Good morning!

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, March 23, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Border Experts Raise Concern About House Legislation

• While the Texas House has seemingly taken the lead on the border security issue from the Senate, one part of the chamber's marquee proposal is raising concerns from border security experts. Sydnie Henry has the details.
   
• In a joint statement, Texans for Strong Borders and the Federation for American Immigration Reform say they are concerned language in House Bill 20 by State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R–Tyler) could contradict its intended purpose.
     

• The legislation would establish the Border Protection Unit, a new unit under the Texas Department of Public Safety that would be responsible for facilitating the building and maintenance of the barrier walls along the border, deterring or repelling illegal aliens in the event of an invasion, and returning illegal aliens to Mexico when they cross illegally during a declared invasion.
      

• The two organizations are concerned by a section of Schaefer's legislation that continues to defer to federal immigration law.
      

• “This bill seeks to give Texas the tools and explicit statutory authority to repel the invasion at our border and end the crisis perpetuated by the Biden Administration,” explained TFSB and FAIR. “However, we have some serious concerns that the bill’s language may serve to undermine its purpose.” They say the shortcoming they have identified could be fixed by removing the language subjecting the state’s invasion powers to “federal immigration laws.”
      

• Schaefer did not respond to a request for comment.

Senator Calls Out ‘Anti-parent’ Texas Association of School Boards

• After the Texas Association of School Boards sent a letter to school board members claiming they are not anti-parent, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) says their policies suggest otherwise. Emily Wilkerson has the story.
      

• TASB has been under fire for using taxpayer funds to lobby lawmakers, while taking positions opposed to parental rights, school accountability, and other reforms. 
          
• Middleton has introduced legislation that would forbid entities from using tax dollars to lobby the Legislature. While school board members have testified in support of his proposal, TASB has opposed it.
      
• To head off criticism of their lobbying efforts, the organization sent a letter to school board members trying to position itself as a champion of parents.
        
• Middleton finds that claim laughable. “TASB claims to represent all school board members; they don’t. They don’t even represent individual school board members; they represent school boards as a governmental entity, often against the interests of students and parents.”

West Texas A&M Bans Drag Show on Campus

• A West Texas university president has sparked praise and outrage for banning a drag event that was scheduled to be held on school property later this month, saying “drag shows denigrate and demean women.” Erin Anderson has the story.
   
• “West Texas A&M University will not host a drag show on campus,” explained WTAMU President Walter Wendler in a March 20 email to students, faculty, and staff. He compared drag shows to “blackface” performances.
      
• “As a performance exaggerating aspects of womanhood (sexuality, femininity, gender), drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood,” wrote Wendler.

Parents Pressure Bar To Cancel Drag Show Targeting Children

• Even though sexually explicit drag shows targeting children continue to run rampant throughout Texas, pro-family activists are accumulating victories. They are succeeding in forcing the venues hosting these drag shows to change events to 18-plus—and in some cases, cancel the events entirely. Soli Rice has details on the latest efforts to stop a Dallas drag show targeting children.
   
• Earlier this month, the Texas Family Project alerted activists to a drag event hosted by the bar On Rotation in Dallas that was advertised as open to everyone, including children. Parents began calling and leaving Yelp reviews, requesting the event’s age requirement be changed to 18 and up.
     
• In the face of heavy community pressure, the bar cancelled the event a day before it was supposed to happen.
     
• “This is the perfect example of an activated grassroots base,” said Chris Hopper, the president of the Texas Family Project. “No longer will we allow a tiny faction of our society to have their way with children. No longer will we tolerate the vulgar trash that is spit out of the pipeline of a woke culture. Rather, we will take the fight to the source of the filth and go to war.”
      

• This is a good reminder that the most important part of winning a fight involves being engaged IN the fight.

On A Personal Note...

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