The Texas Republican Party continues to be Absolutely Bouncingly Insane. The good news is that the party "narrowly" decided to perhaps not demand a statewide referendum on whether Texas even wants to be part of the United States anymore; the bad news is that there's not much else they could refrain from wedging into their new state party platform.
“We support public school facilities such as restrooms, locker rooms and showers be reserved for the use of students based on biological birth gender,” the document states.
The anti-trans bathroom plank is one of several new anti-LGBT measures in the platform, as the culture wars have again dominated this year’s convention.
Among those other anti-LGBT measures: A declaration that homosexuality "is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that have been ordained by God in the Bible," opposition to marriage equality, and support for "sexual orientation change" therapy.
That isn't the only part of the platform to run directly contrary to federal law, of course. Other demands:
- "Abolishing" the Internal Revenue Service as well as the Departments of Education, Energy, Housing, Commerce, Health, Interior (the BLM is singled out in particular), Transportation, and the ATF. It may have been simpler on their part to list whatever parts of the federal government they would allow to remain.
- A full repeal of the 1965 Voter Rights Act. Also opposed outright, for various crackpot Jade Helm-ish reasons we won't go into here: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (The United Nations and "foreign law" is warned against in a number of places—again, the short answer is that the Jade Helm people are well and truly represented in the Texas Republican Party, and they're pretty sure the United Nations is hiding in their cupboards.)
- An "immediate and orderly" phase-out of Social Security, and an immediate and we-don't-give-a-damn-if-its-orderly repeal of "Obamacare."
- That "equal treatment" be given in schools to "all sides" of scientific theories like creation and environmental change.
- Demands to end abortion outright are littered throughout the document, including the demand that the Texas Legislature "ignore and refuse to enforce" federal statutes and court rulings contrary to that stance.
- A declaration that all federal laws and court orders that restrict or infringe on gun rights "shall be considered null and void" in Texas.
Quite a few of the planks in the Texas Republican platform would be violations of federal law if carried out, which is perhaps why the demand that Texas perhaps secede from the union entirely was only narrowly averted. Instead the party demands a constitutional convention to gut and tweak our founding document as necessary in order for them to do these things, which appears to be considered a compromise position. Then if the convention doesn't go their way, presumably, they'll still be free to jump ship and become their own little oil-rich Saudi America or whatever.
Honestly, it's all about what we would expect from the party that brought us Louie Gohmert, Steve Stockman, Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz. Oh, speaking of Gov. Abbott, he's continuing to declare that letting transgender kids continue to use their current restrooms will lead to the end of public education itself:
"I said Tuesday, this will be the end of public education, if this prevails,” Patrick said. “People will pull their kids out, homeschooling will explode, private schools will increase, school choice will pass."
There ya go. Yeah, he's a lunatic. Oh, and Republicans at the state convention will be voting on this document plank-by-plank today, so who knows: it's possible the secession parts will make it back in.