Four Democrats and two Republicans have joined forces in what is certainly an uphill battle to gain legislative approval for a law to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and public housing.
Rep. Jessica González (D-Dallas) will carry the legislation. She has already won the support of State Representatives Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie), Sarah Davis (R-West University Place) and Todd Hunter (R-). The body of Christ).
“Our goal is to have this bill run through the Texas House for the first time in history,” Angela Hale of LGBTQ advocacy group Texas Competes told the Dallas Morning News.
A study published Wednesday by the Perryman Group found that a lack of protection from discrimination affects the state’s ability to attract businesses and tourism.
“These issues will become even more important after the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company’s website said. “Competition for quality development will intensify as different states and countries try to revitalize their economies and companies that employ highly skilled workers will focus on social governance and the community environment. Similarly, efforts to attract major events and promote local venues will escalate significantly as the tourism and hospitality sectors seek to recover from massive losses due to recent restrictions.
The study estimates that the passage of a non-discrimination law in 2021 would lead to a full increase in business activity in the state by 2025, which translates into an estimated gross annual product of $ 19.8 billion and 180,226 jobs. By 2045, economic benefits would increase to a projected gross annual product of $ 104.3 billion and 701,990 jobs. Cumulatively in the period 2021-2045, such a law could lead to a total gross product profit of 1.3 trillion US dollars and more than 9.0 million years of employment.
“I think a lot of this is going to take speaking to our colleagues and explaining the results of this study,” said González, who is a member of the House’s LGBTQ caucus. “It’s going to take a lot of groundwork.”
Winning at the Texas House is not out of the realm of possibility, but the passage in the Texas Senate where Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick leading is probably very difficult. In 2017, Patrick and other Senate Republicans pushed the so-called Bathroom Act to prevent transgender Texans from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
Misinformation about bathrooms led to the 2015 voters defeating the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. The local LGBTQ community wanted to try again, but Mayor Sylvester Turner hasn’t come up with a new proposal despite an election promise.
Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio have local ordinances.
Twenty-two states have also passed laws, but federal non-discrimination protection does not extend to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
