Anti-LGBT bills loom in Legislature
Equality Texas Interim Executive Director Samantha Smoot today urged the statewide LGBT community to “ramp up our engagement and activism during the final month of the legislative session,” as several virulently anti-LGBT bills continue to move through the state Capitol.
Chief among advocates’ concern is Senate Bill 17, which could be headed to committee as early as next week and would create “dangerous ‘religious exemptions’” for virtually every licensed occupation in Texas, Smoot warned.
That includes hundreds of professions, from barbers to tow truck operators to doctors. If an occupational license holder were to call on “sincerely-held religious belief” in taking a discriminatory action, the licensing agency that oversees the occupation would have no recourse to remedy that discrimination, explained in a press release, and that it includes health care providers, who could turn away sick and injured people seeking care.
“We don’t know exactly when the hearing will be on SB 17, but it may be as early as next week, and we want our LGBTQ people engaged and tuned into the Equality Texas website and Facebook page for more information,” a spokesperson said.
Read more: https://www.dallasvoice.com/1000292628-2/