Dozens of LGBTQ Texans are running for office in 2018
A record number of openly queer and transgender Texans are seeking office across the state in 2018, part of a growing response to national and state-wide policies targeting the LGBTQ community.
According to OutSmart, a queer Houston publication, at least 35 openly LGBTQ Texas candidates are running for public office in 2018. That’s approximately twice as many as have ever run during any election cycle in Texas history. While six of the candidates are incumbents, the rest are newcomers. At least two are running for governor, with others eyeing seats at a national level in Congress. Some are vying for positions in the state Supreme Court or the Texas Legislature.
The upsurge follows a year of tension within the state over the rights of its large queer and transgender community. At the national level, President Trump’s administration has sought to roll back LGBTQ worker protections and bar transgender soldiers from the military. Those efforts have been welcomed by some state governments, including Texas.
The second-largest state in population size, Texas is consistently ranked as one of the most hostile states for LGBTQ people. Last spring, controversy over a proposed “bathroom bill” overshadowed other policy efforts in the state legislature, eventually prompting a special session over the summer. The bill would have required Texans to use the bathroom correlating to their “biological sex” and was met with heated opposition from all sides of the political spectrum. Business leaders and Texas oil executives actively lobbied against the measure, arguing that it would hurt the state’s economy. The bill ultimately failed to pass, despite the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans.
https://thinkprogress.org/lgbtq-texans-2018-8d6da6e2fcc4/
And I also truly believe that this is going to be the year of the woman in local, congressional and federal elections, enough is enough
November 2018 cannot get here fast enough
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