Rep. Garnet Coleman Files Omnibus LGBTQ-Rights Bill
On February 23, Texas State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) filed HB 2069, a sweeping omnibus bill to protect LGBTQ rights in Texas. The bill addresses many issues that the representative has proposed in previous legislative sessions, including:
• A constitutional amendment to repeal the current provision defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman (2009, 81R HJR 131).
• Streamlining court procedures for changing names and gender markers on state-issued IDs (2007, 80R HB 1761).
• Including protection for transgender individuals in the Texas hate crimes law (2007, 80R HB 1289).
• Repealing the classification of homosexual conduct as a criminal offense (2005, 79R HB 3215).
• Prohibiting discrimination against or harassment of a public-school employee or student on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression (2005, 79R HB 376).
• A comprehensive employment non-discrimination act prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, labor organization membership, or housing (2005, 79R HB 2522).
• Including LGBTQ individuals in Texas’ Romeo and Juliet law, which states that when a young adult over the age of 17 has consensual sexual relations with someone under the age of 17, but who is at least 15 years old, and there is no more than a four-year age difference between the two, the older party will not have to register as a sex offender (2013, 83R HB 3322).
The original language in Rep. Coleman’s bill referred to “sexual preference.” He has apologized for using that inaccurate term, and the language was changed to “sexual orientation” in the committee version of the bill.
“I have filed numerous bills to protect the LGBTQ community, and fought against even more bad policies and bills [intended] to marginalize and discriminate against LGBTQ individuals,” Rep. Coleman said in a press release. “Despite many of my bills to protect LGBTQ rights failing to pass in the Texas Legislature, I believe it is important to continue to bring attention to these issues to raise the awareness of influential parties. Supreme Court justices read newspapers, too.
Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2021/03/rep-garnet-coleman-files-omnibus-lgbtq-rights-bill/