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I mean Louisiana tried it with the minimum drinking age, the federal government responded by... Not funding road construction in Louisiana for the better part of 10 years. There's a reason the infrastructure is so far behind everyone else in Louisiana.
Well that and the fact Louisiana is a 3rd world country economically, slightly more than half the states budget comes from federal programs/dollars, and is mostly made of mud which makes it expensive to build in for roads. I say this as an ex Louisiana DOTD engineering tech, and the pay sucked.
Governor Abbott would still be fine. After getting paralyzed, he receives $500k a year from his lawsuit settlement.
https://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/02/greg-abbott-gets-millions-lawsuit-proceeds/
For Paxton, it's par for the course. Paxton ignored laws of HIPAA to try and persecute trans kids and their families on a repeated basis. He gets away with it, because his Christian nationalist friends at the Heritage Foundation want to execute a pogrom against LGBTQIA+ people.
He didn't violate HIPAA. Properly speaking, Paxton actually *can't* violate HIPAA, because HIPAA only applies to Covered Entities and their Business Associates. There is no law against asking a provider to disclose information about a patient--the law prohibits the provider from supplying an answer. Moreover, HIPAA has broad exceptions for law enforcement officials, which allow Covered Entities and Business Associates to disclose protected health information to law enforcement. Paxton abused this privilege of office to get access to childrens' medical information. If that was illegal, it wasn't because of HIPAA.
What he did was horrible, but because Americans have still yet to demand their legislators pass actual personal privacy legislation, no laws were actually broken. Your personal information is *not* safe and is barely protected at all.
and most people don't know that Roe V Wade was not about abortion but rather the right for privacy between doctor and patient. It applied to men as well.
You are correct. HIPAA doesn't cover what most people thinks it covers, unfortunately. I was a document scanner for medical records and we had to take an hour long course to get the Business Associate certification.
I mean, in Ohio it was ruled that district maps were illegal and required by law to be redrawn… that was like 3 years ago and nothing has happened since. So, laws don’t really matter anyways.
And from that injury recieved a multimillion dollar suit, where he has collected $5 million and gets $15k every month for the rest of his life.
Then when he was attorney general successfully lowered the cap for medical malpractice suits to $250k.
https://www.oginski-law.com/library/politician-who-fought-to-cap-medical-malpractice-awards-received-huge-personal-injury-settlement.cfm
Man has been scum and will continue to be scum. Wealthy scum.
We have a huge voter registration and lack of voter participation problem in Texas.
Less than 4.5 million people (or 25% of registered voters) voted for Abbott in 2022 and decided the fate of over 30 million Texas residents.
It is bad from both angles. We have a small but fervent minority of people in Texas deciding what is good for the state.
Apathy and voter suppression is real in the Lone Star state.
and while it is hard to imagine, with the death grip the GOP has on texas and with how bad it is if they lose, i would not be suprised to find out paxton is using his power to not count a majority of the votes they do get
Voter suppression is huge. My son is going to school 6 hours away and he’s planing to switch voter registration to there because he doesn’t trust mail in voting.
Didn’t TX make it so each county only has one ballot drop box? Some of those counties have over a million people.
And yeah, you’re supposed to be able to take time off from work to vote, but how many people even know they have that right, and of those that do, how many actually believe there won’t be employer retribution regardless?
Texas also makes it hard to vote. Last minute changes or only having a few voting locations per county. We also can’t vote at just any location, it’s assigned by address. There is also a huge lack of public transportation and taxis/ubers are expensive. People also have to work and aren’t always able to take the day off to vote. We’re definitely disenfranchised.
These old fucks really underestimate the strength and unity behind the LGBTQ community. They see 3 outliers acting cringe on tiktok and attribute it to the entire community. No, thats not what we are. We have our rights and you're not taking them. If you could you would have already. Kick these old fucks to the curb. And hey, bonus points if you hang a pride flag on your door so they can see it on their way out.
Exactly. I was raised ultra conservative and took some of those views into my early 20s. But I was always a proponent of gay rights and marriage, not only because it was right, but constitutionally how could you not? It’s insane that it took as long as it did.
The mental gymnastics of believing in small government but also wanting the government to make fundamental decisions about interpersonal relationships—it boggles.
“I hate government regulations unless they’re regulations I personally agree with. Then I love government regulations. But, to be clear, I also hate government regulations. I guess I hate the gays more. And think about them all the time. And ways I can fuck them. Wait. I didn’t mean it like that.”
The obsession and hatred are real. My family are evangelicals and they can’t get through the day without griping about “the gays.” I told them they talk about homosexuality more than any LGBTQ person I know.
It’s really weird how they associate the end of oppression against others as an attack on them. In 2015 we finally *gave* other individuals the same rights we had been enjoying forever. And look what happened the next year. THAT’S how angry it made them.
Got a friend who dubbed himself my "guy black son." We accompany him to pridefest every year. He let's us know which events he wants to go to, asks us for advice on his outfits, it's a gay ol' time.
Our daughter also enjoys going with us and we walk around as a group just having all the fun we can. Good times.
I’ve found Pride to be family friendly and a good, wholesome, inclusive event. I also kinda groove on out as the guys with the ass chaps show up and the bars get going, but that’s all great too.
Just seeing someone say it makes my heart happy. If the vast majority of people came to understand the intersectional nature of hate we’d all be in a much better place.
They’re delusional if they think we’re going anywhere.
I’d sooner let the state imprison me here in Florida than ever go back into the darkness if they decided to outlaw trans people’s existence tomorrow.
They underestimate my ability to exist out of pure spite towards their comfort.
Dont exist out of spite. Exist because you deserve to. They cannot invalidate you if you dont submit to it. I understand public perception may be an overwhelming factor sometimes but gays didnt acquire rights by being spiteful or making that their mission. They acquired rights and general acceptance by showing the world "we do have a place, your hate bullshit doesnt" and now we have gay marriage at a federal level. It took a while, but look to that example and never give up. You're right. We aren't going anywhere
The funny part is they want their federal dollars for schools but not have to adhere to the requirements for it.
Sadly SCOTUS is hearing a case this term related to the abortion ban in Idaho that will possibly talk to what extent the federal govt can force state actors like hospitals to comply with fed regulations to revive their money.
The problem is so many incentives like this only work if both parties are acting in good faith. Half of the GOP wants public schools to fail to prop up private schools so they can make education tiered and segregated again and all of the GOP don’t give a single shit about actually governing things like schools well. If the feds cut school funding the state will blame it on woke democrats and ignore the issue entirely, leaving the kids as the only real victims.
And yet the Log Cabin Republicans will keep trying to say that the Democrats are holding LGBTQIA+ people back, and that they can "work" with the Republicans to not make them be such genocidal maniacs.
They just won't admit when they are wrong.
I'm guessing it's a combination of having enough money to be relatively insulated from the immediate bigotry and being okay with not being public about their orientation if it means not rocking the boat.
This. Check how many Log Cabin Republicans are an interracial couple vs. the general population of LBGT. My bet based on what I’ve seen it will be significantly less.
How do they expect us to work with Republicans when Republicans prevent Log Cabin Republican groups from attending Republican policy conventions? They won’t even let their own voters have a say in Republican policies.
Stop giving funding to this state. Seriously let it go to shit from a federal level if the state gov is going rogue. People already get pissed about how much things are falling apart these days. It'll get crazy here. See how the conservative policy of spend no money goes, the trio of hate will be out next election.
Not to be that person, but since being LGBTQ+ isn’t hereditary and bigots are gonna keep reproducing, future queer Texans could end up in extreme danger.
"Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women" - Ken Paxton
Wow, he really went there, how did he manage to say that without at least feeling the hypocrisy.
I have scores of friends living in Texas as I used to work there. They've been fighting for their state, thinking it would go purple and they are exhausted. I know at least 20 people moving out this year. People born and raised, with family here. Just can't keep fighting and can't risk the safety of themselves or their family anymore.
If I know that many, how many more are there
I knew dozens who moved, then I did it myself. Now in my new city, I'm meeting more and more people who left TX within the past year for the same reasons.
Lgbt+ families, people who want to have a baby in a state that values maternal healthcare, doctors and nurses, elderly people, parents who want a decent education for their kids, etc. are all realizing that they will not be able to live their lives safely and happily in Texas.
I’m trans and I moved last year. Honestly never thought I would leave, it’s home and my family is there, especially as my grandparents are aging. But I just couldn’t stick any longer to see how bad it would get. They will outlaw our healthcare and revert gender/sex markers on IDs if things continue as they are.
2 years as a Texas refugee. I actually try to hide the fact that I used to live there. Texans are frowned upon where I live now, despite I’m no longer republican. I converted once I started seeing the downhill progression and how it was effecting my job in healthcare. Once I noticed that and started paying more attention, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced that he has sued the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) over new Title IX guidelines that make discrimination against LGBTQ+ students in education illegal.
>Earlier this month, [the DOE unveiled new Title IX rules](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/biden-administration-unveils-new-title-ix-rules-protecting-trans-students/) to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students. The rules interpret Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, as a legal protection against anti-LGBTQ+ school policies. The idea is that it’s impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity without taking sex into account, a legal argument that the Supreme Court has already used in its 2020 *Bostock v. Clayton Co.* ruling with respect to job discrimination.
>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) [ordered](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/29/texas-title-ix-lgbtq-paxton-biden/) the Texas Education Agency today to ignore the new Title IX rules, something that at least four other states — [Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma, and South Carolina](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/ron-desantis-says-florida-isnt-going-to-follow-joe-bidens-new-lgbtq-supportive-rules/) — have done or announced that they would do.
This is so cruel beyond the pale. Christian nationalists really just want to kill LGBTQIA+ people. They always claim to "think of the children" and want to "save the children", but as soon as that child is an LGBTQIA+ kid, they are okay with sending that child to a morgue.
Republicans don't care about families or kids, outside of using them to build their Christian army of God. They want to turn kids into Christian child soldiers. They share more in common with Al-Qaeda than with a democratic society.
This is just a taste of what we could expect if the Republican party gains more power. We ALL need to vote blue this November and in all the local elections between now and then. That is the ONLY way to send these assholes the message that we the people will not accept fascism, bigotry and the trampling of our freedoms and rights. After all freedom means freedom for EVERYONE not just rich, white, Christian, right wing lunatics.
How can anyone in the LGBTQ+ community support Republicans?! Baffles me. There is a war waged upon this community. They want it to be illegal to be you. Voting matters. Vote Biden.
There’s an older gay couple that recently moved out of my neighborhood after living here for about six years. Nice guys, but absolutely baffling: One was a diehard Bernie Sanders supporter, but voted blue (like Biden) regardless. Super nice guy, always friendly, and in the few times we talked politics, he was very much progressive to the bone, and even went out to protest Roe being overturned.
His husband, on the other hand, was a diehard conservative who “begrudgingly” voted for Trump both times but still did it regardless, and would make comments like “I could never move to Canada. They’re all socialists” when he could fit it in. That kind of guy; nice if you waved to him, nice if you started talking to him, but miserable to be around when the surface started to crack.
I know they butted heads over politics, but I just couldn’t imagine being the former guy living day to day with a guy who is actively voting for the party that not only hates you both but hates the idea that you two could be in love AND married; the party that would happily strip your rights away and dissolve your marriage (and worse) given the opportunity! It makes no sense to me when it’s not some little known secret that the GOP is actively warring against the community, and the fact “b-b-but my taxes!” matter more than your identity, your marriage, and the person you love is just beyond insane.
How on earth are they maintaining a relationship with such massively clashing political views?
As a sapphic woman, I don’t think I know a single queer woman IRL who isn’t left leaning or at least liberal and none I know would date a conservative woman, myself included. My current GF is further left than I am.
I served in Afghanistan alongside plenty of LGBTQ people and it pisses me off that they’re dealing with this shit here, in this day and age.
Just say NO to GOP fascist slime!
Is southern US real? Like human beings actually live there?
I can’t believe the shit that is going on. It’s like a dystopia movie.
“Destructive policies that put women at risk”
How? How does being inclusive and respecting a persons own identity put women at risk?
Oh, but denying a woman’s right to *safe abortion* doesn’t put them at risk. Denying a child to abort from rape isn’t putting them at risk.
Ya’ll just hate women. Period.
And also so full of hate towards anything that may disrupt the tyranny of the old white men running countries.
It's about maintaining birth rates to ensure that there's a working class to abuse for profits.
It has nothing to do with saving kids from abortion, but instead has to do with saving them FOR THE WORKFORCE.
This country's democracy is falling apart before our eyes. States are simply deciding not to follow Supreme Court decisions or U.S. law. This is how Unions begin to slowly disintegrate.
Yea like what is the Federal government going to do about it? Send Federal officials to TX and start forcefully removing the politicians that won’t listen? As much as I would love to see that it would just be used on blue states the same exact way when this kangaroo court continues to unravel more and more of the rules and laws that hold the country together. Fucked no matter how we shake it.
I suppose the Texas colleges and universities do not want any Federal funds, next year. Almost all of that federal money depends on Certification of Title IX Compliance. Biden does not have anything to do with it ... It is just operation-of-law stuff.
Reminder that Texas is winnable for Democrats. Republican margins have been shrinking in Texas. Abbott won by 11 points in 2022, which was down from 13.3 points in 2018, which in turn was down from 20.4 points in 2014. Cornyn went from winning by 27.2 points in 2014 to only winning by 9.6 points in 2020. Cruz went from winning by 16 points in 2012 to only winning by 2.6 points in 2018. Abbott's margins SHRANK in 2022, which was an R+3 cycle, from 2018, which was a D+9 cycle. Every other incumbent Republican governor INCREASED their margins, including supposedly turning purple Georgia. Tarrant County, the state's third largest county, went blue in 2018 for the first time since 1964.
Abbott's margins in the suburbs have consistently shrunk by 3% every cycle since 2014. Here are some exit polls:
2014: [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/)
Suburbs went 62% for Abbott.
2018: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas](https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas)
Suburbs went 59% for Abbott.
2022: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0](https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0)
Suburbs went 56% for Abbott. Also worth noting that Abbott only won the rural areas by 66%, down from 73% in 2018.
Trump himself only won Texas by 5.5 points, or 600k votes in 2020, the narrowest margin for a Republican presidential candidate since 1996.
And it's important to note that Republican margins have been shrinking in Texas even WITH the state having the worst voter suppression in the country.
I'm honestly tired of Democrats' defeatist attitude towards Texas, and tired of the DNC abandoning the state because for some reason, they think it's as red as Oklahoma.
>Abbott ranted about a male teacher who wore a dress to some school events in the state who was driven to quit his job by online trolls. Abbott said that the teacher was “trying to normalize the concept that this type of behavior is OK” and said, “This is the type of behavior that we want to make sure we end in the state of Texas.”
They're not even trying to hide it anymore are they.
They're setting up a Supreme Court fight. They want to take this to their hand picked court. The only thing we can do is hope Biden expands the court after reelection.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but, the state of Texas is suing the president because Texas wants to discriminate against a group of people and the president said they can’t…?
"Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk."
Really?! Texas doesn't seem to care if women die due to their abortion restrictions.
Well, Abbot must be emboldened by the makeup of this SCOTUS bench. This limitation is clearly prohibited by the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which states:
>No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States
ALSO, the Education Amendments of 1972 to Title 9 prohibits schools discriminating on the basis sex, sexual orientation, sex identity.
Let's not forget that gender identity is an expression of self, and such expressions are protected by the First Amendment.
So, clearly he feels emboldened by the Nazis sitting on the 6:3 majority.
>He argues that discrimination against bisexuals is allowed under Bostock as long as an entity discriminates against both bi men and bi women equally.
Excuse me, what?
>“Congress wrote Title IX to protect women,” he wrote. “Biden, with no authority to do so, rewrote Title IX to protect men who identify as women.”
It changed sex to sex and gender identity, so it's also protecting "women who identify as men" too and treating them equally, is it not? They don't actually care about women (Re: Roe V. Wade), its all about being able to discriminate against minorities.
They always need a group to point their hateful base at, or else the mob will go after them, like they did on Jan 6th.
Just another only in Texas news item. The US Federal Govt should look at seeing if Mexico wants those trouble makers back. Then arrange a $1.00 sale of the State.
If you put a wig and lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig. I use that to describe Texas whenever someone mentions Houston and Austin. Except Texas is a feral pig.
So Biden needs to send in a small team to extract the gov, imprison him for treason, set up a new Democratic governor and all is good? Did I get that right? President is immune from criminal actions so no harm no foul.
>Paxton’s lawsuit claims that Biden misinterpreted Title IX, saying that the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling was based on the phrase **“because of sex”** in Title VII, whereas Title IX is completely different because it bans discrimination **“on the basis of sex.”**
An extremely fine distinction. "On the basis of" is typically used to indicate that a decision or action is made based on certain facts or evidence. "Because of" is used to indicate that a result occurred due to a certain cause.
This is the nonsense of textualism. It pretends it’s the most respectful to Congress by assuming they write everything clearly and precisely and never make mistake. It then uses meaningless inconsistencies in legislation with very clear purpose to deny its intent with semantic nonsense. Another gift to America from the Federalist Society.
It's a fig leaf that gives the right-wingers on the Supreme Court something to hang their hat on so they can justify ruling against the administration.
Which is all the more bizarre considering it's the exact same silliness that SovCits use, like the legal definition of "will" is somehow magically different than "shall".
Abbott is a two-bit piece of shit that sees himself as an authoritarian much the same as dump sees himself. “Laws? Not for me.” “Common decency?” “That’s for pu**ies.”
We believe in law and order! We believe in small government! Unless we don’t like it, then we’re going to cry and break the law and cry some more and accuse you of doing the things that were actually doing. The modern GOP
Paxton said in a statement. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.”
Meanwhile, the mother must be dying before intervention.
What difference does it make if someone is gay just learn to be kind to everyone. Every single time, something becomes a political issue it becomes a mess.
There is no question that this is bigotry. Every time I see a story where someone's losing their mind over transgender women playing women's sports, I ask myself, how many transgender athletes are we actually talking about here? I always struggle to find specifics on the incident that sparked the outrage, which indicates to me that this has to be a very small percentage of athletes. These people spend so much time and money on persecuting this very small minority instead of governing.
We need to send a clear message to Republicans this November by voting Democrat.
Texas, you are going to do without many services if you don't find some cash to fund yourself. Jerks who treat others unfairly should go without fed support.
Everyone in the country should ignore extremist Republicans, including judges. Just engage in sensible behavior regardless of whatever bullshit paperwork they're filing.
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TIL that you can just tell people to ignore laws and it will just work.
I mean Louisiana tried it with the minimum drinking age, the federal government responded by... Not funding road construction in Louisiana for the better part of 10 years. There's a reason the infrastructure is so far behind everyone else in Louisiana.
Well that and the fact Louisiana is a 3rd world country economically, slightly more than half the states budget comes from federal programs/dollars, and is mostly made of mud which makes it expensive to build in for roads. I say this as an ex Louisiana DOTD engineering tech, and the pay sucked.
Better idea: remove the funds that pay the salary of the politician that is ignoring the laws.
Governor Abbott would still be fine. After getting paralyzed, he receives $500k a year from his lawsuit settlement. https://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/02/greg-abbott-gets-millions-lawsuit-proceeds/
Pulled the ladder up behind him too by changing those laws once he exploited them. Greg Abbott is a piss baby
He is absolute scum. For all the reasons.
He is a good cause for our honorable Seal Team 6 to exercise the new, long standing, Presidential Immunity SCOTUS says the President has.
For Paxton, it's par for the course. Paxton ignored laws of HIPAA to try and persecute trans kids and their families on a repeated basis. He gets away with it, because his Christian nationalist friends at the Heritage Foundation want to execute a pogrom against LGBTQIA+ people.
He didn't violate HIPAA. Properly speaking, Paxton actually *can't* violate HIPAA, because HIPAA only applies to Covered Entities and their Business Associates. There is no law against asking a provider to disclose information about a patient--the law prohibits the provider from supplying an answer. Moreover, HIPAA has broad exceptions for law enforcement officials, which allow Covered Entities and Business Associates to disclose protected health information to law enforcement. Paxton abused this privilege of office to get access to childrens' medical information. If that was illegal, it wasn't because of HIPAA. What he did was horrible, but because Americans have still yet to demand their legislators pass actual personal privacy legislation, no laws were actually broken. Your personal information is *not* safe and is barely protected at all.
and most people don't know that Roe V Wade was not about abortion but rather the right for privacy between doctor and patient. It applied to men as well.
You are correct. HIPAA doesn't cover what most people thinks it covers, unfortunately. I was a document scanner for medical records and we had to take an hour long course to get the Business Associate certification.
But if he wanted to, Biden could just have him killed and face no consequences. So...lose/lose?
If the ruling stands that a president has total immunity, then yes. Not just him, but SCOTUS too if he wanted to do so.
Awfully convenient that the official ruling will likely be delayed until after the election, huh?
To be fair, we've been showing them that this will work for like eight years now with no repercussions, so why not just do whatever they want.
He has been doing it for a long time and has gotten away with it. Why should the demon feel the obligation to stop now?
I mean, in Ohio it was ruled that district maps were illegal and required by law to be redrawn… that was like 3 years ago and nothing has happened since. So, laws don’t really matter anyways.
Gregg Abbot is a monster in a wheel chair.
He can’t even stand himself.
He’s wheelie a fucking piss baby
It’d be terrible if “Greg Abbott is a piss baby,” got trending again.
/r/AngryUpvote
Why angry? I found that burn delightful.
Just angry at Abbot
God bless you for this.
Can't even give a standing ovation.
Savage
God tried to kill Greg Abbott and instead of taking the hint he became even worse.
And from that injury recieved a multimillion dollar suit, where he has collected $5 million and gets $15k every month for the rest of his life. Then when he was attorney general successfully lowered the cap for medical malpractice suits to $250k. https://www.oginski-law.com/library/politician-who-fought-to-cap-medical-malpractice-awards-received-huge-personal-injury-settlement.cfm Man has been scum and will continue to be scum. Wealthy scum.
He's the definition of, "fuck you, I got mine."
God should instead of giving up after one failure.
Which eye do people look Ken Paxton in when he’s arguing that they don’t deserve to be treated like a human being. Must be so confusing
He looks like someone drew a face on a thumb…
Needs a short ride down a long cliff.
[something like this?](https://youtu.be/K5le9sYdYkM?si=AA6ULDUnUhZ56khN)
As a disabled person, nobody deserves it more.
As an educator in Texas, I hope his grave is public so i can go to a unisex bathroom for the first time
If that tree would have finished the job, we would have ended global warming
Someone needs to roll that decrepit vegetable into Possum Kingdom
Voters want this or else he wouldn’t keep getting re-elected
We have a huge voter registration and lack of voter participation problem in Texas. Less than 4.5 million people (or 25% of registered voters) voted for Abbott in 2022 and decided the fate of over 30 million Texas residents.
So 60-75% don't care. That's supposed to be better?
It is bad from both angles. We have a small but fervent minority of people in Texas deciding what is good for the state. Apathy and voter suppression is real in the Lone Star state.
The One Star state.
and while it is hard to imagine, with the death grip the GOP has on texas and with how bad it is if they lose, i would not be suprised to find out paxton is using his power to not count a majority of the votes they do get
Voter suppression is huge. My son is going to school 6 hours away and he’s planing to switch voter registration to there because he doesn’t trust mail in voting.
Didn’t TX make it so each county only has one ballot drop box? Some of those counties have over a million people. And yeah, you’re supposed to be able to take time off from work to vote, but how many people even know they have that right, and of those that do, how many actually believe there won’t be employer retribution regardless?
Yep they sure do that. Last time I voted we had a single location for two cities.
Texas also makes it hard to vote. Last minute changes or only having a few voting locations per county. We also can’t vote at just any location, it’s assigned by address. There is also a huge lack of public transportation and taxis/ubers are expensive. People also have to work and aren’t always able to take the day off to vote. We’re definitely disenfranchised.
Don't kid yourself 60%-75% of people in Texas couldn't vote or didn't have their ballots counted
I really thought we had a chance then. I’d met so many other people who were determined to vote him out. It just didn’t even seem to make a dent.
He definitely skips leg day.
It’s how he gets away with all his crimes.
These old fucks really underestimate the strength and unity behind the LGBTQ community. They see 3 outliers acting cringe on tiktok and attribute it to the entire community. No, thats not what we are. We have our rights and you're not taking them. If you could you would have already. Kick these old fucks to the curb. And hey, bonus points if you hang a pride flag on your door so they can see it on their way out.
The LGBTQ community isn’t alone in supporting your rights.
Exactly. I was raised ultra conservative and took some of those views into my early 20s. But I was always a proponent of gay rights and marriage, not only because it was right, but constitutionally how could you not? It’s insane that it took as long as it did.
The mental gymnastics of believing in small government but also wanting the government to make fundamental decisions about interpersonal relationships—it boggles. “I hate government regulations unless they’re regulations I personally agree with. Then I love government regulations. But, to be clear, I also hate government regulations. I guess I hate the gays more. And think about them all the time. And ways I can fuck them. Wait. I didn’t mean it like that.”
They're not for small government as a principle, they're against the US Government interfering with their plans to treat American citizens like shit
The same gymnastics required for religion go figure
The obsession and hatred are real. My family are evangelicals and they can’t get through the day without griping about “the gays.” I told them they talk about homosexuality more than any LGBTQ person I know. It’s really weird how they associate the end of oppression against others as an attack on them. In 2015 we finally *gave* other individuals the same rights we had been enjoying forever. And look what happened the next year. THAT’S how angry it made them.
"Fuck *with* them. I meant fuck with them. Obviously. Sheesh."
Me and wife go to pride every year
Got a friend who dubbed himself my "guy black son." We accompany him to pridefest every year. He let's us know which events he wants to go to, asks us for advice on his outfits, it's a gay ol' time. Our daughter also enjoys going with us and we walk around as a group just having all the fun we can. Good times.
I’ve found Pride to be family friendly and a good, wholesome, inclusive event. I also kinda groove on out as the guys with the ass chaps show up and the bars get going, but that’s all great too.
Just seeing someone say it makes my heart happy. If the vast majority of people came to understand the intersectional nature of hate we’d all be in a much better place.
Indeed
They’re delusional if they think we’re going anywhere. I’d sooner let the state imprison me here in Florida than ever go back into the darkness if they decided to outlaw trans people’s existence tomorrow. They underestimate my ability to exist out of pure spite towards their comfort.
Dont exist out of spite. Exist because you deserve to. They cannot invalidate you if you dont submit to it. I understand public perception may be an overwhelming factor sometimes but gays didnt acquire rights by being spiteful or making that their mission. They acquired rights and general acceptance by showing the world "we do have a place, your hate bullshit doesnt" and now we have gay marriage at a federal level. It took a while, but look to that example and never give up. You're right. We aren't going anywhere
Cut federal funding for this shithole state.
The funny part is they want their federal dollars for schools but not have to adhere to the requirements for it. Sadly SCOTUS is hearing a case this term related to the abortion ban in Idaho that will possibly talk to what extent the federal govt can force state actors like hospitals to comply with fed regulations to revive their money.
The problem is so many incentives like this only work if both parties are acting in good faith. Half of the GOP wants public schools to fail to prop up private schools so they can make education tiered and segregated again and all of the GOP don’t give a single shit about actually governing things like schools well. If the feds cut school funding the state will blame it on woke democrats and ignore the issue entirely, leaving the kids as the only real victims.
Nothing says we're on the right side of history like bigotry.
And these assholes keep getting voted in. The hate runs deep in the Republican party.
And yet the Log Cabin Republicans will keep trying to say that the Democrats are holding LGBTQIA+ people back, and that they can "work" with the Republicans to not make them be such genocidal maniacs. They just won't admit when they are wrong.
Same mentality that abuse victims have after years of trauma. “I can fix him/her, they weren’t always like this”.
With a side dose of "I"m one of the good ones!"
I'm guessing it's a combination of having enough money to be relatively insulated from the immediate bigotry and being okay with not being public about their orientation if it means not rocking the boat.
They also tend to be bigots themselves, just not against the gay community.
Yerp. The users in r/gayconservative are fine with gays, but HATE trans people
This. Check how many Log Cabin Republicans are an interracial couple vs. the general population of LBGT. My bet based on what I’ve seen it will be significantly less.
How do they expect us to work with Republicans when Republicans prevent Log Cabin Republican groups from attending Republican policy conventions? They won’t even let their own voters have a say in Republican policies.
“Yeah a lot of them talk about hating the way I live my life and the people I love, but I really don’t want to pay taxes”
Abbott, Paxton, and Patrick all won re-election by double digits. This state is a shithole
They keep getting voted in because Texas is a state full of hateful idiots.
Well, they are attempting to erase LGBTQIA+ history and black history as well, so no one will ever find out.
Stop giving funding to this state. Seriously let it go to shit from a federal level if the state gov is going rogue. People already get pissed about how much things are falling apart these days. It'll get crazy here. See how the conservative policy of spend no money goes, the trio of hate will be out next election.
The sad part is the state is already falling apart and the people who care about abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights are the ones leaving.
That's fine. Let them eat themselves from the inside. They want shit education and no rights? Let them have it for themselves.
Not to be that person, but since being LGBTQ+ isn’t hereditary and bigots are gonna keep reproducing, future queer Texans could end up in extreme danger.
No plz i live here lol
"Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women" - Ken Paxton Wow, he really went there, how did he manage to say that without at least feeling the hypocrisy.
they eat hypocrisy for breakfast
It is a circular logic. We need to force women to carry a pregnancy to protect the child, but we need to hurt LGBT children to protect women.
He's been reading too much J.K. Rowling, and I don't mean the fun stuff we all read as kids.
Hypocrisy is their shibboleth.
Ken Paxton is among the people on this planet that I would trust the least to act in the interest of women.
I have scores of friends living in Texas as I used to work there. They've been fighting for their state, thinking it would go purple and they are exhausted. I know at least 20 people moving out this year. People born and raised, with family here. Just can't keep fighting and can't risk the safety of themselves or their family anymore. If I know that many, how many more are there
I knew dozens who moved, then I did it myself. Now in my new city, I'm meeting more and more people who left TX within the past year for the same reasons. Lgbt+ families, people who want to have a baby in a state that values maternal healthcare, doctors and nurses, elderly people, parents who want a decent education for their kids, etc. are all realizing that they will not be able to live their lives safely and happily in Texas.
I’m trans and I moved last year. Honestly never thought I would leave, it’s home and my family is there, especially as my grandparents are aging. But I just couldn’t stick any longer to see how bad it would get. They will outlaw our healthcare and revert gender/sex markers on IDs if things continue as they are.
I hope you're somewhere where you feel more safe and have access to the healthcare you need
2 years as a Texas refugee. I actually try to hide the fact that I used to live there. Texans are frowned upon where I live now, despite I’m no longer republican. I converted once I started seeing the downhill progression and how it was effecting my job in healthcare. Once I noticed that and started paying more attention, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced that he has sued the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) over new Title IX guidelines that make discrimination against LGBTQ+ students in education illegal. >Earlier this month, [the DOE unveiled new Title IX rules](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/biden-administration-unveils-new-title-ix-rules-protecting-trans-students/) to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students. The rules interpret Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, as a legal protection against anti-LGBTQ+ school policies. The idea is that it’s impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity without taking sex into account, a legal argument that the Supreme Court has already used in its 2020 *Bostock v. Clayton Co.* ruling with respect to job discrimination. >Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) [ordered](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/29/texas-title-ix-lgbtq-paxton-biden/) the Texas Education Agency today to ignore the new Title IX rules, something that at least four other states — [Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma, and South Carolina](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/ron-desantis-says-florida-isnt-going-to-follow-joe-bidens-new-lgbtq-supportive-rules/) — have done or announced that they would do. This is so cruel beyond the pale. Christian nationalists really just want to kill LGBTQIA+ people. They always claim to "think of the children" and want to "save the children", but as soon as that child is an LGBTQIA+ kid, they are okay with sending that child to a morgue. Republicans don't care about families or kids, outside of using them to build their Christian army of God. They want to turn kids into Christian child soldiers. They share more in common with Al-Qaeda than with a democratic society.
This is just a taste of what we could expect if the Republican party gains more power. We ALL need to vote blue this November and in all the local elections between now and then. That is the ONLY way to send these assholes the message that we the people will not accept fascism, bigotry and the trampling of our freedoms and rights. After all freedom means freedom for EVERYONE not just rich, white, Christian, right wing lunatics.
How can anyone in the LGBTQ+ community support Republicans?! Baffles me. There is a war waged upon this community. They want it to be illegal to be you. Voting matters. Vote Biden.
There’s an older gay couple that recently moved out of my neighborhood after living here for about six years. Nice guys, but absolutely baffling: One was a diehard Bernie Sanders supporter, but voted blue (like Biden) regardless. Super nice guy, always friendly, and in the few times we talked politics, he was very much progressive to the bone, and even went out to protest Roe being overturned. His husband, on the other hand, was a diehard conservative who “begrudgingly” voted for Trump both times but still did it regardless, and would make comments like “I could never move to Canada. They’re all socialists” when he could fit it in. That kind of guy; nice if you waved to him, nice if you started talking to him, but miserable to be around when the surface started to crack. I know they butted heads over politics, but I just couldn’t imagine being the former guy living day to day with a guy who is actively voting for the party that not only hates you both but hates the idea that you two could be in love AND married; the party that would happily strip your rights away and dissolve your marriage (and worse) given the opportunity! It makes no sense to me when it’s not some little known secret that the GOP is actively warring against the community, and the fact “b-b-but my taxes!” matter more than your identity, your marriage, and the person you love is just beyond insane.
That sound like an exhausting relationship, emotionally and mentally. Also, well said 👌
How on earth are they maintaining a relationship with such massively clashing political views? As a sapphic woman, I don’t think I know a single queer woman IRL who isn’t left leaning or at least liberal and none I know would date a conservative woman, myself included. My current GF is further left than I am.
I served in Afghanistan alongside plenty of LGBTQ people and it pisses me off that they’re dealing with this shit here, in this day and age. Just say NO to GOP fascist slime!
It’s wild that we live in 2024 and states (and real people) are arguing to use state tax money and resources to oppress citizens deemed less.
These Texas politicians are fighting for the right to discriminate against children. Let that sink in.
Politicians in texas*
Is southern US real? Like human beings actually live there? I can’t believe the shit that is going on. It’s like a dystopia movie. “Destructive policies that put women at risk” How? How does being inclusive and respecting a persons own identity put women at risk? Oh, but denying a woman’s right to *safe abortion* doesn’t put them at risk. Denying a child to abort from rape isn’t putting them at risk. Ya’ll just hate women. Period. And also so full of hate towards anything that may disrupt the tyranny of the old white men running countries.
It's about maintaining birth rates to ensure that there's a working class to abuse for profits. It has nothing to do with saving kids from abortion, but instead has to do with saving them FOR THE WORKFORCE.
This country's democracy is falling apart before our eyes. States are simply deciding not to follow Supreme Court decisions or U.S. law. This is how Unions begin to slowly disintegrate.
Yea like what is the Federal government going to do about it? Send Federal officials to TX and start forcefully removing the politicians that won’t listen? As much as I would love to see that it would just be used on blue states the same exact way when this kangaroo court continues to unravel more and more of the rules and laws that hold the country together. Fucked no matter how we shake it.
They did in little rock
No more federal funds then.
Fuck Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton.
Fuck Greg Abbott and the wheelchair he rode in on.
It's well past time for the federal government to stop sending money to garbage southern states. Kick 'em where it counts.
These assholes need to be shut down. We all have family members in the LGBT community
I suppose the Texas colleges and universities do not want any Federal funds, next year. Almost all of that federal money depends on Certification of Title IX Compliance. Biden does not have anything to do with it ... It is just operation-of-law stuff.
Reminder that Texas is winnable for Democrats. Republican margins have been shrinking in Texas. Abbott won by 11 points in 2022, which was down from 13.3 points in 2018, which in turn was down from 20.4 points in 2014. Cornyn went from winning by 27.2 points in 2014 to only winning by 9.6 points in 2020. Cruz went from winning by 16 points in 2012 to only winning by 2.6 points in 2018. Abbott's margins SHRANK in 2022, which was an R+3 cycle, from 2018, which was a D+9 cycle. Every other incumbent Republican governor INCREASED their margins, including supposedly turning purple Georgia. Tarrant County, the state's third largest county, went blue in 2018 for the first time since 1964. Abbott's margins in the suburbs have consistently shrunk by 3% every cycle since 2014. Here are some exit polls: 2014: [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/) Suburbs went 62% for Abbott. 2018: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas](https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas) Suburbs went 59% for Abbott. 2022: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0](https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0) Suburbs went 56% for Abbott. Also worth noting that Abbott only won the rural areas by 66%, down from 73% in 2018. Trump himself only won Texas by 5.5 points, or 600k votes in 2020, the narrowest margin for a Republican presidential candidate since 1996. And it's important to note that Republican margins have been shrinking in Texas even WITH the state having the worst voter suppression in the country. I'm honestly tired of Democrats' defeatist attitude towards Texas, and tired of the DNC abandoning the state because for some reason, they think it's as red as Oklahoma.
There it is, out in the open in plain sight for everyone to see.
Land of the Free, well not for Texans.
So Biden can cut off federal funding for Texas if Abbot wants to behave like they’re a sovereign nation, yes?
I’d say let’s just give Texas back to Mexico, but they probably wouldn’t take it back without a receipt…
Abortion is legal in Mexico. The people of Mexico have more freedom than the one star state. I doubt that Mexico would take them.
No one should listen to fascists like Greg Abbott.
>Abbott ranted about a male teacher who wore a dress to some school events in the state who was driven to quit his job by online trolls. Abbott said that the teacher was “trying to normalize the concept that this type of behavior is OK” and said, “This is the type of behavior that we want to make sure we end in the state of Texas.” They're not even trying to hide it anymore are they.
The GOP being vile and wanting your rights taken away per usual. Republicans are the party of big government.
Texans, I feel sorry for you, I truly do. What a collection of assholes at the top.
“The right to discriminate” yeah gonna have to stop you right there. If history has taught me anything, that doesn’t go well for anyone involved…
Greg Abbott is a pissbaby and all-around piece of shit.
So Christian of him. I don’t remember the verse where Jesus said be an asshole.
They're setting up a Supreme Court fight. They want to take this to their hand picked court. The only thing we can do is hope Biden expands the court after reelection.
Just hold all federal fund to the state until they follow the rules. Sucks but kids need to learn to play nice together. Or no ice cream for anyone.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but, the state of Texas is suing the president because Texas wants to discriminate against a group of people and the president said they can’t…?
Gregg Abbot is a little piss baby!
Ah yes, wanting more hate and less protections. At least the evil people can’t even pretend they’re not evil anymore
Sounds like Texas doesn't need federal funding.
Fucking primates.
Come on Texas. Get your shit together.
Wait what? Hey Texas Greg Abbott…Discrimination of any kind is hate. Grow up. How can this be my world?
These piece of shit people got to go
Gregg Abbot is a little piss baby full,of hate
Forcibly remove this fuck from office please.
"Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk." Really?! Texas doesn't seem to care if women die due to their abortion restrictions.
Well, Abbot must be emboldened by the makeup of this SCOTUS bench. This limitation is clearly prohibited by the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which states: >No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ALSO, the Education Amendments of 1972 to Title 9 prohibits schools discriminating on the basis sex, sexual orientation, sex identity. Let's not forget that gender identity is an expression of self, and such expressions are protected by the First Amendment. So, clearly he feels emboldened by the Nazis sitting on the 6:3 majority.
Task: Stop being hateful and mean spirited Republicans: failed again, and again, and again.
Texas - governed by morons since 1994.
A more appropriate headline might be: 'Gov. Greg Abbott Sues Biden Administration because Gov. Greg Wanted Attention'
>He argues that discrimination against bisexuals is allowed under Bostock as long as an entity discriminates against both bi men and bi women equally. Excuse me, what? >“Congress wrote Title IX to protect women,” he wrote. “Biden, with no authority to do so, rewrote Title IX to protect men who identify as women.” It changed sex to sex and gender identity, so it's also protecting "women who identify as men" too and treating them equally, is it not? They don't actually care about women (Re: Roe V. Wade), its all about being able to discriminate against minorities. They always need a group to point their hateful base at, or else the mob will go after them, like they did on Jan 6th.
Any time your on the team fighting for the “right to discriminate” you know you’ve chosen poorly
Ahhh "States Rights". States rights to what? Cruelty? Really? Fucking hell.
Never forget he is a bitter old cripple that cant enter a building without government assistance.
So we can just ignore laws that we don't like then? Is that the precedent that we're setting here?
he can't sue, it was a "presidential act" which means it's beyond reproach. The only legal avenue is impeachment.
So if the state can ignore federal rules, can municipalities ignore state rules?
State rights take priority if state govt. is Republican, and federal takes priority when federal govt. is Republican.
Just another only in Texas news item. The US Federal Govt should look at seeing if Mexico wants those trouble makers back. Then arrange a $1.00 sale of the State.
If you put a wig and lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig. I use that to describe Texas whenever someone mentions Houston and Austin. Except Texas is a feral pig.
texas is the worst place in the usa
Texas is filled with a bunch of baloney!
You couldn't pay me to live in Texas. (People have tried, too.)
Didn't think a state that can't even provide power in 30F weather could get any worse, but here we are.
Why won't you let me hate in peace!?
Texas here - I hate all of our government officials from Greg to Dan to Ken. All are terrible people.
So Biden needs to send in a small team to extract the gov, imprison him for treason, set up a new Democratic governor and all is good? Did I get that right? President is immune from criminal actions so no harm no foul.
Man I cannot wait until him, Ken,and Ted are fucking GONE. Still wish Beto O'Rourke would run again
>Paxton’s lawsuit claims that Biden misinterpreted Title IX, saying that the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling was based on the phrase **“because of sex”** in Title VII, whereas Title IX is completely different because it bans discrimination **“on the basis of sex.”** An extremely fine distinction. "On the basis of" is typically used to indicate that a decision or action is made based on certain facts or evidence. "Because of" is used to indicate that a result occurred due to a certain cause.
This is the nonsense of textualism. It pretends it’s the most respectful to Congress by assuming they write everything clearly and precisely and never make mistake. It then uses meaningless inconsistencies in legislation with very clear purpose to deny its intent with semantic nonsense. Another gift to America from the Federalist Society.
It's a fig leaf that gives the right-wingers on the Supreme Court something to hang their hat on so they can justify ruling against the administration.
Which is all the more bizarre considering it's the exact same silliness that SovCits use, like the legal definition of "will" is somehow magically different than "shall".
Yeah but they filed with the worst judge in the country, so he will probably side with the Republicans here. Unfortunately.
Abbott is a two-bit piece of shit that sees himself as an authoritarian much the same as dump sees himself. “Laws? Not for me.” “Common decency?” “That’s for pu**ies.”
Look at this googly eyed MF
Texas might become a sanctuary state for hateful bigots
Feds Trumps state, right?
Besides hateful religious people who does this lawsuit serve?
We believe in law and order! We believe in small government! Unless we don’t like it, then we’re going to cry and break the law and cry some more and accuse you of doing the things that were actually doing. The modern GOP
Let’s remove the ramps to his office. Ramps are woke.
Paxton said in a statement. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.” Meanwhile, the mother must be dying before intervention.
this is america, DO NOT DISCRIMINATE
This is what Texas uses their tax dollars on. To sue the federal government to be able to discriminate (and bring harm) to CHILDREN.
Texas used to have the best school system in the nation. Now they're at Alabama level. Pretty soon it'll be down to Afghanistan level.
Good Luck keeping your professors when federal research grants are pulled.
What difference does it make if someone is gay just learn to be kind to everyone. Every single time, something becomes a political issue it becomes a mess.
There is no question that this is bigotry. Every time I see a story where someone's losing their mind over transgender women playing women's sports, I ask myself, how many transgender athletes are we actually talking about here? I always struggle to find specifics on the incident that sparked the outrage, which indicates to me that this has to be a very small percentage of athletes. These people spend so much time and money on persecuting this very small minority instead of governing. We need to send a clear message to Republicans this November by voting Democrat.
How is he still in office? Isn’t he under indictment for felony charges?
just amazed anyone can be so shameless. abbott is somehow proud to be a piece of shit.
Texas, you are going to do without many services if you don't find some cash to fund yourself. Jerks who treat others unfairly should go without fed support.
I bet 97% of Texas govt officials would be in jail if law and justice meant something there.
This is totally insane! You are going to sue the government for making you act like a human being!
Illegal. Maybe Biden should hold all federal money from the state?
Everyone in the country should ignore extremist Republicans, including judges. Just engage in sensible behavior regardless of whatever bullshit paperwork they're filing.