Sign Up for Updates. The State Board of Education recently wrapped up its review of health curriculum standards, which include requirements to teach about fertilization in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. They want any teacher who brings up LGBTQ+ topics to be prosecuted and have their teaching certification revoked. Oher platform priorities include limiting how much a citizen can donate to their favorite politicians. . Heres proof: They want NO gun free zones, unrestricted Constitutional Carry, and entirely, reform agreement thats going through Congress as we speak. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. Ensuring freedom to travel by opposing Bidens Clean Energy Plan and California-style, anti-driver policies, including efforts to turn traffic lanes over for use by pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit. "The federal government has impaired our right . Its daily. Tags: Texas . Inside the Bro-tastic Party Mansions Upending a Historic Austin Community, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. It's called the Lone Star state for a reason. Folks aren't laughing anymore. Follow. Unfortunately, the ball is already rolling in their direction. Think thats being dramatic? We believe in: 83 3. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. The voters are overwhelmingly in favor of it (. Two themes are clear this year: From formally rejecting President Bidens 2020 win to outlawing LGBTQ+ marriage, the Texas GOP has unabashedly solidified their swing to the far-right. It is rare for a plank to be rejected, Texas GOP party spokesperson James Wesolek said. Dan Patrick poses for photos with supporters during the first day of the Republican Party of . Cookie Notice The newly approved Texas GOP party platform broadly places the culture wars at its core, as the party adopted a slew of new platforms that shift the party further to the right on Saturday. Before delegates voted on the platform, party activists delivered fiery speeches attacking Democrats. e. Support a change to the 14th Amendment to eliminate birth tourism or anchor babies by granting citizenship only to those with at least one biological parent who is a US citizen. Parents may try to restrict what their own kids read or who they love, but they do not have the right to restrict others, Capo said, not in a truly free society.. A more aggressive party platform sends a clear message to politicians about where the base is going, Rottinghaus said. Consider, for example, the proceedings in 2014, when convention delegates got ready to pass a platform that endorsed net neutrality, a regulatory measure supported by internet companies and opposed by telecom companies. His current home, in suburban Houston, is more accustomed to the Escalade.But no matter. On the fringes of the convention, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, from Houston, got in a much-publicized scuffle with some right-wing provocateurs, led by online troll Alex Stein. Nearly every plank mentioning the environment is pro-pollution. Elected officials are not bound to adhere to their parties platforms. By this measure, the 2022 convention of the Republican Party of Texas in Houston was a stunning success. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The most recent Republican National Committee platform which was enacted in 2016 and renewed in 2020 includes at least five references to marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Theres An App for That. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Want to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, repeal the Endangered Species Act, and oppose the America the Beautiful Initiative. Sergio Martnez-Beltrn, The Texas Newsroom. The Republican Party of Texas wrapped up its biennial convention on Saturday, after thousands of delegates voted on the party's legislative priorities, as well as its latest platform even though several of its tenets caused friction among some Republicans. He was simply booed louder and longer this time, and for a specific reason rather than a general sense among the grassroots that he is a wishy-washy Republican In Name Only. Texas retains the right to secede from the United States, and the Texas Legislature should be called upon to pass a referendum consistent thereto. Abolishing the Federal Reserve, the nations central bank, and guaranteeing the right to use alternatives to cash, including cryptocurrencies. The platform is largely symbolic but important as a measure of ideological drift, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. Rejecting the LGBTQ+ community is nothing new for the Republican Party, but Texas recent streak of translating harmful rhetoric into law brings cause for worry. However, Republican leaders said repeatedly on Saturday that it was the other side that was a threat to fair elections. They: 7. Encourage the building and operation of nuclear power plants. The Log House Republicans of Houston released a statement in response to their partys platform calling it disappointing and infuriating., Through efforts of a vocal and organized minority, inflammatory, hurtful and unnecessary language was added to our partys platform, the organization wrote. Despite losing 19 children and two teachers in the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas just weeks ago, the Texas GOP wants to expand gun access. The proceedingsclarified how party grandees feel about the platform. Taken together, the events of the convention had one message, he continued. The Texas Republican Party spent Juneteenth weekend, ironically, finalizing one of the most racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and ageist platforms weve seen in recent years. That platform threatened to embarrass telecom giant AT&T, which had spent a good number of dollars to sponsor the convention. In 2018, the idea of a total abortion ban seemed far fetched. Within a year of Joe Bidens election to the presidency, Texas passed some of the most restrictive election integrity legislation in the US a package of measures empowering partisan poll watchers while making it harder to vote and much harder to cast a mail-in ballot. Welcome to the Texas Legislative Round-up! Some people are very susceptible to conspiracy theory, and that appears to be a higher percentage the deeper you go into the Republican Party of Texas. Somewhere between four thousand and five thousand showed up, which is not unimpressive. We believe in: 3. Copyright 2020 - The Republican Party of Texas - All Rights Reserved. Many of the Christian-right niche issues the party platform carves out space for, such as ending no-fault divorce, are dead letters in Trump world. And thats what three days of in-person voting would look like. Linda Coffee Argued Roe v. Wade. The Texas Republican Party's new platform also counters President Joe Biden's recent efforts to expand LGBTQ rights through the executive branch. In February, Texas Gov. Delegates booed Republican Sen. John Cornyn -- who has held his seat for 20 years and got more 2020 votes statewide than Trump . The Republican Party in Texas made a series of far-right declarations as part of its official party platform over the weekend, claiming that President Biden was not legitimately elected,. Thats saying a lot, because many of the planks are repeats from their 2016 and 2018 platforms. The display at the Texas Alliance for Life booth illustrates the development of a fetus during the Texas State Republican Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Friday. Their next step is to criminalize abortion, go after Plan B, and restrict birth control. U.S. Rep. Tony . Texas secession. Observers cite the party's convention as evidence that state Republicans have gone "full MAGA." But if anything, MAGA. The 2022 platform adopted all planks presented in the Committee Report at the statewide convention, plus 2 planks presented on the floor of the convention. In June 2022 the state Republican Party adopted a platform espousing anti-LGBTQ views, claiming President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election, and calling for an end to abortion care. HOUSTON Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further. Every two years, the convention is an opportunity for the GOP's most devoted members to update its. 6 min read Texas Republicans want to secede from the United States. This year, even the absolute worst case scenario has the GOP winning statewide, increasing its number of U.S. House seats, boosting its Texas Senate majority by a seat, and maintaining the 83 seats it held in the 2021 Texas House.. David Faris. The Republican-dominated Legislature last year passed new voting restrictions that prompted Democratic lawmakers to flee to Washington to break quorum in an ultimately futile protest. https://texassignal.com/author/kennedysessions/, Texas lawmaker proposes age-appropriate book bill, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo wins re-election race. Declaring all businesses and jobs as essential and a fundamental right, a response to COVID-19 mandates by Texas cities that required customers to wear masks and limited business hours. They booed Senator John Cornyn when he took the floor for even proposing it. June 18, 2022 Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. ", Your donation supports our media and helps us keep it free of ads and paywalls. Campbell and other activists frequently spoke of their Christian faith. Media. His success has inspired the party to shift farther right. According to the proposal, the Texas GOP declared homosexuality an abnormal lifestyle choice, opposes same-sex marriage, and believes in repealing the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision. The misery, the crime, the drug abuse, the high gas prices are all by design, so that the Democratic Party can permanently transform society. Today's economy is even worse than the one inherited . The final platform is the culmination of work by grassroots delegates who are the lifeblood of the Texas Republican Party. Schools arent the social educators of our kids.. The party chair, Matt Rinaldi, ruled that a motion to defend the due process rights of those who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and to reject the narrative that the riot was an insurrection was out of order and could not be voted on. Were meant to be alive, at this time, right now, and here in this state.. 27.4K views. In 2015, Texas conservatives set their eyes on repealing the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which expanded civil rights Today, the start of Womens History Month, Mayday.Health is launching a multi-day education campaign centered around accessing abortion pills. The Texas Republican Party finished its 2022 platform priorities over the weekend at the Republican National Convention and gave a glimpse into some of the most powerful minds in power. If not for the rise of Trump , some of the discriminatory language used by the Republican Party may have receded. Donald Trump Jr. put out a statement in support of the Log Cabin Republicans getting a booth. Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick poses for photos with supporters in front of his pickup truck during the first day of the Republican Party of Texas convention in 2022. Elsewhere, the GOP platform also added that Texas students should learn about the dignity of the preborn human and that life begins at fertilization. including by many of his own former aides, treated COVID patients with unapproved drug therapies. We, the 2022 Republican Party of Texas, believe in this platform and expect our elected leaders to uphold these truths through acknowledgment and action. A previous version of this story reported the percentage as 90.08% for Plank 225 based on information provided by the Republican Party of Texas. Leave them blank to get signed up. Have fun, kids! A difference of degrees is still a difference, however, and those degrees can add up over the years. "We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin, and we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.". Oh but the bigotry doesnt stop there! "Homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice," the 40-page resolution reads. The Texas state Republican Party's 2022 platform is not only hideously anti-LGBTQ, it also calls for the state to hold a referendum in 2023 on a possible secession from the United States. (1) "The laws of nature and nature's God," and we support the strict adherence to the original Land Commissioner George P. Bush, a grandson and nephew of the two presidents, was defeated handily in May in his runoff race against Attorney General Ken Paxton, an arch-conservative who sued to challenge the 2020 election outcome and convinced voters that he was the truer Trump loyalist. The 2022 platform adopted all planks presented in the Committee Report at the statewide convention, plus 2 planks presented on the floor of the convention. Its free. Texans who get their news from Facebook threads and chain emails gather together, load up a document with their complaints, pass it, and then elected officials throw it in the trash. Last week, the president signed an executive order that will direct federal health and education agencies to expand access to gender-affirming care and advance LGBTQ-inclusive learning environments at American schools. Imagine the mess it would create if Texas was limited to holiday shopping over three days in December, with no online options available - many people would just skip it. Thank you for subscribing - we will be in touch soon! 92 - The State Of Police Reform, Part 1 - John Fullinwider of Mothers Against Police Brutality, Ep. June 18, 20228 PM Central. The Texas Republican Party convention was really, um, something, wrote CNNs Chris Cilizza. That goes back to biology, back into teaching sex as biology, said Julie Pickren, who told The Texas Tribune that sex education has a place only if it follows state health education standards and is age appropriate. Party platforms are often used as a cudgel in party primaries. Why Does He Get to Make That Call? A Federal Judge in Amarillo Could Effectively Ban the Abortion Pill. 90 - Texas Rep. Salman Bhojani and Nicole Golden of Texas Gun Sense. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. The group included self-identified Proud Boys and Alex Stein, a social media activist from North Texas. Lt. Gov. 2:01. We urge that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized. Just before Biden's inauguration in 2021, armed groups held a rally in front of the Texas State . Buy tickets. Moreover, inflation, the risk of a recession, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and growing acrimony over race, gender and sexuality make it seem increasingly likely that Democrats will lose the U.S. House in the November midterm elections. in 13 years has only led them to call for more guns blazing in every nook and cranny that Texas has to offer. The group rebuked the party's decision to bar it from participating, calling on the state's GOP to "expand the tent. They even go so far as to refer to Biden as acting president, with some delegates subscribing to the Qanon theory that Trump will be re-installed as president by the end of the year. The Big Lie has gotten out of control amongst the Republican Party. The same blueprint applies in 2022, and to an even greater degree. What we put in the standards is factual and balanced, Patricia Hardy, a Republican board member from Fort Worth, told the Tribune Saturday after the platform vote. Texas Republicans ended a three-day convention Saturday with votes on a swath of proposed changes to their platform that would pull the party further right. when he took the floor for even proposing it. REJECT CERTIFIED ELECTION RESULTS OF 2020. After Section 5 of the act was overturned in 2013, restrictive voting laws flooded the U.S. A total repeal would be disastrous, dumpster-fire for our democracy. Pickren, a Republican, is running for the State Board of Education District that represents Southeast Texas. The Log Cabin Republicans, a group that backs LGBTQ rights, had been banned from placing a booth in the convention hall. The state GOPhas called for the VRAs repeal in every platform in the past decade, well predating Trumps appearance on the scene. It should give Texas Republican elected officials cause for concern that many of them cannot show up at their partys own convention without being heckled or attacked.Whats perhaps most bizarre is that, in leading us into these choppy waters, conservative activists in Texas are framing their fight as one for a return to tradition. In case there was any doubt where Texass organised Republicans stand, they have included in their platform the following resolution: We believe that the 2020 election violated Article 1 and 2 of the US Constitution, that various secretaries of state illegally circumvented their state legislatures in conducting their elections in multiple ways, including by allowing ballots to be received after November 3, 2020. Sen. John Cornyn. No-one could say that the Texas GOP is lacking in ambition. But some of the most talked-about policies in the states new platform is the outright rejection of LGBTQ communities, even those who may align with them politically. Texas' rightward push was clear in ways beyond the party platform. Why it matters: The revised platform is likely to preview some of the GOP's . Therefore, federally mandated legislation that infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. The Republican Party of Texas refuses to recognize the legitimacy of President Biden's election win. In April 2022 polling, for example, 87% of Texas Republicans said that " the sex listed on a person's original birth certificate should be the only way to define a person's gender," while only 9% said that gays and lesbians face "a lot" of discrimination in America today, compared to 31% who said the same of Christians and 34% who said the same Delegates Saturday voted on 275 platform planks, which will now need to be tallied and certified in Austin. The platform committee reviews every passed plank, hears public testimony, and further amends the platform. For many right-wingers, this is the highlight of their year. Even worse, they urge the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized. Its disappearance would make their attempts as voter disenfranchisement all the easier. Texas Republicans, who hold a majority of both chambers, want to do the exact opposite. All school districts, individual schools, or charter schools are prohibited from contracting with or making any payment to any third party for material concerning any of the above topics. ", "I'm glad that they're being really explicit in their words because these words now match their actions," Martinez said. shift the party further to the right on Saturday. There simply arent limits now on what the base might ask for.. March 03 2023 4:32 PM EST. The, Texas GOP argues in their platform that hate crime laws should be repealed. Our Republican-led state legislature has done nothing but tear Texas to shreds in the last two years and the federal government has done little to help. Nevertheless, the Texas GOP platform also supports repealing the 16th amendment or the Federal Income Tax, which gives Congress the power to collect taxes from states. In a recent poll, Texans said the top priority of the Texas Legislature should be lowering the cost of health care. And even the partys pragmatic center right conservatives lack the ability to argue, as they did successfully in 2020, that an ultra conservative platform could cost the GOP its majority status in the Lone Star State. From formally rejecting President Bidens 2020 win to outlawing LGBTQ+ marriage, the Texas GOP has unabashedly solidified their swing to the far-right. Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas are all pursuing legislation that would prevent men who identify as women from competing in womens' sports. This year, state senator Brandon Creighton from Conroe, north of Houston, rather limply described the event as one of the largest gatherings of conservative patriots in the country.Its not clear why attendance dropped, and Republicans I interviewed offered a range of explanations. I believe that in the sovereignty of God, you and I were purposely born into this moment, into this confusing time that we face, Campbell said. 2022 Republican Primary Ballot Propositions, 88th Session Legislative Priorities Talking Points, Republican Party of Texas Officially Censures Rep. 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It is not a Trumpian idea in Texas, however. In this case, they saw it worked for Trump so they think itll work for them., It shows you how much QAnon may not be an outlier in the Republican Party. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images. Its like they havent been on the same plane of reality as the rest of us. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. The additions to the state GOP platform related to teaching Texas students about sex and sexuality come months after Gov. All of this in the middle of Pride Month. So therefore, you cant do certain things, Ylana said. The party's new official stance on sexual orientation and gender identity also coincides with a recent nationwide surge in charged rhetoric from media pundits and politicians about LGBTQ issues. Illustrated | iStock. d. Support restoring state sovereignty with the repeal of the 17th Amendment of the United States Constitution and the appointment of United States Senators by the state legislatures. That elected officials dont enact the platform is among the most common criticisms youll hear from those who draft it. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. They want in-person voting condensed to three days, with no gap between the first day of Early Voting and Election Day. "I think the convention overall was a great success," said State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe, Dist. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. 2022 Parties Platforms. And John Cornyn is always booed at the gathering. Meanwhile, the party platform vote on Saturday by roughly 5,100 convention delegates would argue that those under 21 are most likely to need to defend themselves and may need to quickly buy guns in emergencies such as riots. It also would say that red flag laws violate the due process rights of people who havent been convicted of a crime.