Opinion: End the Witch Hunt, Let LGBTQIA+ Texans Thrive

Drag bans. Attacks on gender affirming care. Censorship of queer literature. With a record number of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills proposed in the 88th Texas legislative session, each day brought a new fight for existence for queer and trans Texans. Over and over, we witnessed our obsessed attackers hurl blatant lies and misinformation to push an extremist agenda. And we wonder: When will the witch hunt end?

As a nonprofit provider of sexual health and wellness services in Central Texas, ASHwell sees firsthand the harmful impact of legislation targeting queer and trans Texans. At the core of our LGBTQIA+ clients' motive to seek care at ASHwell's clinic lies the desire to live happy and healthy in this great state, but legislative witch hunts expressing and inciting vitriol toward our clients directly impact both their safety and the wellness they work hard to achieve. Rather than attend to legitimate public health concerns, such as the drastic racial disparities of new HIV cases in Texas, they instead spent their time in session pushing legislation targeting trans youth not backed by science or doctors. In fact, every leading medical association in the U.S. agrees that gender affirming care is lifesaving health care that drastically reduces feelings of gender dysphoria, depression, and anxiety, and [increases] overall wellness. The exorbitant amount of time and taxpayer money targeting nonissues could instead be spent on expanding prevention services for communities at higher risk of contracting HIV or supporting public health initiatives testing and treating for hepatitis C, but we've learned by now that the Legislature does not speak or legislate for the people of this state – especially not the LGBTQIA+ & QTPOC Texans who simply wish for the same rights as everyone else.

Aside from our allies in the Texas Legislature who proposed legislation to include HIV tests in standard STI screenings, conversations around pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and sexual health have been occurring less frequently with individuals and legislators alike – to the detriment of our communities. Considering their track record on issues affecting LGBTQIA+ and nonwhite Texans, the Legislature's disregard of racial and class disparities in HIV contraction rates comes as no surprise. Texas data mimics that of the nation regarding HIV contraction rates, with the Texas Department of State Health Services reporting that Black and Latinx individuals are testing positive for HIV at disproportionately higher rates. And if the racial disparities are not concerning enough, the CDC reports that the South made up 53% of the new HIV cases in 2019, despite making up only 38% of the U.S. population. Addressing disparities in knowledge, prevention, and treatment of HIV is a top priority of ASHwell, with 60% of our clients coming from Black and Latinx communities and 75% of our clients identifying as LGBTQIA+. But rather than finding support for real, tangible issues facing Texans, our work is further hindered by the politicization of LGBTQIA+ lives. And it doesn't stop with the Legislature, as we saw in the 2022 decision by a Texas federal judge to allow employers to deny coverage of PrEP based on the employer's personal religious beliefs.

Each day, we work with clients who have survived every attempt of the Legislature to strip away more of their rights, and the love and community those individuals foster inspire us to push forward. ASHwell's mission is to empower Central Texans by providing sexual health and wellness services that serve the body, mind and spirit, but with each attack on gender affirming care, prescription drugs, and basic human rights, our mission becomes more difficult to accomplish.

We urge lawmakers to embrace and uplift queer and trans Texans rather than attack our community based on misinformation and an unwillingness to accept normal human experiences. In a state that claims to value freedom above all else, we hope you listen to doctors, parents of trans youth, and LGBTQIA+ constituents and muster the decency to allow these individuals to exist without persecution.

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Garrett R. Chase is the assistant director of strategic partnerships at ASHwell Sexual Health + Wellness, which aims to empower Central Texans by providing sexual health and wellness services that serve the body, mind, and spirit. Garrett’s passion for advocacy and uplifting LGBTQIA+ folx led him to ASHwell to provide services without shame, stigma, or judgment. He’s an Austin transplant with his partner and their dog, Georgia, and he enjoys reading, writing, and kayaking under the blazing Texas sun.