Simple.
Freedom of religion. Confused? Yeah, me too! Don’t worry, Representative Krause
explains it to us. According to Krause, Christian organizations in particular
have been under attack and forced to open the organization to anyone who wants
to join or lose their university recognition and state-funded benefits. So
Krause is asking for special rights for religious organizations that would
exempt them from this policy and instead allow them to deny membership based on
race, gender, or sexual orientation. So there’s a rule, that everyone follows,
that promotes fairness, and Representative Krause doesn’t think it’s fair that
religious groups should have to follow it, because they want to keep LGBTQ
people, women, and people of color out of their organizations.
So you’re
not confused anymore, you’re just pissed off? Right. Me too. That’s why I went
to the Texas Capitol last week to testify against HB 360, which clearly
penalizes universities for prohibiting discrimination. As a student
organization leader at UT Austin, I understand the value that discourse between
people of diverse backgrounds brings to the table; some of the most riveting
discussions have been a result of this diversity. Furthermore, I have seen the
discrimination that LGBTQ people, women, and people of color face every single
day on our campus and this bill would only serve to justify and uphold that
poor treatment. Plus, UT has almost 100 religious student organizations
operating just fine under UT’s current “all-comers” policy that are perfectly
able to meet, discuss their ideas, recruit new members, and elect like-minded
leadership for the organization.
When
talking about discrimination at my school, discrimination against Christian
groups is the last thing to come to mind. I think of queer people who face
social alienation, slurs, stares, and harsh treatment daily. I am reminded that
Trans* people struggle to find a place to use the bathroom where they feel
safe, along with being misgendered and mistreated. I remember the many, many
times I have heard that people of color are either stupid athletes, or they
don’t deserve to attend our school, without even considering the possibility that
they are just as smart, or even smarter than the white person speaking. I
cringe at the sexism that plays out every day as women are excluded from
opportunities just because they’re women, along with constant belittling
reminders that we’re “cute, not smart.” My heart aches for Muslim Longhorns who
are constantly vigilant and endure Islamophobic remarks. I don’t think we need
to legalize any more discrimination against these groups on our campus who
already face too much discrimination.
After a few
friends and I testified, all with slightly different viewpoints but all
opposing the bill, Representative Krause came up to talk to us. He said that
the bill was never intended to be discriminatory (seriously, have you read the original text that has your
name on it, sir?) and that the new language (provided in a committee substitute
that was not made available to the public) should fix our concerns. As it turns
out, the new language just opens up the table for everyone to discriminate by
removing the need for a religious exemption, schools would still lose all of
their state funding if they required student organizations to allow student
participation regardless of status or beliefs. Essentially, the new language
fulfills the same purpose of the original language (allowing Christian
organizations to exclude women and LGBTQ people, specifically) but looks less
blatantly homophobic, sexist, and racist.
It has been
about a week since we testified in the House Higher Education Committee against
HB 360, and the bill has been left pending in the committee for now. In the
event that it does pass into law, Representative Donna Howard, (D – Austin),
said the bill could put institutions in conflict with federal law, which
prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, color or
origin.
I was at that hearing and heard you testify. You and your colleagues did a FANTASTIC job and represented your cause and your institutions well. I am heartened that the bill is still pending in committee. Even if it dies quietly during this session, I suspect we'll see it come back in the 84th, perhaps with the funding issue altered. If that happens, I predict it will easily move through the committee, unless membership changes dramatically.
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