This past year, as so many of our civil rights and liberties came under attack, our steadfast efforts to protect them — in collaboration with partners — garnered attention across the state and nation. Below are 10 of the many ways that we advocated together for a better Texas.
- We created an online Students’ Rights Hub to equip students, families, and advocates with a wide range of materials to advocate for an honest, inclusive education.
- We continue to represent three Indigenous students and nine transgender students facing discrimination in Texas schools. We successfully pressured Katy ISD to remove a web filter blocking critical resources for LGBTQIA+ students and persuaded Cypress-Fairbanks ISD to update the academic records of a transgender student.
- We won three injunctions blocking the State of Texas from investigating parents who support their transgender children with medically necessary healthcare.
- We filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice against state officials for racial profiling and biased policing under the State’s migrant arrest program, known as Operation Lone Star. The federal government is now probing discrimination claims for civil rights violations.
- In partnership with the Southern Border Communities Coalition, we secured a commitment from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to disband their unauthorized Critical Incident Teams by the end of this fiscal year. The investigation report from El Paso that we obtained and released exposed the agency’s role in fatal encounters, including a vehicle pursuit that killed our client’s son.
- Over one hundred new abortion advocates from across the state completed the Texas Abortion Access Network training. Nearly 500 graduates now conduct “actions for abortion” like tabling for abortion funds, planning local protests, and testifying at city councils and courts.
- Working with local partners, we helped pass policies decriminalizing abortion in Austin, Dallas, Denton, and San Antonio. Houston City Council made a formal statement of support for abortion access, and we continue our advocacy in El Paso.
- We challenged the State’s racially gerrymandered electoral maps in court on behalf of Asian American Pacific Islander and civic groups and individuals.
- We represented Hervis Rogers, a man unfairly charged with two counts of illegal voting in the 2020 presidential election. A district court judge dismissed his case after a separate ruling found that Attorney General Ken Paxton lacks authority to prosecute election-related crimes.
- We launched an election protection campaign for the midterm elections to ensure eligible Texas voters knew how to vote and that their ballots were counted. We recruited hundreds of volunteer poll monitors, shared “Know Your Rights” information with millions of Texans through social media, organized a mural and block party in Houston’s Third Ward, and helped staff a nonpartisan voter protection hotline.
We will continue this fight for our rights and our lives. Because no one should have to cross state lines to access abortion, or be investigated for providing their trans child with life-saving care, or be denied the right to an immigration hearing and safe shelter during the asylum process — to name but a few of the basic rights at stake in our state.
As we prepare for a new legislative session in 2023, it will take all of us to resist these attacks and pass bills that make our lives better.
Learn about volunteer opportunities to get more engaged in this work.