Hundreds of people marched in Dallas’ historically LGBTQ neighborhood Sunday in protest of state and federal policies targeting LGBTQ rights.
Holding signs, waving rainbow-colored flags and chanting slogans like “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,” demonstrators at the Queer and Trans Liberation March protested down Cedars Springs Road in Oak Lawn in response anti-LGBTQ bills in the current Texas legislative session, as well as a slew of executive orders in the first two months of the Trump administration.
But beyond public policy, the march was about defending against rising anti-LGBTQ attitudes in recent years, said Jacob Reyes, one of the march’s co-founders.
“We talk a lot about the legislation, and of course that’s going to set the community back unfortunately,” said Reyes, who also serves as communications director at Texas Latino Pride and news coordinator for GLAAD.
“But the growing sentiment among the population is that trans people don’t have a right to exist, trans people don’t exist. That has never been the case. Trans people have always existed. Queer people have always existed.”
Among the more than 90 executive orders signed by Donald Trump since he took office on Jan. 20 are directives to deny passport changes for trans and gender non-conforming people, move trans women into men’s prisons and ban trans military members — which has been blocked by a federal judge for now.
Some of those orders specifically target trans children, including a ban on federal support for youth gender-affirming care and a push to ban schools from supporting kids as they transition.
Proponents of those limits accuse teachers and other adults of pushing agendas on children and say anti-trans policies are meant to protect kids, though growing consensus has found gender-affirming care at a young age can improve a person’s well-being as an adult.
“I feel like I’m under attack,” said Chandra Lagunas Lewis-Qualls, who self-identified as bisexual. “I also have many people in my family that are gay, trans, and they’re scared.”
Lea Landaverde, who’s on the board of Texas Latino Pride, said it was important for her and others to march and assert her own rights amid the ongoing push to limit rights for LGBTQ people.
“By being queer, by being who I am, I’ve lost a lot of family,” Landaverde. “And I stand here today to be with my chosen family, to be here with the people that really want to drive change for our community.”
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has issued his own orders that public universities drop programs intended to help historically marginalized populations — including gay and trans Texans — in an ongoing effort to halt diversity, equity and inclusion in school, or DEI.
New reporting from the Texas Newsroom also found the state has quietly been collecting the information of transgender Texans for an unspecified purpose.
Other measures target LGBTQ people more broadly, including a proposed ban on teaching about sexual orientation and a push to eliminate or redefine same-sex marriage in states across the country including Texas.
Paul DeBenedetto contributed to this report.
