Spurred by a groundswell of far-right support, the Texas Senate has passed all of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority LGBTQ bills — and then some. What the House does next will impact queer Texans’ lives and could determine Speaker Phelan’s future.

The Texas Legislature has nine lawmakers who are openly LGBTQ, all Democrats. At the same time, some Republican lawmakers are pushing a slate of bills aimed at drag queens, transgender children and how sexuality is discussed in schools.

Their vacation does not affect the lack of quorum that the House has in Austin that prevents the chamber from passing an elections bill. But it is at odds with Democrats’ insistence that they would use their time away to advocate for federal voting rights legislation in the nation’s capital.

González, of Dallas, and fellow state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, discussed Senate Bill 7, which failed to pass during the regular legislative session, and what's next for legislators.

González, of Dallas, and fellow state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, discussed Senate Bill 7, which failed to pass during the regular legislative session, and what's next for legislators.

AdThis legislative session, some legislators are trying to pass bills that would prohibit conversion therapy and discriminiation against LGBTQ Texans. She plans to introduce a bill that would provide protections for LGBTQ Texans from discrimination in employment, public accommodations and housing. “We're facing a global pandemic, and aside from passing nondiscrimination legislation because it’s the right thing to do, there is good policy there,” said González, the vice chair of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus. AdState Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, filed House Bill 560, which would penalize state-licensed counselors and therapists who engage in conversion therapy with children. That in it of itself is a victory,” said Israel, a founding member of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus.

LGBTQ Texans marked a major victory Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law prevents employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. But in Texas, which did not have such workplace safeguards, LGBTQ lawmakers and advocates say they are far from done fighting for other essential protections. Employment discrimination protections, they say, are necessary but not sufficient for advancing the equal treatment of LGBTQ Texans. The fight for LGBTQ rights has been a long and arduous one in Republican-dominated Texas. In pushing for comprehensive nondiscrimination protections, LGBTQ lawmakers and their allies are also making an economic case.