Texas, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is second only to Virginia in its number of Confederate symbols, and the folks at The Texas Tribune are compiling a list of symbols around the state:

“The list at the bottom of this page outlines known Confederate symbols in Texas. Most of this list, which is incomplete, comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Several monuments, schools and roads have been added through reader submissions. Help us further fill this list by sending us the name of Confederate symbols we’re missing.”

The first step in removing these symbols is finding them.

While there’s progress–the University of Texas at Austin just removed Confederate statues around campus–there’s much work to be done.

In 2017, that is. But for now, conservative leaders’ efforts to push the “bathroom bill” through the special legislative session in Texas have failed.

And it’s looking like there won’t be a second special session in which proponents can try again. From The Hill:

[Gov.] Abbott’s office did not say whether the governor would call a second special session, but [Lt. Gov.] Patrick seemed to suggest there is no new session in the offing.

Here’s hoping we don’t see a repeat of this bill when the Texas legislature reconvenes in 2019.

 

The Texas Legislature’s Special Session isn’t quite over yet, but it’s looking like efforts to pass the “Bathroom Bill” may have failed yet again.  From The Texas Tribune:

With just days left in the 30-day special legislative session, controversial proposals to regulate bathroom use for transgender Texans appear to have no clear path to the governor’s desk. As was the case during the regular legislative session that concluded in May, efforts to pass any sort of bathroom bill — a divisive issue pitting Republicans against business leaders, LGBT advocates, law enforcement and even fellow Republicans — have stalled in the Texas House.

And it’s unlikely that will change in the coming days.

Big business, LGBT advocacy groups, and moderate Republicans all contributed to the failure of the extreme right-wing faction of the state’s legislature to pass the bill.  Though this particular attempt at passing the “Bathroom Bill” may not have succeeded, the faction behind this discriminatory bill isn’t giving up.  From The Advocate:

“Still, Equality Texas, the state’s main LGBT rights group, is urging opponents to keep up the pressure. The House is also sitting on two other “bathroom bills,” the group notes, and Abbott could even call another special session.”

As philosopher Jean Kazez concludes in her recent Op-Ed in The Dallas Morning News: “I suspect [the bathroom bill] simply functions to allow conservatives to express outrage about a phenomenon that they don’t understand and can’t (yet) get used to.”  Which leaves us wondering if they ever will.

It’s “good news, bad news” time here in the Lone Star State, y’all.  The good news?  The Texas 2017-2018 legislative session has ended without passage of the bathroom bill.

The bad news?  Gov. Greg Abbott has called a special session, and on the agenda is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s obsession: the bathroom bill.  If certain legislation doesn’t pass during a session, the governor can call the legislators back in order to finish up the job.  Mr. Patrick took advantage of this fact.  From The Texas Tribune: “Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had been pushing Abbott to call a special session on the bathroom issue, as well as property taxes.”

Fortunately, the Texas House doesn’t seem terribly interested in passing the bill.  It’ll be bad for the economy and bad for privacy rights.  Unfortunately, the governor can keep calling special sessions until he deems the work of the legislature complete.