Texas Lawmakers Clash Over Resolution Recognizing LGBTQ Business Groups
A Senate and House resolution that was supposed to recognize Feb. 14 as Texas LGBTQ Chambers of Commerce Advocacy Day was never read on the floor.
After DR Hanson joined the North Texas LGBT Chamber of Commerce last year, members asked if he’d join them for their first ever advocacy day at the Texas Capitol. He didn’t think twice about saying yes.
Hanson and his husband own Common Ground Games, a games store in Texas. He said more than half of their 12 employees identify as LGBTQ. He saw the advocacy day – held Tuesday – as an opportunity to raise awareness for their rights in front of an oppressive legislative body.
“When the Legislature put out 77 bills attacking my family and my community, it’s our responsibility and our privilege to advocate for them,” Hanson told The Texas Newsroom on Tuesday afternoon, referring to bills introduced during the 2021 legislative session.
But his advocacy day at the Capitol on Tuesday quickly soured.
A Senate and House resolution that was supposed to recognize Feb. 14 as Texas LGBTQ Chambers of Commerce Advocacy Day was never read on the floor. In other words, legislators decided not to move it forward.
“It was like a weird, passive aggressive high school thing of, like, the popular girls turning their back on the unpopular girls,” Hanson said. “And it was really hurtful.”