Oct. 29, 2021. Show us with your support. According to the proposal, the Texas GOP declared homosexuality an abnormal lifestyle choice, opposes same-sex marriage, and believes in repealing the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision. The book bans often have targeted young adult literature with racial and LGBTQ+ themes. Think thats being dramatic? Party conventions are supposed to win a public spotlight for the party in question. by Kate McGee Chip in $10. In recent months, conservative lawmakers, television pundits and other public figures have accused opponents of anewly enacted Florida education legislation which critics have dubbed the Dont Say Gay law of trying togroom or indoctrinate children. In 2014, for example, there was a big fight over whether the platform should include a guest-worker programa Texas Solution to the immigration crisis that would allow workers to come from Mexico legally for months at a time. The Texas Republicans are trying to rewrite history with a party platform that calls for the restoration of any confederate monuments that have been removed anywhere in Texas. We believe in: 3. Our country is on a trajectory to self-destruct, unless we change the direction.. Meanwhile, the party platform vote on Saturday by roughly 5,100 convention delegates would argue that those under 21 are most likely to need to defend themselves and may need to quickly buy guns in emergencies such as riots. It also would say that red flag laws violate the due process rights of people who havent been convicted of a crime. "Its shameful that the Texas GOP leadership is choosing to not follow his lead.". More broadly, the platform is another salvo in the anti-permissive battle being waged by the right across the country. It seems hard to believe that Trump, a veteran of the New York nightclub scene in the seventies and eighties, cares about tormenting transgender children and their families nearly as much as many Texas Republican officials do. "This is not surprising, but it certainly is painful for LGBTQ people who live here in Texas. Even worse, they urge the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized. Its disappearance would make their attempts as voter disenfranchisement all the easier. Austin, TX, Release: July 6, 2022 For Immediate Release. Yes, the 2022 Texas GOP Platform Is Extreme. Thats a huge drop from our current two-week early voting periods. Vote. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. The Texas GOP got way out of hand with this years stance on voting rights. The Texas Republican Party unveiled its official position on LGBTQ issues over the weekend, defining homosexuality as an "abnormal lifestyle choice" and also opposing "all efforts to validate transgender identity.". The party chair, Matt Rinaldi, ruled that a motion to defend the due process rights of those who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and to reject the narrative that the riot was an insurrection was out of order and could not be voted on. The Texas Republican Party isnt just ignoring science, theyre pushing against it. There were indeed some developments at this years convention that seemed indicative of larger dysfunctions within the state party. End of sentence. Axioss write-up concurred: Texas GOP goes full MAGA.. From formally rejecting President Bidens 2020 win to outlawing LGBTQ+ marriage, the Texas GOP has unabashedly solidified their swing to the far-right. The Ohio Republican Party is set to reintroduce legislation that would defend womens' sports. The platform committee reviews every passed plank, hears public testimony, and further amends the platform. 91 - Mesquite City Council Member Jeff Casper and TX House Rep. Venton Jones, Ep. Kennedy is a passionate reporter, avid reader, coffee enthusiast, and loves to travel. The Texas Republican Party spent Juneteenth weekend, ironically, finalizing one of the most racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and ageist platforms weve seen in recent years. 1,106 Following. And earlier this month, a Texas lawmaker announced that he would introduce novel legislation to ban minors from attending drag shows in the state. This was the folksy down-home antique you may have seen in Patricks ads, where he puts on his boots and hunting garb and sits in a rocking chair and acts like your angry grandpappy. 2:01. Another indication of dysfunction was who didnt speak. About 9,600 delegates and alternates were eligible to attend; organizers said turnout was a bit more than half that. Texas Republicans did well in the 2020 elections even though Biden won 46.5% of the Texas vote, the highest proportion for a Democrat since 1976 and this year, culture-war issues were once. BJA:L(<5p`$dm >jgar *r2RXVh+Te$$zV=+wpuYO#Cu. The Confederacy did not fight for states rights, they fought for the right to hold Black people as property. HOUSTON Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further. The platform plank also states that students should witness a live ultrasound and watch a Miracle of Life type video. The 1982 film documents the human reproductive process from conception to birth. Land Commissioner George P. Bush, a grandson and nephew of the two presidents, was defeated handily in May in his runoff race against Attorney General Ken Paxton, an arch-conservative who sued to challenge the 2020 election outcome and convinced voters that he was the truer Trump loyalist. But some of the most talked-about policies in the states new platform is the outright rejection of LGBTQ communities, even those who may align with them politically. The GOPs new platform also requires teaching students that life begins at fertilization and requires students to learn about the Humanity of the Preborn Child. Moreover, Texas Republicans suggest students watch and listen to live ultrasounds, the growing stages of fetal development, the Miracle of Life, and more. The second the planks threatened the money, the delegates were corrected. As the convention opened Thursday, party chairman Matt Rinaldi predicted the GOP would make gains in the fall. Repealing the VRA would be radicalits one of the most beneficial pieces of legislation in the history of the country, having made imperfect democracies of Southern states for the first time in their history. Incumbent Matt Robinson is not running for reelection. Ensuring freedom to travel by opposing Bidens Clean Energy Plan and California-style, anti-driver policies, including efforts to turn traffic lanes over for use by pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit. But the difference from prior conventions was one of degrees. Updated: 10:26 PM CDT June 20, 2022. WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - Republicans in Texas formally rejected President Joe Biden's election in 2020 as illegitimate and voted in a state-wide convention that wrapped up this weekend on a . In the platform voted on by . Elected officials are not bound to adhere to their parties platforms. Texas Republicans refuse to consider common sense gun laws, even if it means sacrificing the lives . The group included self-identified Proud Boys and Alex Stein, a social media activist from North Texas. What this weekend's festivities in Texas make clear is that there is an active and ongoing effort to purge the Republican Party of anyone and everyone who a) criticizes Donald Trump or his. Here's what we're watching. Kristen Ylana, executive director of The Texas Womens Health Caucus, said the push to teach public school students that life begins at fertilization represents a broader push by the Texas Republican Party to broadly establish a legal foundation to claim a fetus is a person with constitutional rights. Its daily. 2022 Parties Platforms. Its like they havent been on the same plane of reality as the rest of us. Education is about reading, writing, math, science, history and fine arts. The Republican Party of Texas released its 2022 platform today. While there are already legislative moves underway across the US to curtail what children can be taught about sex, sexual orientation and gender, the Texas GOP platform goes much further instead calling for these subjects to be eradicated from schools altogether: We demand the State Legislature pass a law prohibiting the teaching of sex education, sexual health, or sexual choice or identity in any public school in any grade whatsoever, or disseminating or permitting the dissemination by any party of any material regarding the same. Finally, the platform committee presents a draft document to the entire State Convention, and delegates are given the opportunity to vote yes or no on each individual plank. At a convention where several of its more prominent lawmakers were harassed and booed, the Texas Republican Party has passed the latest version of its official platform and it makes for shocking reading. No-one could say that the Texas GOP is lacking in ambition. Those arrested came to the event with gas masks and shields. ), The platform, meanwhile, always contains ludicrously extreme planks and is mostly irrelevant when it comes to actually passing bills. Until this prohibition goes into effect, sexual education shall only utilize sexual risk avoidance programs and promote abstinence outside of marriage. The platform is largely symbolic but important as a measure of ideological drift, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. "Homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice," the 40-page resolution reads. So are we, thats why were fighting back against the right-wing lie machine. They. In a section titled "Homosexuality and gender issues," the party suggested that LGBTQ people should not be legally protected from discrimination and that being gay or trans is a choice. Paid for by the Republican Party of Texas and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. They are again voted on by that body, and if passed, continue up the chain to the platform committee at the state convention. The only thing impairing Texas is our Republican leadership. This and similar moves in other states spurred the Biden administration and top Democrats to try and pass a bill strengthening the Voting Rights Act, an effort that failed when two of their own senators refused to join an effort to reform the Senate filibuster. And thats what three days of in-person voting would look like. Everything is topsy-turvy. The delegates this year were a smaller, purer group of like-minded right-wingers, which is why the platform they produced was marginally more hardcore than that of the last convention. Some people are very susceptible to conspiracy theory, and that appears to be a higher percentage the deeper you go into the Republican Party of Texas. 2022, 10:41 AM. Were meant to be alive, at this time, right now, and here in this state.. The mascot of the convention this year, if not its star, wasnt a politician at all, but Lieutenant Governor Dan Patricks pickup truck, which got a berth of honor in the gatherings trade show. Texans who get their news from Facebook threads and chain emails gather together, load up a document with their complaints, pass it, and then elected officials throw it in the trash. We, the 2022 Republican Party of Texas, believe in this platform and expect our elected leaders to 82 uphold these truths through acknowledgment and action. LABEL HOMOSEXUALITY AN ABNORMAL LIFE CHOICE, Rejecting the LGBTQ+ community is nothing new for the Republican Party, but Texas recent streak of translating harmful rhetoric into law brings cause for worry. We oppose any identification of citizens by race, origin, creed, sexuality, or lifestyle choices, and oppose use of any such identification for purposes of creating voting districts. including by many of his own former aides, treated COVID patients with unapproved drug therapies. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. So therefore, you cant do certain things, Ylana said. My thought is to leave well enough alone. Whether or not it was true, it was possible to believe. One reason might be that years ago the convention was a place where factions of the party would come together and vigorously contest ideas. Two themes are clear this year: conspiracy and regression. U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, of Lubbock, described an unprecedented, unmitigated, self-inflicted disaster that is creating the worst humanitarian and national security threat to the American people in the history of our southern border, adding, this is an invasion, folks.. If not for the rise of Trump , some of the discriminatory language used by the Republican Party may have receded. Christopher Hooks writes mostly about Texas politics and occasionally about more serious subjects. Their next step is to criminalize abortion, go after Plan B, and restrict birth control. Mon 20 Jun 2022 11.28 EDT Last modified on Mon 20 Jun 2022 17.35 EDT The Republican party in Texas has officially adopted a series of extreme-right positions that includes claims Joe. . Oh, and why not regress even further by repealing all hate crime laws? Fleeing for Your Life? Republicans also want to prohibit the teaching of sex education, sexual health, or sexual choice or identity in any public school in any grade whatsoever. The party also asks legislators to restrict reproductive healthcare services, including counseling, referrals, and distribution of condoms and contraception through public schools., Despite the spike in COVID-19 cases and Texas ranking 42nd in access to healthcare, the party also rejects any Medicare/Medicaid expansion. Jones said that Republican redistricting has made incumbents safer and less inclined to appeal to moderates. Republicans made border security a "dominant" issueand it worked. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. Back then, speakers would describe it as the largest gathering of its kind in a free country, or some such boast. d. Support restoring state sovereignty with the repeal of the 17th Amendment of the United States Constitution and the appointment of United States Senators by the state legislatures. Copyright 2020 - The Republican Party of Texas - All Rights Reserved. The Texas Republican Party finished its 2022 platform priorities over the weekend at the Republican National Convention and gave a glimpse into some of the most powerful minds in power. On the fringes of the convention, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, from Houston, got in a much-publicized scuffle with some right-wing provocateurs, led by online troll Alex Stein. Governor Greg Abbott, the state partys highest elected official, seemed so afraid of getting the Cornyn treatment that he declined to address the convention at allinstead appearing only at an opening reception where he sought to soften those annoyed by his presence by picking up the tab for beer and snacks. "We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin, and we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.". by Brad Dress - 06/19/22 5:21 PM ET. Texas Republicans ended a three-day convention Saturday with votes on a swath of proposed changes to their platform that would pull the party further right. The most recent Republican National Committee platform which was enacted in 2016 and renewed in 2020 includes at least five references to marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? They make clear they want marijuana to remain illegal in Texas. HOUSTON Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further to the right. e. Support a change to the 14th Amendment to eliminate birth tourism or anchor babies by granting citizenship only to those with at least one biological parent who is a US citizen. They have rights that are just as valid and equal. Schools arent the social educators of our kids.. There simply arent limits now on what the base might ask for.. Party platforms are often more aspirational than practical and, in Texas, they have long reflected the opinions of the most activist wings of the parties. IE 11 is not supported. As the convention closed, two separate sets of ballots one allowing delegates to choose eight of 15 legislative priorities and another allowing delegates to vote on the 275 platform planks were gathered. His success has inspired the party to shift farther right. Thousands of Republican activists met at the partys biennial convention in Houston on Saturday to agree to the party's platform on a range of issues, including the rejection of the 2020 election results and a call to repeal of the 1965 Voting Right Act, which was enacted to prevent discrimination against Black voters. The Republican Party of Texas refuses to recognize the legitimacy of President Biden's election win. Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi said Our platform, taken as a whole, shows that the GOP is, above all, a party of parents, families, and working Americans dedicated to preserving the American dream for our children. Think thats being dramatic? ", "I'm glad that they're being really explicit in their words because these words now match their actions," Martinez said. Abbotts reticence to talk to anyone, including right-wingers, outside of carefully controlled venues isnt news. Gov. Politics Texas Republican Party includes anti-LGBT ideology in its new platform The new platform, which thousands of GOP activists in Texas agreed to at the state party convention over the weekend, is a veritable piata bursting with far-right extremist fantasies.It states . Observers cite the party's convention as evidence that state Republicans have gone "full MAGA." But if anything, MAGA. Here's the Republican platform for 2022. The party planks specify what the Texas GOP believes students should and should not be taught in the classroom about gender and sex, signaling further shifts to the right. Join us Sept. 22-24 in person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and experience 100+ conversation events featuring big names you know and others you should from the worlds of politics, public policy, the media and tech all curated by The Texas Tribunes award-winning journalists. They want in-person voting condensed to three days, with no gap between the first day of Early Voting and Election Day. Heres proof: They want NO gun free zones, unrestricted Constitutional Carry, and entirely reject the bipartisan gun reform agreement thats going through Congress as we speak. 1) Arrest the members of the Jan. 6 Committee for daring to investigate the insurrection. (Current chair Matt Rinaldi, who presided over the convention, called Abbott a petty tyrant two years ago.) They: 7. The platform plank does not specify which grades should get these lessons, except to say that high school students should read the Womans Right to Know booklet. "The Texas Republican Party is raising record funds for election integrity, and we've made election integrity a top priority to ensure Texas never goes the way of Pennsylvania, Georgia, or. We recognize that gender identity disorder is a genuine and extremely rare mental health condition and that denial of an immutable gender binary not only denies those with the condition proper mental healthcare but also leads to physically and psychologically abusive social transitioning as well as irreversible physical mutilation, Texas GOP delegates wrote. A Federal Judge in Amarillo Could Effectively Ban the Abortion Pill. Critics say that booklet, written by the state, includes scientifically unsupported claims and shames women seeking abortion care. The Texas Republican Party convention starts Thursday. Show us with your support. During the last regular legislative session, Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, filed a bill that defined personhood at fertilization and would provide due process to a fetus. The Republican Party of Texas is considering censuring a GOP congressman from the state for his votes in favor of marriage equality and gun control. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. Do you value our journalism? Thats saying a lot, because many of the planks are repeats from their 2016 and 2018 platforms. The Republican Party of Texas wrapped up its biennial convention on Saturday, after thousands of delegates voted on the party's legislative priorities, as well as its latest platform even though several of its tenets caused friction among some Republicans. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. They make clear they want marijuana to remain illegal in Texas. Hes otherwise a strong foot soldier for the movement who should easily win reelection. Kennedy brings her experience of writing about social justice issues to the Texas Signal where she serves as our Political Reporter. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 433. A more aggressive party platform sends a clear message to politicians about where the base is going, Rottinghaus said. 16), the Texas Republican Party victory chairman for 2022. Greg Abbott directed the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children as child abuse. shift the party further to the right on Saturday. The extremeness did not stop at the platform. Immigration continued to be a major theme, with delegates lamenting Bidens reversal of Trump-era border policies. Sen. John Cornyn addressing the Texas Republican Convention in Houston, Texas, June 17, 2022. The GOP is hacking away at our autonomy by controlling our uteruses, our identities, and our access to healthcare, as if the ability to control our own bodies isnt intrinsic to the idea of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness that they ceaselessly invoke. Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP. The convention reinforced the extent to which former President Donald J. Trumps unfounded claims of a stolen election continue to resound among the party faithful even though his claims have repeatedly been debunked, including by many of his own former aides, and after a week of televised hearings about the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Therefore, federally mandated legislation that infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. They want to get to the point where we can say, Well, no, this is a person. c. Support repeal of the 16th Amendment (Federal Income Tax). They will have a heavy presence in Texas with mobile billboards in Austin, Dallas, and Amarillo, which is the site of a For press releases, tips, and pitches, email editor@texassignal.com. Those will now need to be tallied and certified in Austin, but it is rare for a plank to be rejected, according to party spokesperson James Wesolek. The Republicans' 2022 platform is outlined in a 40-page document that addresses state issues but also much broader priorities such as calling for the U.S. to leave the United Nations.. However, the hardline nature of the platform is nonetheless indicative of where the states Republican base stands. . Tweets. Linda Coffee Argued Roe v. Wade. To save you the queasiness that comes from reading all 40 pages of hateful text, heres a brief rundown of their 2022 platform: 1. Taken together, the new provisions would represent a shift even further rightward for the Republican Party of Texas, once known as the party of Presidents George Bush and his son George W. Bush. If not for the rise of Trump , some of the discriminatory language used by the Republican Party may have receded. with a party platform that calls for the restoration of any confederate monuments that have been removed anywhere in Texas. In 2014, it declared homosexuality a chosen behavior contrary to God and endorsed "reparative therapy" to reverse it. And even the partys pragmatic center right conservatives lack the ability to argue, as they did successfully in 2020, that an ultra conservative platform could cost the GOP its majority status in the Lone Star State. b. They approved measures declaring that President Joe Biden was not legitimately elected and rebuking Sen. John Cornyn for taking part in bipartisan gun talks. Media. Many of the Christian-right niche issues the party platform carves out space for, such as ending no-fault divorce, are dead letters in Trump world. The state GOPhas called for the VRAs repeal in every platform in the past decade, well predating Trumps appearance on the scene. Erich Schlegel / AP Images for Human Rights Campaign file, newly enacted Florida education legislation, nearly every leading U.S. medical association has condemned. Copyright 2020 - The Republican Party of Texas - All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cars Spun Doughnuts in Austin, And Greg Abbott Got Furious, Fast, Wendy Davis Returns to the Texas Capitol and a Whole New Political Landscape. In addition, Texas Republicans called for the ban of gender-affirming care including the distribution of puberty blockers or hormone-suppressing therapies, and the performance of gender-affirming surgeries for anyone under the age of 21. platforms. We believe that substantial election fraud in key metropolitan areas significantly affected the results in five key states in favor of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States. Sen. John Cornyn. Take for example, LGBTQ issues. 90 - Texas Rep. Salman Bhojani and Nicole Golden of Texas Gun Sense. FollowNBC OutonTwitter,Facebook&Instagram. 169. Our commitment to ethical, fact-based journalism is vital to our democracy, and we cant do it without you. Support term limits of twelve years for federal and state offices. March 03 2023 4:32 PM EST. Paid for by the Republican Party of Texas and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. Paid for by the Republican Party of Texas and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. June 24, 2022. But the platforms are broad indicators of the sentiments of the most active Republican voters those who dominate party primaries. In the, Ep. The newly approved Texas GOP party platform broadly places the culture wars at its core, as the party adopted a slew of new platforms that shift the party further to the right on Saturday. Elsewhere, the GOP platform also added that Texas students should learn about the dignity of the preborn human and that life begins at fertilization. Declaring all businesses and jobs as essential and a fundamental right, a response to COVID-19 mandates by Texas cities that required customers to wear masks and limited business hours.