鈥淵ou are magic.鈥�
鈥淲e are voters.鈥�
鈥淲e are f------ staying!鈥�
Those were the messages hundreds of LGBTQ+ advocates and allies had for state lawmakers Monday afternoon as they rallied on the steps of the Texas Capitol.
The rally, which included people waving pride flags and signs of support, also served as a platform to protest a wide variety of bills currently before the Texas Legislature that would affect transgender youth and .
鈥淲e have a right to exist, and we aren鈥檛 going anywhere鈥� Paige Hendrick, a software engineer from Austin, told The Texas Newsroom.
Hendrick has been transitioning for about a year.
鈥淚t has made my life significantly better,鈥� Hendrick said. 鈥淢y daughter now has a mother to love instead of a father to mourn.鈥�
Hendrick wants other people transitioning to thrive in Texas, but she worries the more than 100 bills in the Texas Legislature targeting the LGBTQ+ community will make that near impossible.
Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, said the anti-LGBTQ legislation might push people out of the state.
鈥淎s taxpayers, as people who occupy this state and people who occupy this space, we deserve to be in this space,鈥� Jones told the crowd. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to turn back and go nowhere.鈥�
What are lawmakers considering?
According to LGBTQ rights organization Equality Texas, targeting LGBTQ people have been filed in the Legislature.
The bills mirror legislation restricting gender-affirming care and drag performances.
Just hours after Monday's rally, lawmakers in committee. The legislation would ban medical transition care for minors and changes to gender markers on their birth certificates.
Last week, Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, that would end gender-affirming care.
鈥淥ur children need counseling and love, not blades and drugs,鈥� she said.
Proposed bills from Republican lawmakers 鈥� like by Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth 鈥� also target drag performances
Schatzline has said on social media the bill would 鈥渆ffectively outlaw family-friendly drag shows 鈥� which is already an oxymoron 鈥� from the state of Texas.鈥�
Lawmakers also filed that would classify venues that host drag performances as sexually oriented businesses. This means venues that host drag performances would have to pay the additional taxes that come with the label.
Drag artist and former RuPaul鈥檚 Drag Race contestant Cynthia Lee Fontaine said this would harm establishments that have traditionally been a safe haven for LGBTQ Texans.
鈥淯nfairly policing and taxing businesses that create safe spaces for LGBTIA+ communities only harms our community further,鈥� Fontaine said.
A fight to kill
LGBTQ advocates at Monday鈥檚 rally said they鈥檙e not losing hope, despite the number of what they call 鈥渂ad鈥� bills.
Ricardo Martinez, the executive director of Equality Texas, told the crowd to remain 鈥渦ndeterred鈥� by the hate and disinformation against the community.
鈥淟GBTQ people have been sickly, intentionally and cowardly used as political pawns throughout history over and over and over,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淣o more 鈥� That stops in Texas.鈥�
Ana Andrea Molina, director of Organizaci贸n Latina de Trans en Texas
He told the crowd that they will 鈥渨in this fight.鈥�
And they are looking at the past to hold on to their hope.
In 2021, during the last legislative session, . Only one 鈥� a bill prohibiting transgender athletes from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity 鈥� became law.
Ana Andrea Molina, the director of Organizaci贸n Latina de Trans en Texas, recognized the movement has lost some small battles. But she said the current legislation makes it a war.
鈥淭hey have brutalized us,鈥� Molina said in Spanish. 鈥淏ut they have forgotten that we are seeds and we will grow.鈥�
The rally also included Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness, who told the crowd that this wouldn鈥檛 be the last time LGBTQ Texans would make their voices heard.
鈥淲e will have to be back on these steps, in those chambers, protesting and fighting for our rights,鈥� Van Ness said. 鈥淭his is the first of many times.鈥�
Being persistent is a must, said Ash Hall, a policy and advocacy strategist with the ACLU of Texas.
鈥淲e win by being relentless, and by living out loud and by loving out loud,鈥� Hall told the crowd. 鈥淭hen I think that we're going to be just fine and I look forward to seeing you throughout this session and at the end, when we've killed more than 130 bills.鈥�
And that鈥檚 what Paige Hendrick, the mother from Austin, wants.
Her daughter, 11-year-old Kali, said lawmakers should stop 鈥渕aking these dumb and stupid laws.鈥�
Kali also said people should just focus on how great her mom is.
鈥淚 want them to know that she is brave, thoughtful and intelligent,鈥� Kali said.
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