeared at LGBTQ NATION.

Individuals attempting to change their gender will be entered into a database accessible by state Republicans.

According to KUT, transgender Texans can no longer update the gender marker on their state IDs, even if they have a court order or an amended birth certificate. The only exception is if the change is proven to be a clerical error. However, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) stated that this rule is no longer in effect, and the relevant information was quietly removed from their website yesterday. A DPS spokesperson attributed the change to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

“The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has recently expressed concerns about the validity of court orders directing state agencies, including the DPS, to change the sex of individuals in government records like driver licenses and birth certificates,” the agency informed KUT.

“Neither DPS nor other government agencies are involved in the legal proceedings that result in these court orders, and the absence of legislative authority and evidentiary standards for courts to issue such orders has necessitated a thorough legal review by DPS and the OAG. Therefore, as of Aug. 20, 2024, DPS has stopped accepting these court orders as valid for changing sex identification in department records, including driver licenses,” the agency stated.

Ian Pittman, an attorney assisting trans Texans, told The Texas Tribune that this policy shift raises significant privacy concerns for transgender individuals, as they will now be forced to carry IDs that don’t reflect their gender. This mismatch can result in discrimination, harassment, violence, and barriers to accessing services that require identification.

The DPS now officially documents and scans any birth certificate changes or court orders related to gender markers but does not use them to process updates. “This policy effectively puts people on a list that could interfere with their health care,” Pittman said, urging trans Texans not to submit court orders to the DPS.

The change comes amid broader efforts in states like Florida and Kansas to block transgender individuals from altering ID markers, alongside numerous anti-LGBTQ actions by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott (R). Two years ago, Paxton directed DPS employees to create a list of individuals who had requested gender marker changes.

“Texans will now be subject to involuntary surveillance simply for trying to update a government document,” said Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas. “There is no clear rationale for why DPS would need this information, nor a valid reason to deny gender marker updates on driver’s licenses.”

On X, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick directly called out Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan for killing the bill “by letting it languish in committee for a month.”

AUSTIN, Texas — Following reports that Louisiana might become the first state to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick criticized Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan for allowing similar legislation to stall in committee.

On Thursday, Lt. Governor Patrick made multiple posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling out House Speaker Phelan.

“Texas WOULD have been and SHOULD have been the first state in the nation to put the 10 Commandments back in our schools,” Patrick said in a post on X. “But, SPEAKER Dade Phelan killed the bill by letting it languish in committee for a month assuring it would never have time for a vote on the floor.”

Senate Bill 1515, which failed to advance from committee in the last legislative session, aimed to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in Texas public elementary and secondary school classrooms.

In his post, Patrick pledged to reintroduce the bill in the Senate during the next session.

In another X post, the lieutenant governor persisted in attributing the demise of Senate Bill 1396, which proposed a “period of prayer and Bible reading” in Texas public schools, to House Speaker Phelan.

Tag: Texas legislation

Equality Texas notes record number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in 2025 Legislature

Texas eliminates the option for transgender individuals to update the gender marker on their IDs

This blog originally appeared at LGBTQ NATION.

Individuals attempting to change their gender will be entered into a database accessible by state Republicans.

Texas Lt. Governor Suggests State Should Have Implemented Ten Commandments in Schools Before Louisiana

On X, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick directly called out Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan for killing the bill “by letting it languish in committee for a month.”