Texas Values Action Opposes Rep. Dade Phelan’s Speaker Candidacy
“Texas Values Action strongly opposes Rep. Dade Phelan as a Texas Speaker of the House candidate. Rep. Phelan used his power last session to advance the LGBT agenda and we have not forgotten. Not only that, but he then bragged about this legislative move on an interview with Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune. Is the majority of the Republican Caucus really ready to make a decision about its new Speaker?” said Texas Values Action attorney and president Jonathan Saenz.
Representative Dade Phelan used his position on House State Affairs to create a loophole in the House committee substitute for SB 2485 that would have allowed local governments to create or keep sexual orientation, gender identity ordinances, also known as “Ban the Bible” ordinances. This bill language would have allowed dangerous ordinances to punish Christian business owners for their beliefs on marriage and human sexuality.
Representative Phelan was one of only three House Republicans who received a positive rating from the state’s leading LGBT organization, Equality Texas. Phelan also received special praise on the Equality Texas scorecard for his “leadership” on this bill. Equality Texas is a strong supporter of Ban The Bible bills and actively opposes nearly every religious freedom bill that is filed or considered for a vote in the Texas Legislature.
Phelan also spoke on the record about SB 2485 and his views on policies that advance the LGBTQ liberal agenda.
In response to numerous requests from Republican House members about appropriate criteria for a new speaker, we recommend that Republican House members ask any speaker candidate to publicly pledge their support to the 8 Legislative Priorities that thousands of grassroots Texas Republicans overwhelming voted to support this year at the Texas GOP convention.
(updated on 11-5-20)
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About Texas Values Action
Texas Values Action is the largest statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to standing for faith, family, and freedom in Texas. More information is available at txvaluesaction.org.
