Texas is Texas.
As Texans, we invite our neighbors to enjoy our barbecue, take pictures in the bluebonnets, and help each other out when the goin’ gets tough.
But Governor Greg Abbott and the lawmakers at the Capitol who do his bidding are not part of our Texas. They do not represent who we are – the regular 89th Legislative Session made this devastatingly clear. Instead of supporting our kids by fully funding public schools, ensuring access to healthcare, or fixing our community infrastructure, selfish politicians spent their time attacking religious liberty, undermining reproductive freedom, and targeting LGBTQIA+ youth and families.
Abbott’s and far-right politicians’ only strategy is to divide, be cruel, and rule – not lead. They’ve weaponized government power to control our bodies, our families, our schools, and even our places of worship. No law can ever take away the care we have for each other, the growing power of our movement, and our shared vision for a Texas where people are accepted, embraced, and safe.
Starting September 1, 2025, Texans will face new laws that restrict our freedoms and target our communities. Our job is to know the law, know our rights, document injustices, and remember which lawmakers took away our freedoms when it’s time to vote.
New Texas Laws Explained
TFN created downloadable explainers for you to use, reference, and share with your friends. This list is not all-encompassing, but instead covers the key bills our advocacy team organized around during the legislative session.
SB 13 – School Library Censorship
This censorship legislation empowers political appointees to control what our children can read. SB 13 allows school boards to establish “library advisory councils”—and mandates they do so if just 10% of parents in a district (or 50 parents, whichever is fewer) petition for one. These councils, which aren’t required to include trained librarians, can remove materials they deem “harmful,” “indecent,” “profane,” or “inconsistent with local community values.”
HB 1106 – Removes Basic Protections for LGBTQIA+ Youth
HB 1106 strips some of our most vulnerable youth of even the most basic protections by declaring that refusing to affirm a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation cannot be considered abuse. This includes refusing to use a child’s preferred pronouns and name, even if their name has been legally changed.
HB 229 – Erasing Transgender and Intersex Texans
HB 229 forces a narrow, binary definition of sex based solely on reproductive anatomy into every corner of public life in Texas. The law erases transgender and intersex people from legal recognition, bans them from updating basic documents like birth certificates, and weaponizes our legal system against those who simply want to live as who they are.
SB 1257 – Creating a “Trans Tax” on Healthcare
SB 1257 requires insurance companies to cover unlimited liability for “all possible adverse consequences” related to gender transition care, including counseling and therapy. This bill will effectively create a discriminatory “Trans Tax”—a transparent effort to discourage health insurance providers from covering transition-related care or make coverage so expensive it’s unobtainable.
SB 33 – Blocking Abortion Travel Support
SB 33 prohibits cities and counties from using public funds to provide practical support services related to abortion, including essential services like travel, lodging, meals, and childcare that help individuals access legal abortion care outside of Texas.
SB 10 – Mandating Religious Displays in Classrooms*
*On August 20, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery temporarily blocked several Texas school districts from enforcing a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office represented most of the school districts, vowed to appeal the ruling and said SB 10 still applies to school districts not involved in the lawsuit. Courts have blocked similar laws in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
SB 10 requires all public elementary, middle, and high schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, with specific wording and sizing requirements. Schools can use taxpayer funds to purchase these displays or must accept privately donated ones that meet the criteria.
SB 11 – Government-Mandated Prayer Time
SB 11 allows school districts to require daily periods of prayer and reading of the Bible (or other religious text) for students and employees. While the law requires signed consent forms (which include liability waivers), it explicitly allows school officials to “encourage” attendance at these prayer times.
SB 12 – K-12 DEI Ban*
*On August 28, 2025, ACLUTX and a group of LGBTQIA+ and student rights organizations sued to block SB 12, arguing that it censors constitutionally protected speech and restricts students’ freedom of association. Lawsuits against similar laws have had mixed results in the past.
SB 12 bans diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in public schools, including “developing or implementing policies, procedures, trainings, activities, or programs that reference race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” It also prohibits teachers from supporting students in “social transitioning” and bans student clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
SB 2 – School Vouchers
SB2 establishes a taxpayer-funded school voucher program allowing parents at any income level to use public funds for private school tuition, fees, and other educational expenses starting in 2026-2027. The program will cost taxpayers $1 billion in its first two years.
Critics argue this represents a betrayal of public education, benefiting wealthy families who already afford private schools while draining resources from chronically underfunded public districts. Based on other states’ experiences, the program is expected to increase private school tuition costs and expand state spending without improving educational outcomes, while allowing private institutions to operate with less accountability than public schools.
The Fight Continues
Even as these harmful laws take effect, legal challenges are already underway. Courts have found similar laws unconstitutional in other states, and advocacy organizations are preparing to challenge these Texas laws as well.
More importantly, we’re building power to create the Texas we deserve. In 2026, Texas Freedom Network and our youth organizing arm, Texas Rising Action, will endorse candidates who fight for every Texan’s right to live with dignity, make decisions about their own identity and future, and be free from government interference—whether in the doctor’s office, the classroom, or at home.
Our communities are fierce, our values are rooted in justice, and we will fight every attempt to steal our freedoms. No law can ever erase the diversity and strength of Texas communities, and together we will continue working toward a Texas where all people are safe, valued, and free.
Ready to join the fight? Visit www.tfn.org/join-us to get involved in our movement for change.
