Texas Senate Emphasizes Its Support For Bigotry

The good news is that a whole passel of bad anti-gay bills failed to pass the Texas legislature as time ran out on the session. The bad news is that the Texas Senate couldn't leave well enough alone. They had to show their teabagger supporters that while they couldn't get new laws passed, they are still proud bigots. So they passed a non-binding resolution proclaiming their belief that equal rights are not for all Texans. This is how David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement describes this exercise in hate:

The Texas state legislature meets once every two years for 140 days. When their time is up, it's up, and so lawmakers scramble at the last minute to try to pass as many bills as they can that they know will become law. 

This year, fearing a likely Supreme Court ruling in support of same-sex marriage, Texas lawmakers worked extra hard to draft, debate, lobby for, and pass almost two dozen bills aimed at harming the LGBT community. From "religious freedom" bills to adoption curtailment to protecting "ex-gay therapy," to actually defunding same-sex marriage in the Lone Star State, Texas lawmakers earned their reputation as among America's most anti-gay elected officials.

But a bill cannot become a law unless both the House and the Senate pass it, so lawmakers have been scrambling to coordinate which bills they could get through their respective houses. In the end, the twenty-plus anti-gay bills died.

But Texas Senators last night chose to ignore the horrific flooding that's taken at least 20 lives, chose to ignore their state's dismal record on child homelessness (Texas ranks 39th, with 50 being the worst), chose to ignore its high percentage of children in poverty, chose to ignore its high percentage of child food insecurity.

Instead, led by the Texas Senate GOP caucus, working late into the night the Texas Senate debated and passed a non-binding resolution attacking same-sex marriage. All 20 Republicans, and one Democrat, voted in favor of the SR1028, which passed 21-10.