Ten days out from the conclusion of the 2025 Legislative Session, Miriam Laeky brought a sobering analysis to the Williamson County Democratic Party.
As Government Affairs Director at Equality Texas, Leaky works for the state’s largest coalition advocating for over 2 million Texans who identify as LGBTQIA+.
“Queer Texans exist in every corner of this great state, and we’re not going anywhere,” she stressed, noting that this number is second only to California and represents one in eleven Texans.
As Democrats warned in 2024, Project 2025 plainly laid out the cards to be played when Republicans cemented control of red state legislatures. With its hyper-MAGA leadership, divisive tactics and vigilante culture, “Texas is an unfortunate blueprint for a lot of bad policymaking,” said Laeky.
This year saw a massive increase in anti-LGBTQIA+ bills over the past several years, focused on education censorship, health care bans/restrictions, trans student sports bans and “license to discriminate” bills.
“Yes, we’ve been here before, and they’re back again with cruel, exhaustive tactics,” she said. Even so, 94% of the anti-LGBTQIA+ bills did die this session. The six bills that did pass include:
- HB229, which codifies binary definitions of sex into law, and will be implemented September 1
- HB 1106, which states that a parent or guardian’s refusal to affirm a child’s perception of their gender (including not using their preferred name or pronouns) or their expressed sexual orientation is not considered child abuse or neglect.
- An amendment to HB18, an otherwise good bill increasing funding to rural hospitals, that withholds funds for hospitals if they provide mental health services for transgender youth under 18.
Additional bill tracking information has been compiled here at the Equality Texas website.
Leaky continues to see hope in the many who brave hostility at the Capitol to advocate for fairness, as well as role models such as Senator Molly Cook who serve as openly queer state legislators. There are over 100 Pride groups tracked in Texas, individual and community resources that exist in the form of hotlines, support groups like PFLAG and TENT, and mental health toolkits.
After what was “unequivocally an anti-trans session,” Leaky stressed the importance of all of us to be watchful and to get involved beyond election work.
“Be there for people.”
For more information, reach out to MiriamLaeky@equalitytexas.org. If you’re an individual needing support or have witnessed/experienced an anti-LGBTQIA+ incident in Texas, Request Support at Equality Texas.