Guns God and Gays just not enough anymore for the great state of Texas Republicans?
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Don’t do it. I grew up trans in a very conservative place. Self-harm concerns aside, having been sexually assaulted multiple times for being trans in that environment, if I had had a gun, all I would have now is murder on my conscience on top of everything else. I’m in a safer place now and I’m very glad I did not ever have a gun back then. Guns only make bad things worse.
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This. All this!
I’m getting a little sick of people making sweeping judgements about the south. It happens here over and over again, mainly from people safely ensconced in blue areas of blue states. Part of the reason why the leadership of the GOP is leaning into such horrible rhetoric, is because they understand that the south is changing, there is an active Democratic party coming for them, and that even many Republicans are getting sick of Trumpism and it’s lack of platform to address real needs of people here. They know the south is changing, and many members of the GOP know that their party has nothing to offer, other than bigotry and cruelty to hang onto power. If we can push through, we can flip many of these states down here. But we won’t if people keep acting like they’ve already won.
@KathyPartdeux did you just make a Revolting Cocks reference? I didn’t think I could love you more…
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Texas’ government has increasingly embraced controversial socially conservative positions in recent years, even as its population has become more diverse and its political leanings have drifted away from being a solid red state.
The state has the second highest number of trans people in the US with some 125,350 adults in Texas identifying as transgender, according to a study from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
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I live in the Austin metroplex. We, as a family, made a choice to stay and fight. We’re safer than a lot of ppl. White hetro cisgender couple with a kid who is, so far, presenting cis. We discussed the circumstances under which that would change and we’d have to do a lot of hard work to get jobs elsewhere. Anyone who needs to get out for their safety or the safety of their loved ones, including mental health, have my blessing. But Texas can change and I’m working to push that a long. I have to believe Texas can change.
@j9c if your friend is running in Travis, I’d appreciate knowing their name so I can check them out for a vote. If they have a campaign website, I’d like to donate some cash or time. Every election, every position, every time.
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But over in GA…
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Hays.
But thanks just the same.
Lemme check to see if her campaign site is up.
She started building it a week ago, by herself.
I can DM you when I have an update.
Texas is changing.
My state rep is on the left (heh) in this picture:
and on the right side (heh) in this picture:
https://www.drippingspringsnews.com/news/zwiener-texas-democrats-break-house-quorum-flee-dc
Representative Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) along with 50 of her democractic colleagues in the Texas House left the state Monday with the intent to break quorum when the House was back in session Tuesday.
“The decision to leave the state was not an easy one, but I know that this is the only way to keep the harmful legislation that Governor Abbott has prioritized for the special session from passing,” Rep. Zwiener said. “I do not take this move lightly, and it is with a heavy heart that I leave my community–but I know that this is necessary to do right by them. The freedom to vote is sacred. Without it, Texans can’t advocate for their interests to be represented in DC and Austin. We are taking the fight to Washington, D.C., where Congress must pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to protect not just Texans, but all Americans.”
Zwiener’s office says, “this extraordinary measure was deemed necessary by leaders in the Democratic party to stop many of the bills prioritized by Governor Abbott from passing. Particularly egregious legislation includes anti-trans bills, bills that restrict access to abortion, and the anti-voting rights bills.”
Same over here except I would never be mistaken for white, and because I don’t dress in a feminine way and keep my hair short, I do get… comments. I married a cis man (who is white); our kid looks like me but now he’s far away from Texas and less likely to encounter our own state’s brand of death cult BS.
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as many of you folks on this site may know, i too have chosen to stick it out and try to fight the death cult here in texas. part of my stubbornness harks back to my deep roots in the state–as i’ve told some of my students in the past, if sam houston had lost the revolution i’d be a mexican national since my earliest ancestor in texas was born here in 1829. i’m an 8th generation native and i have as much right to be a part of this state as any death cult thug. more than many, actually (i’m looking at you calgary ted cruz).
still, i know it’s not easy to fight against the death cult. it requires getting involved in democratic party politics at the precinct or county level and digging in and working to establish your credentials as a fighter for the party. i won’t rehash my story here except to say that if it weren’t for my health issues of the past three years i’d still be working for my local party and, in fact, given that retirement has given me more freedom to act i might even have considered running for the state house for my district.
running as a democrat would have put me at a disadvantage but my years as a teacher and the respect i’ve earned from my coworkers and former students might have given me a shot. as it is, there is no one running against the republican, most people don’t know who he is, and the ones who do know who he is despise him. and that, my fellow mutants, is why getting involved is so freaking important.
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I would appreciate the dm when she has her site up and running.
I have wondered why I don’t get comments, as I too have short hair and often don’t dress in a a feminine way. Is it the whiteness? The “resting witch face” as my husband puts it? The big boobs? It baffles me that I read as cisgendered woman to the kinds of people who feel like they need to police others.
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Just to clarify: the comment about “a vast number of Texans” was literally verbatim from the person I was responding to. Here’s what they said:
“I’m not sure which is more terrifying: this asshole being in charge instead of in prison, or the fact that a vast number of Texans actually support him.”
I had already used the quote feature, and since the quote feature breaks out the text, I felt it would be easier to read if I just repeated what they said.
That said… the information you’re providing about how Abbott’s support is “not vast” doesn’t really convince me of your point. Abbot won by a 13.3% margin, or about 1.1 million votes. He received 4.6 million votes. I live in Oregon, which has a population of about 4.2 million. So… voter turnout for him was equivalent to literally every single person in Oregon voting for him, plus another 400,000 voters.
I totally get living in a state that seems monolithic, but isn’t. I have the opposite problem: Oregon is blue because of Portland and Eugene, but it’s deep south red in the rural areas.
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13% is a landslide in todays politics. Have you watched the last few Presidential elections? Seen all the congressional races that come down to a few votes in a recount? 13% is a very safe margin.
That isn’t to say it can’t swing and Abbott/Republicans can not be beat — but let’s not think 13% is close for a governors race in the 2nd most populous state
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i agree with you about the level of victories in our current system but still, we shouldn’t allow that to deter us from trying to make the changes we want to see. i realize that you aren’t lobbying for “learned helplessness” but i’ve engaged with too many democrats here in texas who have surrendered to feelings of hopelessness based on the same data.
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A good friend of mine runs Progress Texas out of Austin. He’s out there trying to turn the state blue every day, and Ed doesn’t waste his time. I’m sure it can be done— I’m also not pretending 13.5 is close or easy.
I’m hopeful Beto can do it this time around, but he feels a bit like a cardboard cut out to me.
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Don’t bet on it.
Let’s look at what wikipedia says about turnout for that 2018 Texas gubernatorial election:
53.01% (of registered voters)
42.07% (of voting age population)
Here’s the turnout stats for the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election:
33.7% (of registered voters)
25.0% (of voting age population)
… and for the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election:
38% (of registered voters)
27% (of eligible voters)
Btw, a few facts worth noting about Lupe Valdez, who ran Abbott in the last election:
In December 2017, Valdez announced her candidacy for Governor of Texas in the 2018 gubernatorial election against incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott.[13] In the March 6, 2018 Primary she got more votes than any other Democrat, leading her closest competitor, Andrew White, son of former governor Mark White, by 16 percent. However, she only received 43% of the vote, forcing a run-off against White. The run-off occurred on May 22, 2018, resulting in Valdez’s victory and making her the first Latina and first openly gay person nominated for governor by a major party in the state.[14] Abbott won the election.[15]
(my emphasis added)
All this I see as progress.
As for who is pro-Abbott and his BS and who ain’t, I can assure you that the younger Texans I talk to are decidedly a lot less conservative and petty than the older crowd.
Texas has long been a top prize for Democrats. Despite aggressive Republican gerrymandering, Texas’s demographic shifts point toward Democratic gains in the future. As incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott seeks re-election in 2022 and Democrats seek to compete in a map stacked against them, young voters will play a major role in determining which party controls Congress. New Data for Progress polling of Texas residents ages 18 to 36, conducted in partnership with NextGen America, gauges the favorability and levels of support for the Democratic and Republican parties and current officeholders. Data for Progress also tested young Texans’ enthusiasm to vote and the issues that matter the most to them.
Beto O’Rourke Leads Among Young Voters, But Faces a Salience Gap
In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, O’Rourke leads Abbott by +17 points among young Texas residents. That includes 44 percent of Independents; 29 percent of Independents haven’t heard enough about him to decide. Among age groups, O’Rourke leads with both Texans aged 18-24 (46 percent) and Texans aged 25-36 (54 percent). While people not yet registered largely support O’Rourke, 26 percent of them remain undecided; among registered voters, 64 percent prefer O’Rourke over Abbott.
Texas Republicans in our state house and senate wouldn’t be gerrymandering the hell outta Texas if they didn’t see the real possibility that their only was to stay is power is cheat-to-win. Else, why bother?
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i get it, his previous unsuccessful run against calgary ted somewhat reinforces that feeling but i’ve put some of my hard-earned retirement income into his campaign. as i mentioned above, i’ve worked hard for the democratic party here in texas for close on 40 years. i was a jackson delegate to the state convention (and alternate to the national convention) in 1984 and an obama delegate to the 2008 state convention where i “met” chelsea clinton. i refuse to give up on my home state even if sometimes it seems to have given up on me.
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He did more the help the people of Texas during Winter Storm Uri (2021) than Texas Death Cult™ did, I know that.
During the multiple crises that Texas faced as a result of the February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm, O’Rourke organized virtual phone banks to perform wellness calls and offer assistance to senior citizens. He claimed that the volunteers he had organized had made 784,000 phone calls in a single day on February 18, 2021.[161][162]
Excellent news, and my thanks to him.
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