FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2023
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Senate this week voted SB 12 and 1601 out — both seek to ban public drag performances. SB 14 was also voted out, which would restrict puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender adolescents.
Texas Freedom Network Organizing Director Adri Pérez (they/them) issued the following response:
“To deny transgender adolescents evidence-based medical care is indefensible, and to demand that young patients cease treatment that is already underway is uniquely callous and potentially deadly. Every major medical association considers this care to be lifesaving. Yet, in another act of dangerous cruelty, extremist lawmakers are ignoring this expert guidance and violating the freedoms of transgender Texans and their loving families with SB 14 — which is now the most aggressively anti-trans bill to pass through the Texas State Senate.
“This session, State Republicans have been relentless in their attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community’s existence and dignity from every angle. Attempts to restrict drag performances are yet another example of their misguided focus and refusal to use their power to protect children from real threats, like gun violence. Each of these bills is a fundamental violation of Texans’ rights; and an intrusion into the private decisions between loving families and doctors.”
SB 14, SB 12, and SB 1601 will now go to the Texas State House for hearings.
