How to Influence the 85th Texas Legislative Session

The 85th Texas Legislature gaveled in today, and already over 1,300 bills have been filed. Many of those bills pose considerable threats to Texans’ freedom and equality. On LGBT equality, reproductive freedom, and immigrants’ rights, many of our lawmakers will stop at nothing to roll back the clock. Want to know what you can do to fight back? Keep reading.

By Mark Humphries

Texas_capitol_day.jpg

One Undocumented Mother’s Post-Election Talk With Her 5-Year Old

The day after the Presidential election felt like a giant funeral in Brownsville, Texas—especially for people like Ninfa Alemán and her children.

By Debbie Nathan

Ninfa and Daisy

For the poor, Texas' justice system is a maze with no exit

This op-ed was originally published in the Houston Chronicle.

By Trisha Trigilio

Lady justice

30 Minutes: Fall Webinar Series

Over the next two months, we'll be hosting a series of webinars so we can spread the word about civil liberties issues that affect all Texans—LGBT rights, criminal justice reform, reproductive freedom, and immigrants' rights—and that will be hotly debated when the Texas legislature reconvenes early next year. Sign up below for any or all of them, and learn how you can help defend those freedoms you hold dear.

Capitol

Migrant Detention is Inhumane

Last month the Department of Justice (DOJ) came to its senses and announced it would phase out its use of private prisons, citing inadequate services, safety, and savings. One week later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it, too, would review its relationship with the private prison industry, and produce that review by November.

By Edgar Saldivar

Girls in family detention center

Donald Trump’s Immigration Plan Threatens the Republic

The government cannot round up 11 million undocumented immigrants without resorting to unconstitutional policing practices.

By Terri Burke

Trump border

Behind the Scenes of the Trans Rights Fight in Texas

With an attorney general determined to make transgender youth second-class citizens, the ACLU's Rebecca L. Robertson is rolling up her sleeves.

transgender flag

Patients deserve their doctor's best medical judgment, but Texas officials think they know better.

The doctor-patient relationship is the cornerstone of medical practice, and the foundation of that relationship is trust. Doctors have the privilege of helping people through some of the most important and challenging moments of their lives. We earn patients’ trust by giving them our best medical judgment based on science. That’s why I became a doctor.

By Leslie Johnson

RFIA 2016 Conference

6 Things You Should Do in Response to Recent Shootings

The first weeks of July 2016 have been exhausting, depressing, and senseless. On Tuesday, we watched #AltonSterling become another hashtag. But before we even had a chance to properly mourn him, on Wednesday footage of #PhilandoCastile’s killing had surfaced. Two graphic videos of Black men needlessly dying at the hands of police officers reignited a discussion about what it means to be Black in America.

By Dione Friends

Candle burning behind hashtagged names of victims of police shootings