I was back in Austin to testify on Monday and am still processing all that occurred. I’m no rookie to the legislature but I witnessed some of the worst behavior so far. Here are the round numbers:
- HB1686 - a house bill that aims to ban transgender healthcare for minors and more
- 2,800 - Texans registered in opposition
- 100 – Texans registered in support
- 450 – those who clicked the box to testify in public
- 50 – number of witnesses heard
- 11 – members of the House Public Health Committee
- 12 - number of hours the committee heard testimony
- 18 – number of hours I and many others were at the Capitol
- 22 - number of hours I was awake!
So if you’re unfamiliar, you need to get to the Capitol to
register to testify as early as possible to have a chance to speak. I arrived at 6:40 am. They started laying out the bill around 10 am,
took an hour recess at 2 pm for the full House to convene on the floor, and
then returned to the hearing at 3 pm.
Republicans exploited the process for 12 hours in such a gross way that
it would have been comical if lives were not at stake. They flew in witnesses from other states, invited
“expert” witnesses to speak that were anything but, and then asked absurd questions
of those in support of this bad bill in order to kill time and just flat out
lied about trans kids and their doctors.
It was obvious they were not going in order of registration and were
trying to skew the hearing towards supportive witnesses.
One exchange in particular stood out to me since I look at politics through a faith lens (photo). An affirming Methodist minister testified he was against this bill because it discriminated against a small group of God’s children and all God’s children are worthy (I’m paraphrasing). Rep. Tony Tinderholt proceeded to challenge, bully, and shame this pastor. It was a disgusting display of bigotry and the worst example of Christianity. It was the Sermon on the Mount in full color: “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” At one point the representative asked what the pastor thought the Apostle Paul would say about this.
Fuming, I revised my testimony while listening to Prince at
full volume in my airpods. I deleted a
few lines and added a few thoughts, hoping it was still under three
minutes. Shortly before midnight, I was
called to testify.
I had been praying all day, there was an all-day prayer
vigil at the Capitol, and a virtual prayer vigil going by the Justice &
Peace Response Team. As I looked at the committee, I thought “I am not afraid
of any of you.” I am usually more measured in my testimony; the Spirit was upon me as I spat out my words.
There were cheers heard from the overflow rooms while the
hearing room maintained decorum. It was a
small victory as literally hundreds of transgender voices were silenced by the
abuse of the process by Republicans. But
Tinderholt finally got his answer about what Apostle Paul might say. To watch three minutes of Mama Bear Fury,
click below
