John, Yesterday Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office released an official legal analysis concluding that the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC) exceeded its authority by providing special protections to social workers based on "sexual orientation and gender identity" (SOGI). In short, what the Council did was wrong and arguably illegal. SOGI policies are often used as weapons to punish people of faith who follow a biblical definition of biological sex. Back in January of this year, Texas Values submitted a detailed legal brief, explaining BHEC's lack of authority in state and federal law to pursue implementation of SOGI policies without going through the Texas legislative process. In October of 2020, BHEC, the overseeing agency for the Texas Social Worker Board, held a hearing to discuss a decision by the Social Worker Board to align its code of conduct with state law and remove problematic SOGI language. BHEC voted to reverse that decision and reinstate special protection for sexual orientation and gender identity, which is not a part of current state law. Texas Values presented testimony at this hearing in opposition to the adding of the controversial sexual orientation and gender identity language. BHEC also decided to send a letter requesting a legal opinion to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Texas. The letter from BHEC Executive Director strongly stated the Council’s belief that it possessed the authority to unilaterally implement SOGI language in its code of conduct. June 30 is the end of our fiscal year, our most important fundraising deadline of the year. Please consider a gift today to support our critical policy, legal, educational, and media work that make more victories in Texas possible.
Thank you, Jonathan Covey, Director of Policy
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