SCOTUS Strikes Down RIDICULOUS Abortion Law

SCOTUS stands with women's rights today! They just snatched a tough restriction on abortion.

Here's more

Passed in 2013, the law said clinics providing abortion services must meet the same building standards as ambulatory surgical centers. And it required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

Since the law was passed, the number of clinics providing abortion services in Texas dropped to 19 from 42. Opponents said that number would fall to ten if the Supreme Court upheld the law.

The Center for Reproductive Rights called the law "an absolute sham," arguing that abortion patients rarely require hospitalization and that many patients simply take two pills.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer in writing the majority opinion said "neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes. Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a pre-viability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution."

Breyer was joined in the majority by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Anthony M. Kennedy. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas dissented.

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What it means to be a bullied transgender kid in Texas - WATCH

Federal court strikes down 'discriminatory' Texas voter ID

In Texas: The Anti-Gay Marriage Bill HB 4105 is DEAD

BREAKING: #hb4105 is dead. Thank you to #txlege House Democrats & everybody who fought for marriage equality today. #LoveIsLove

— Texas Democrats (@TXDemParty) May 15, 2015

For a while, the Texas GOP have been threatening to put in play HB 4105, an anti-gay marriage bill that would make gay marriage difficult to get even after the SCOTUS ruling. This bill was created by Texas state Rep. Cecil Bell. All you need to know about him is he's a bigot and ugly.

Anywho these haters did everything in their power to make it happen. They even had the governor on their side. The bill passed the House with ease, due to the majority GOP seats. They had until yesterday to move the bill forward into law. However, that's when the wheels fell off. The GOP tried some dirty tricks like throwing out bills to get to HB 4105, but time ran out! Those bitches lost, no time for fake ones!

But it's not over

From Kathy Miller, president, Texas Freedom Network

“We hope today’s action means the death of this irresponsible bill and are grateful to all of the legislators who have worked hard to ensure that it never gets out of the House. This was just one bill among many in a broad strategy to lock in discrimination against gay and transgender Texans and subvert a Supreme Court ruling on the freedom to marry. Bad actors will continue to push their discrimination legislation, including as amendments to other bills, until the final gavel. So we’re not letting our guard down now.”

 From Chuck Smith, executive director, Equality Texas

“Thanks to the leadership of our allies in the Texas House, the clock ran out on HB 4105 at midnight. Unfortunately for LGBT Texans, there are still 17 days remaining in the legislative session – 17 days during which homophobic and transphobic lawmakers will continue to look for amendment opportunities to inflict discrimination. We must continue to fight their efforts to defy the Supreme Court and to deny equality to LGBT Texans – through the end of the legislative session and beyond.”

The battle's not over, but let's enjoy this victory.

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Texas lawmakers hear bill banning gay marriage licenses

Texas Supreme Court stops Gay Marriages in the State

Texas Supreme Court has halted gay marriages for now. It seems that after one couple got married, they felt that it was enough.

LA Times report:

The high court ruling did not specifically address the marriage license granted to the two women who were allowed to marry based on a one-time court order issued for health reasons. One of the women has ovarian cancer.

Republican Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton said the high court's orders meant their marriage license was void.

“The court’s action upholds our state constitution and stays these rulings by activist judges in Travis County," Paxton said in a statement. "The same-sex marriage license issued by the Travis County Clerk is void, just as any license issued in violation of state law would be. I will continue to defend the will of the people of Texas, who have defined marriage as between one man and one woman, against any judicial activism or overreach.”

Paxton had asked the state's high court to stay orders by two Travis County judges, one in a probate case and the other a temporary-restraining order granting the same-sex couple a marriage license.

This shouldn't last long.

First Same-Sex Couple Legally Married in Texas!

Post by Equality Texas.

Texas Probate Judge Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Yesterday, Texas probate Judge Guy Herman ruled that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

The interesting thing is this ruling started out as an estate battle.

Here's more:

An Austin woman sought to have her eight-year relationship with a woman who died of cancer in June recognized as a common-law marriage.

“Oh, we had a marriage. It was definitely a marriage,” Sonemaly Phrasavath, the woman challenging the state's ban, told KXAN late last year. “We carried ourselves as such. She was in every sense my wife and vice versa.”

The Texas attorney general cannot appeal the ruling because he is not a party in the case, and the siblings of the deceased woman, who are challenging Phrasavath, have not decided whether they will appeal, the Statesman reported.

Last February, a federal judge ruled that the Texas ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but imposed a stay on the ruling, predicting that it would be appealed. That appeal was heard by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last month.

Lawyers asked the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last week to lift the stay and allow same-sex marriages in Texas to proceed. The request came after the Supreme Court allowed gay marriages to proceed in Alabama following a federal judge's ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

Of course this will be contested, but who knows, maybe this will stick?

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Only in Texas... Christian Mad Woman interrupts a Peaceful Muslim Event

From the Austin Statesman:

What was supposed to be a rally at the Texas Capitol Thursday promoting political engagement and tolerance for Muslims and was largely derailed by sustained screams from protesters loudly advocating for something quite apart from peace and love.

Texas Muslim Capitol Day was organized by Texas chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose members intended to raise awareness on issues, advocate on a number of bills and celebrate their right as Americans — and in one speaker’s case an eighth-generation Texan — to be part of the political process.

But not one of the 10 or so speakers at the hourlong event managed to finish a sentence without being heckled by noisome group of maybe two dozen that fanned out about 20 paces from the south steps of the statehouse. A patriotic song by the Houston Koran Academy didn’t even silence the screaming.

This woman is Christine Weick, a LOON, and known for hating Muslims. I think she claimed that the devil made energy drinks. Yeah, I real class act.

In Texas: Four GOP lawmakers want to Nullify LGBT Nondiscrimination Laws

Matt Shaheen

Four Texas GOP lawmakers want to null and void LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances in the entire state.

If passed, this bill will kill existing ordinances, nullifying existing protections from 7.5 million people.

Here's more:

The bill comes in response to the Plano City Council’s passage last month of an equal rights ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. There is legislation that’s being worked on,” Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) [photo] told a group of pastors who gathered in mid-December at Plano’s Prestonwood Baptist Church in response to passage of the city’s equal rights ordinance, according to an audio recording obtained by the Observer.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers in both the House and Senate have introduced proposed constitutional amendments—branded by progressives as “license to discriminate” measures—that would carve out broad religious exemptions to local anti-bias laws. But the Plano Republicans’ bill would need only simple majorities in both chambers, instead of two-thirds for a constitutional amendment. And the bill is effectively a nuclear option that could abruptly end fights in Houston and Plano. Other cities with LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances at risk of being nullified include Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio. In some cases, the laws are decades old.

Get it together, Texas!

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Report: 5th Circuit Court are poised to Overturn Marriage Bans

Yesterday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard 3 hours of hearings about the same-sex bans in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

Word has it that the 5th Circuit Court are set to strike down the bans! Here's more from Buzzfeed:

More than halfway through the morning’s arguments, an exasperated Justin Matheny, the assistant attorney general in Mississippi charged with defending the state’s ban, tried to change his tune during his rebuttal arguments. 

It being clear that the three-judge panel was leaning against upholding the bans, Matheny told the judges that although the “trajectory” on marriage rights for same-sex couples is “undeniable,” he argued that “it’s not there yet.” Judge Patrick Higginbotham, born in Alabama almost eight decades ago and appointed to the appeals court by President Reagan more than three decades ago, spoke up. And though the older judge was hard to hear at times, he spoke up and spoke clearly when he responded to Matheny: “Those words, ‘Will Mississippi change its mind?’ have resonated in these halls before.”

This is getting good.

Texas State Rep. Eric Johnson introduces a Bill to end LGBT job discrimination in the State

With the foolishness besetting the nondiscrimination ordinances in Houston and Plano, State Rep. Eric Johnson has introduced House Bill 627. If passed, this bill will end all Anti-LGBT job discrimination in Texas!

From Rep. Johnson's press release:

I am proud to file this legislation to advance civil rights for LGBT individuals in the workplace. No one should be fired because of gender - not who they love or how they identify. The people of Texas support these protections by 3-to-1, but Texas legislators are unfortunately not as advanced. Please sign this petition so I can show them that the people want this bill to pass, and share with as many friends and family as you can.

And...

"Every Texan should have the opportunity to work hard and provide for their family," Rep. Johnson said. "Right now, the law allows someone to be fired simply for being him or herself or for whom they love. This really is a civil rights issue."

Rep. Johnson's bill contains the same employment non-discrimination provisions Milk passed in San Francisco in 1978. It would include sexual orientation and gender expression in the list of prohibited employment discrimination.

Polls show that most Texans support prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.[5] "The Legislature is lagging behind the people of Texas on this issue," Rep. Johnson said. "We need to catch up."

I hope this works out.

Plano City Council passes LGBT Rights Ordinance

Last night, the Plano City Council voted 5-3 to add protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity to their city's Equal Rights Policy. This includes employment, housing, and public accommodations, but not bathrooms and locker rooms.

Basically, this bill isn't Trans-friendly, but it's still a victory. During the session, several anti-LGBT speakers were present and mouthing off a lot of mess, however, the bill moved forward.  But you know the haters will be back, trying to challenge the bill and such.

Still, it's a good step in the right direction and I hope more cities in Texas take heed.

New campaign to promote Marriage Equality: Texas for Marriage

Freedom to Marry has launched a new campaign for Texas.

It's called Texas for Marriage and here's what it's about:

Texas for Marriage is a broad, diverse public education campaign to amplify the bipartisan momentum for the freedom to marry in the state of Texas. The campaign, led by Freedom to Marry in partnership with Equality Texas, will work to broaden the conversation about why marriage matters to all couples and their families.

The campaign comes weeks ahead of an oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reviews DeLeon v. Perry, a legal case in which a federal judge declared Texas laws denying the freedom to marry to same-sex couples (and prohibiting in-state respect for marriages legally performed in other states) unconstitutional.

While the litigation in the state weaves its way through the appellate system, Texas for Marriage will grow the grassroots network of people throughout the state – including business leaders, people of faith, conservatives, First Responders, and everyday Texans – who are committed to ensuring this basic freedom is soon available to everyone in the state.

In Texas: Marriage Appeals Hearing scheduled on January 5th

And, Texas marriage case is tentatively scheduled for week of 1/5/15 as well: pic.twitter.com/e79dBcvofT

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 27, 2014

This will be good to watch

Family Research Council release a Promo for their Hate Fest, I Stand Sunday

Federal Court Blocks Texas Voter ID Law, Calling it an 'Unconstitutional Poll Tax'

So cool...

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos struck down Texas voter ID law, calling it an unconstitutional poll tax! Basically, the law actively discriminated against Blacks and Hispanics, and according to the Judge Ramos, the law created “an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.”

In the judge's opinion, she pointed out that the law were confuse voters and decrease voter turnout. Judge Ramos noted that the law wasn't directly racist, but “were motivated, at the very least in part, because of and not merely in spite of the voter ID law’s detrimental effects on the African-American and Hispanic electorate.”

If you want to read the 140+ opinion, go for it, but I just love how this is another stab at Rick Perry's integrity.


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Ebola found in the USA

In Texas of all places, so imagine the conspiracy theories.

But, when you think about it, this is how The Stand started

Texas Conservative Coalition sign Brief linking Same-Sex Marriage to Incest and Pedophilia

Here's some foolishness for you.

Over 60 Texas legislators signed a brief begging the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the state’s bans on same-sex marriage.

These haters come from a group known as the Texas Conservative Coalition. Basically, a hate group, if you ask me.

The brief is a rehash of old myths and stupid beliefs, nothing of substance or fact. Just a bunch of mess, bigotry and good ole backwoods thinking.

READ the brief

Texas Conservative Coalition marriage brief by John Wright

Pic of the Day

Look at Rick Perry's face!