Many LGBTQ Texans say they are finding hope in action, as they prepare for new federal and state governments that ran on promises to roll back some of the communities’ rights and representation.
That reality didn’t come easy.
“There was a split second there, a voice in the back of my head that was saying, ‘I need to hide, I need to shut up, I need to not engage as much as before,’” said Ren Dobson, a non-binary artist and co-founder of Dallas Social Queer Organization.
On Election night, Callie Butcher couldn’t fall asleep. A trans woman and attorney in Dallas, Butcher said her mind was racing with thoughts about what the results would mean for her family.
These emotions also dominated the social media feeds of Marco Roberts, a longtime openly gay Republican.
“On one hand, you see [conservative gay groups] celebrating in very boisterous ways,” he said. “And on the other hand, you see this other feed — which, I will grant you, was much bigger — of people lamenting and being despondent. It’s like we’re living on two different planets.”
As Texas and the U.S. move beyond the election, many LGBTQ advocates are working to prevent what they see as further erosion of rights they fought hard to win.
State legislators have previously passed major bills, including those banning gender-affirming care for trans minors and limiting the sports teams trans athletes can compete on up to the collegiate level, saying they are needed to protect children and women. Some like State Rep. Brian Harrison, a Midlothian Republican who voted for these bills, have also framed efforts under this legislative agenda as reducing wasteful public spending. And with a more conservative incoming federal and state government, LGBTQ advocates worry legislation impacting their rights could go further in 2025.
In the meantime, Dobson and Butcher have been combating their anxiety by supporting their community instead of running away. They are not alone.
“It’s feeling ominous right now,” said Cece Cox, CEO of Dallas-based Resource Center. “But there’s a lineage of advocacy and victories and moving forward a step and going two steps back, but ultimately prevailing.”
An explosion of preparation
Texas is home to the country’s second-largest population of LGBTQ adults, according to the Williams Institute. Among them are around 93,000 trans adults, or less than 1% of the state’s population.
Over the past four years, many of these LGBTQ Texans say the federal government has acted as a counterbalance to the state. This dynamic will now shift, they say.
Roberts, who chairs the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum, said he welcomes the change. But he “[does] not think anyone should ever be given a free pass.”
Others have raised alarms about President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises. Trump has said he will push the Republican-controlled Congress for a national ban on gender-affirming medical care for trans minors as well as legislation recognizing only two genders as assigned at birth. He has vowed to reinstate the ban on trans military members. And he could quickly move to exclude trans students from Title IX protections, according to the Associated Press.
As a result, the Resource Center and others are ramping up or sharing resources for mental and physical healthcare and legal assistance.
The day after the election, Cox said she got “a lot of calls and texts” from people asking if they should push up their weddings or if they would still be able to get the health care they need.
Within one week, Butcher said she fielded at least 10 calls from LGBTQ Texans looking to hire her to help update their federal documents, especially as Texas agencies have banned trans people from being able to change their birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect their gender identity. Workshops have popped up to provide information on how LGBTQ individuals and families can protect themselves.
“We’ve definitely seen this [preparation] explode and rightfully so,” she said.
On the flip side, some local organizations are seeing an influx of volunteers. Juan Contreras, president of Texas Latino Pride, said new faces are reaching out and offering expertise, such as Spanish translation.
“People are wanting to help, like ‘Hey, I’m more than just a vote,’” he said. “There was this one young gentleman who said, ‘I’ve been watching for years. I just never knew how to get involved, but I’m wanting to give back to my community.’”
‘We’re looking out for more attacks’
Many LGBTQ Texans are also bracing for the next state legislative session, which starts Jan. 14.
“We’re looking out for more attacks on transgender Texans,” said Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas. “We’re looking out for additional censorship bills.”
Roberts agrees there will continue to be a heavy focus on the trans community. For him, the big issue is how to provide support for those who decide to detransition, but it’s also critical to address concerns in a way that doesn’t fuel a backlash. The solution, he said, is to lobby for legislation that defends everyone’s freedom.
As of Monday, over 1,800 pieces of legislation have rolled out since the first day of bill filing on Nov. 12.
Within a week, some LGBTQ organizers have noted around 20 bills. Several would again try to prohibit instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools through the 12th grade, which the Texas GOP considers a legislative priority. Some look to bar people from using private spaces that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth, revisiting a bathroom ban proposal that led to a major fight in 2017. Others seek to ban funding for gender-affirming medical treatments or raise the civil liabilities for doctors who provide them, which organizers say would make this care inaccessible for trans adults.
Harrison, the Midlothian Republican, said he filed House Bill 847 to ban the use of public funding — such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well as state and prison healthcare expenditures — for gender-affirming surgeries and prescriptions as a way to “defend taxpayers.”
“I do not take the position that the state of Texas should make those procedures illegal for adults,” he said. “However, as a fiduciary of tax money, I think it is an inappropriate use of tax dollars to force any Texan to ever have to pay for their neighbors’ sex change procedures.”
Organizers are also still watching out for priority bills, which have yet to be filed.
“The fact that we’re seeing these Day One is a little scary … but I don’t think that means they’re all going to pass,” said Butcher.
Joshua Blank, director of research for the Texas Politics Project, agrees. He also says it remains to be seen how effective the bills will be if they go further than the GOP’s current messaging around protecting children.
“What Republicans found was success in attaching the transgender issue to the protection of minors. They’ve been less successful at prohibiting and restricting the rights of transgender adults,” Blank said. “The question is whether they’ll lean back into that in this session, given their electoral success.”
Meanwhile, Texas Democrats have been filing bills to end discrimination in various settings based on sexual orientation or gender identity, though most are unlikely to go far in the Republican-dominated Legislature.
Among them, legislators are trying to repeal the unconstitutional criminalization of gay sex from state law. The long-running effort advanced the furthest last year, amid worries that the U.S. Supreme Court rulings striking down the gay sex ban and legalizing same-sex marriage could be reconsidered in future cases after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This legislative attempt has seen some bipartisan backing, but it remains an uphill battle.
LGBTQ community members on both sides of the political spectrum said they are now gearing up for the session.
Pritchett said Equality Texas is planning advocacy days online and in person to teach people how to drop cards and write testimonies about bills. He said safety plans will also be revamped, after state police booted protesters from the Capitol and arrested two during a House vote on the bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors last year.
Roberts agrees it’s important to keep showing up.
“Whether you like Republicans or not, those are the ones that are in the Capitol running the state, so you’re going to have to talk to them,” he said.
‘I belong here’
LGBTQ Texans tout their communities’ resilience.
For Dobson, this is evident in the history of Oak Lawn as a hub for LGBTQ life in Dallas. If the neighborhood could survive police raids and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, they too can weather the challenges ahead.
“There’s a long list of horrible things that have happened in this country, and we are still here,” Dobson said. “And not only that, we have a very visible and big space, and I’m safe to walk around in this space.”
Several emphasized the importance of community organizing — regardless of who is in power.
The sentiment follows an election that has left some Democrats soul-searching about what went wrong, including whether Democrats’ support for trans rights contributed to losses. Republicans unleashed a deluge of election ads on issues like trans youth in sports and gender-affirming care for trans minors, painting Democrats as being out of touch with average voters.
“This election was about the economy — and in Texas, to a lesser extent, was about the border,” said Blank.
“Democrats [were] spending their valuable time and resources trying to tell people what they’re not, as opposed to what they are. … And to the extent that you’re talking about these issues … [and] talking about minors, it ultimately activates a protectionist, paternalistic mindset that I think benefits Republican legislators and elected officials.”
In Texas, Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa told The Texas Newsroom that the issue didn’t help. The comment prompted swift criticisms, and he quickly apologized. Hinojosa announced his resignation days later but will stay in the role until March.
Correy Carrasco, vice president of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, which spoke out against Hinojosa’s comment, said the Democratic Party does need to get back to its roots on kitchen table concerns.
But he and others like Carter Brown, executive director of the Carrollton-based National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, pointed out economic issues and LGBTQ rights are not separate. They said many community members are working class, and many face barriers to accessing employment or housing due to gender and racial discrimination.
Brown said this makes protecting LGBTQ Texans even more important because not everyone has the means to leave. It’s also a matter of principle.
“Where do I go?” Brown said. “I’m an American. I’m a Texan. I belong here. This is where I’ll be.”
