Texas Republicans Request Congress To Investigate ACLU For Not Being A Bigot
Along with the ACLU of Texas, Texas Republicans name six other civil rights organizations they want targeted for a probe.
State Representative Matt Sheehan went against his party and co-sponsored a bill to end Confederate Heroes Day in Texas. Shaheen is the proud grandson of immigrants and wanted to do the right thing and eradicate a small piece of the legacy of white supremacy that still looms over the Lone Star State.
While eradicating a holiday that most of the state sees as an ode to white supremacy is the right thing to do, undoubtedly, Shaheen was unprepared for the Republican backlash that would soon follow. The alt-right went on the attack, calling him a “RINO” and a “lib-lover.”
It didn’t sit well with Representative Shaheen, which is why he felt the need to redeem himself by offering up something so outlandish and absurd that even the tinfoil-hat-wearing right would forget his previous offense of standing against racism.
That’s why today, Shaheen led the charge with other Texas Republicans to ask Congress to investigate civil rights organizations for not being bigots.
Not only was the letter ridiculous, but the sources it pointed to didn’t match what he captioned in the letter. For example, Shaheen pointed to this New York Times article citing that it said puberty blockers had harmful and long-lasting effects when that wasn’t even the premise of the article.
The article repeated the mental health risks to transgender youth for increased depression and suicide, pointing to how puberty blockers (like any other prescription drug) could have unintended side effects, like bone growth issues and heart complications.
It was littered with falsehoods and inflammatory language like “gender mutilation” and “puberty blockers for little children.”
Then if referenced, Frisco ISD’s recent bigoted policy to ban transgender youth from using the bathroom of their true gender. Because of that new policy, the ACLU filed a complaint for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate the Frisco ISD.
Embarrassingly, the letter then points to a fabricated story as a reason for Shaheen’s concern.
By now, we’ve all heard something about the outrageous sexual assault that happened in a high school bathroom in Loudoun, Virginia. Most of us know that the story has been widely debunked. Unfortunately, that never stops a Republican from repeating it.
The tragic assault which occurred in Virginia was a story of dating violence and had nothing to do with any transgender or gender-fluid individual.
The letter then added the following organizations that they want to be investigated:
Why investigate? The letter said, “whether the organizations are working with clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and medical practitioners to execute a coordinated assault on our nation’s children for money.”
The letter’s inflammatory language is calculated and meant to stir an emotional response.
Signed by the following Texas State Representatives: Matt Shaheen, Jared Patterson, Frederick Fraizer, and Jeff Leach.
No one signed this letter because they were concerned about children or believed in some conspiracy to turn all the world's kids to the opposite gender. The political motivation for power or relevance drives each one.
Aside from Shaheen’s dog whistle to Republicans that he can be part of the crowd, Leach also had something to prove. (You can find the link below if you missed our story about Leach’s Twitter beef.)
All week long, Leach has been called a “RINO” and a “Democratic-sympathizer.” Even though Leach won the Twitter battle this week, he still is beating his chest over his win. Perhaps to prove to everyone, he isn’t the RINO they all claim him to be.
The recently elected Frederick Frazier is under federal indictment. There’s a good chance he’ll be sent to prison before this upcoming legislative session concludes. He wants to be relevant before he’s forgotten, along with the dozens of other Texas Republicans who served prison time in the last few decades. (But, we’ll never forget you, Tom DeLay.)
And Jared Patterson? Here is some of Living Blue’s other coverage of Representative Patterson:
Jared Patterson Aims To Completely Ban Trans People From Public Life
Domestic Terrorists In Office, Their Flunkies, And The Violent Targeting Of Democrats
From A Glass House, Jared Patterson Characterizes 58% Of Texans As Evil
Representative Patterson has a history of getting behind legislation and actions that hurt people. His motivations have always been unclear. I’d ask him about it, but he blocked me on all social media platforms when I questioned him about the rumors regarding the affair with Representative Shelby Slawson.
There are only 19 days left until the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature begins, and with Republicans controlling Congress, we could be in for a wild ride. Stay tuned.
Check out some of the latest Living Blue articles:
