Clinical psychology graduate student Mariam El-Haj carries a “Make America Gay Again” flag at the Texas Rising rally Tuesday on the Chapel lawn on the Edinburg campus. The event was held by universities across the state to fight for equal rights for everyone. SARAH CARVAJAL/THE RIDER
About 20 UTRGV students gathered Tuesday afternoon on the Chapel lawn on the Edinburg campus for a “Students Against Hate” rally to speak out against multiple proposed anti-LGBTQ bills in the Texas Legislature.
“This is just to show a demonstration in opposition to the anti-LGBTQ bills that the Texas Legislature has been trying to pass,” said Omar Casas, a rehabilitative services senior and co-organizer of the rally. “They’ve introduced 25, so far, and they’re trying real hard to get one to slip by and get passed. We’re here to demonstrate that we’re watching, we’re paying attention and that we’re not going to let discrimination win.”
Some of the anti-LGBTQ bills include:
–House Bill 2899, which would prevent local jurisdictions from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances that include provisions on bathroom usage
–Senate Bill 522, which would legally permit county clerks to openly discriminate against LGBTQ Texans when issuing marriage licenses
–Senate Bill 892, which permits child welfare services providers the ability to deny services to LGBTQ Texans
During the rally, protesters urged students stopping by to call their local representatives and voice their displeasure on anti-LGBTQ bills.
Lydia Shircliff, a nursing junior who attended the protest, said she learned who her representative was thanks to the rally.
“I also think it’s important for our people to be aware of people’s issues. Maybe they’re not gay, so they wouldn’t really know anything about us,” Shircliff said.
In universities across the state, rallies against anti-LGBTQ bills continued Tuesday. Students rallied in Austin, Houston, San Marcos and San Antonio.
The “Students Against Hate” rallies are part of a larger campaign with GLAAD, the Texas Freedom Network, Equality Texas, the Human Rights Campaign, ACLU of Texas and the Transgender Education Network of Texas.
“If students who want to support or are members of the LGBTQ+ community, they need to be politically engaged and pay attention to what’s going on at the Texas Legislature and they need to be civically engaged,” Casas said. “They need to help with getting people registered to vote when Election Day comes around, they need to support any advocacy that are partners and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community as best as they can.”
Casas said he would tell Texas lawmakers to “stop discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community.”
“These are real people with real experiences and they just want to live their lives the way they want to,” he said.
