Texas
LGBTQ Texans decry Capitol arrests after protests against bill banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for kids
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Adri Pérez joined a whole lot of individuals on the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to protest Senate Invoice 14, which might ban transgender children from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy, solely to go away in handcuffs.
Within the days since state police arrested two individuals and banned one other from the Capitol, trans Texans and their allies have lambasted Home Speaker Dade Phelan’s order to clear the general public from the chamber gallery and state police’s use of drive.
Whereas Phelan and different Republicans preserve that his order was a correct response to SB 14 protesters chanting and unfurling banners whereas lawmakers met, LGBTQ advocates say the speaker and legislation enforcement overreacted — and are squelching Texans’ rights to witness the general public legislative course of.
“Loving households, group members, and advocates had been there peacefully protesting an extremist ban on transgender healthcare that places the lives of our youth in danger,” Texas Freedom Community Government Director Val Benavidez mentioned in a press release. “None of them deserved criminalization or brutality.”
Whereas Pérez was initially accused of breaking three legal guidelines, prosecutors and a choose rapidly rejected state police’s makes an attempt to criminally cost them. In the meantime, three days after what instantly grew to become this legislative session’s most dramatic confrontations, the Home is once more set to debate SB 14. The Home by no means voted on the invoice resulting from a profitable procedural problem from Democrats that delayed the vote briefly. The rescheduled vote Friday might entice extra protests, regardless of — or possibly due to — the drive with which state police responded earlier this week.
SB 14 is amongst a number of payments lawmakers are pushing that would dramatically alter how LGBTQ Texans — and notably trans kids — reside their lives. It might ban the sorts of transition-related care for youths that medical teams and trans individuals say reduces dangers of melancholy and suicide in a stigmatized inhabitants.
The invoice is a precedence for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Republican Occasion of Texas, whose platform opposes any efforts to acknowledge transgender identities. It and the opposite payments concentrating on LGBTQ individuals come throughout a session through which some conservative lawmakers, emboldened by the rising acceptance of Christian nationalism on the best, are pursuing payments they consider can create a nationwide mannequin for infusing Christianity into the general public sphere.
Phelan’s order to clear the Home gallery this week and Texas Division of Public Security officers’ actions towards demonstrators come at a time when protests and arrests are breaking out in state capitols across the nation as state legislatures debate controversial laws concerning transgender rights and entry to weapons.
Final month in Montana, riot police cleared the Home gallery and arrested seven individuals who had been verbally protesting the therapy of Zooey Zephyr, a transgender lawmaker and Democrat who was punished for the best way she spoke out towards a invoice that sought to ban transition take care of transgender minors. And in Tennessee, two Democratic lawmakers had been expelled from the state Legislature for taking part in a protest calling for extra gun management on the Home ground. Each had been reinstated quickly after.
On the Texas Capitol, Pérez and Evan Wienck, one other protester, had been each charged after Home officers cleared the gallery in response to SB 14 protesters chanting “One, two, three, 4, trans of us deserve extra” and unrolling banners in help of trans children.
Exterior the gallery, the protests continued. Pérez, an organizing director with the Texas Freedom Community, was restrained and handcuffed by a number of troopers and later charged with two misdemeanor counts of disrupting a public assembly and resisting arrest, in addition to a second-degree felony cost for assault on a peace officer.
The county lawyer’s workplace later rejected the misdemeanors, and a municipal court docket choose ordered the felony cost be disposed, in keeping with Kristen Darkish, a senior public data officer on the Travis County Sheriff’s Workplace. Pérez was launched from custody late Tuesday evening.
“On this second essentially the most upsetting factor is that within the video being widely circulated, it clearly reveals me doing completely nothing unsuitable,” Pérez said in a tweet. “But, I used to be nonetheless thrown to the bottom, pinned by 4 males, mistreated, and detained… all to be let go 8 hours later. Free and nonetheless harmed.”
Wienck was charged with assault by contact and was launched on-site, in keeping with DPS. It’s not clear if the cost has been dropped. The Travis County lawyer’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Pérez and Wienck couldn’t be reached for remark for this story.
Additionally on Tuesday, DPS banned one other individual, Sofia Sepulveda, a Transgender Training Community of Texas board member and employees member of Equality Texas, from the Capitol for a 12 months after she unrolled an enormous banner that learn, “Let trans children develop up” from the second ground of the constructing’s rotunda. DPS additionally gave her a legal trespass warning.
On Thursday, LGBTQ advocacy teams hosted a press convention to talk out towards the best way individuals on the Capitol had been handled by DPS troopers earlier within the week on Tuesday.
“One of many greatest moments for a youngster taking that first step of their democratic participation, which we hope turns into a lifetime behavior, is a go to to the Capitol,” mentioned Stephanie Gómez, political director of MOVE Texas, a nonprofit advocacy group for youth. “What number of of these younger individuals [who] had been right here earlier this week realized that after they come to talk and take part of their democracy, which is their proper, that they are going to be met with state violence?”
In a press release, DPS officers mentioned the troopers had been assigned to the Capitol to supply legislation enforcement and safety providers and that no tasers or pepper spray had been deployed by their personnel at any time through the clearing.
Phelan didn’t reply to a request for touch upon how potential protests could be dealt with Friday within the chamber, however he defended his resolution to clear the gallery Tuesday, saying on Twitter that the “outbursts within the gallery had been a breach of decorum & continued after I warned that such behaviors wouldn’t be tolerated.”
Six Travis County lawmakers — all Democrats — tweeted a statement this week asking constituents who don’t really feel protected on the Capitol to contact their places of work to allow them to discover methods “to alleviate your issues.”
“We’re conscious of the intense complaints and allegations concerning the therapy of our constituents yesterday by DPS within the Capitol,” they mentioned. “We’re gathering information in pursuit of securing and sustaining our Capitol as a protected and welcoming public house.”
Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Veronica Escobar every tweeted statements supporting Pérez.
“Adri is a part of an extended custom of brave activists who lead with love, problem the highly effective, and form this nation for the higher, whatever the price,” Casar wrote.
Escobar mentioned Pérez’s arrest was jarring and unsettling — a sentiment echoed by many LGBTQ advocates attempting to fend off SB 14, which they see as one of the crucial harmful payments this session.
“The final three days I’ve been sitting with the query of how accountable is it of me as a frontrunner to inform trans individuals to come back into this constructing to combat, whereas the lives of our households and our youth are being ripped aside in the identical constructing,” Emmett Schilling, govt director of Transgender Training Community of Texas, mentioned at a Thursday press convention.
Eleanor Klibanoff contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Equality Texas, MOVE Texas and Texas Freedom Community have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.
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Texas
Texas vs South Dakota State: Longhorns head into holiday break with a 46-point win
Texas women’s basketball nonconference schedule
Texas women’s basketball nonconference schedule
After a 103-57 win over South Dakota State on Sunday, the Texas Longhorns will head into their holiday break on a high note.
Sunday’s lopsided win at Moody Center came five days after Texas beat La Salle by a 111-49 score. Texas hadn’t scored 100 points in consecutive games since it did so against McNeese State and UTSA in November 2017.
Texas never trailed on Sunday, and freshmen Jordan Lee and Justice Carlton served as first-half catalysts for the No. 6 team in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll. Lee started and scored 10 first-quarter points while Carlton came off the bench to score 17 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting. Combined, Lee and Carlton had 29 points in the first half. South Dakota State’s entire team had 26.
While Texas built its 53-26 lead in the first half, eight of the nine Longhorns who played scored. The surprising exception was All-American Madison Booker, who distributed three assists and grabbed three rebounds but missed her three shots.
A perennial NCAA tournament qualifier that had split its prior games against ranked Creighton and Duke teams, South Dakota State (10-3) never cut into its 27-point halftime deficit in the second half.
Here are three observations from Sunday’s 46-point rout:
Mwenentanda remains patient with her process
Carlton finished with 19 points and nine rebounds while senior forward Taylor Jones had 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Lee and senior guard Rori Harmon respectively added 14 and 13 points for a Texas team that shot 53.9% from the field. Booker was limited to nine points, but Harmon pointed out after the game that Booker’s +/- of 41 was the best among the Longhorns.
Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda was the fifth Longhorn to record a double-digit scoring total. Over 11 minutes, Mwenentanda scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Mwenentanda grew up in South Dakota and was that state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022. The school in Sioux Falls where she won a state championship is about an hour drive from South Dakota State’s campus. Mwenentanda was recruited by the Jackrabbits but she said that she was attracted to what Texas could offer her athletically and academically.
Since arriving on campus, Mwenentanda has shown glimpses of her potential since arriving at Texas, but she has mainly been a role player for the Longhorns. Sunday was the 11th time that she scored at least 10 points in a game. Just twice in her career has she played more than 25 minutes.
Mwenentanda sees herself as a Swiss Army Knife on the Texas roster. She’s listed as a 6-foot-2 guard on the team’s roster, but Vic Schaefer has mainly used her as a “4” player this season. Mwenentanda played some in the paint last season, but she got more playing time as a guard. Training more with the post players this offseason has helped her adjust to that role this season.
“I physically prepared for it, I mentally prepared for it. I’m enjoying it,” Mwenentanda said.
Schaefer praised the play of Mwenentanda in his postgame press conference on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Mwenentanda said that she was staying patient with her process.
“Everybody’s process is different. I feel like comparing myself to other people’s process would be one reason to give up,” Mwenentanda said. “Everybody on this team are great players, are great women so even though this process is a little bit different for me, it’s not something I look at negatively because I know everybody’s working hard and everybody’s pitching in.”
Status for sidelined Laila Phelia remains unclear
Texas senior Laila Phelia missed her third straight game on Sunday. Phelia suffered a detached retina during the offseason. Texas has not announced a timeline for her return, but Schaefer has said the program will soon release an update.
The leading scorer at Michigan last season, Phelia has played in just eight of the Longhorns’ 13 games. She is averaging 6.1 points and 19.4 minutes per game while shooting 40.5% from the field.
What’s next for Texas? Rest and one final tune-up
Next on the schedule for Texas is a home game against UTRGV (6-6) on Dec. 29. That will be the Longhorns’ final game until their Southeastern Conference debut at Oklahoma on Jan. 2, 2025.
But first, the Longhorns will get some rest. Mwenentanda won’t be able to fly back to South Dakota until Monday morning, but the rest of the Longhorns headed home after Sunday’s win. The Longhorns will return to practice on Dec. 27.
How will the Longhorns spend their break? The three players who attended Sunday’s postgame press conference – Carlton, Harmon and Mwenentanda – said they’d take some time off, but they added that they’ll get some workouts in with family and hometown trainers.
As for Schaefer? He’ll do some work over the break, but he won’t be in his office.
“I’m going to be standing in about knee-deep water in the morning calling a duck and having my son (Logan) with me and my dog, my hunting dog, not my show dog. We’ll enjoy some time together in the morning and then we’ll wet a line and fish in the afternoon,” Schaefer said. “I’ll probably sit in my bow stand a couple of nights with my computer in my lap and watch film. I don’t really care if I see anything or not, but I usually see a lot. I get more work done sitting in a bow stand in a bow blind than I do a lot of times sitting at my desk.
“I’ll just enjoy time with family. I’m really blessed with Holly and Logan and Blair here and we’re all together at Christmas, and it’s just a special time for us. We really embrace the Christmas season.”
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Texas
Former Colorado defensive end Dayon Hayes transfers to Texas A&M
Former Colorado Buffaloes defensive end Dayon Hayes is set to continue his collegiate career at Texas A&M after transferring following a season-ending injury. Hayes, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defender, began his journey at Pitt, where he played from 2020 to 2023, accumulating 13 sacks and 80 tackles over four seasons.
At Pitt, Hayes showcased his potential in his sophomore and junior years, logging around 500 combined snaps and producing 30 pressures. His breakout came in 2023 when he amassed 44 pressures and a 13% pass rush win rate, ranking 12th in the ACC. Hayes also demonstrated solid run defense, posting an average tackle depth of 1.6 yards and recording 10.5 stops for loss. His ability to set the edge and prevent runners from escaping outside made him a critical piece of Pitt’s defense.
Following his success at Pitt, Hayes transferred to Colorado as a highly sought-after addition to Deion Sanders’ revamped Buffaloes roster. He made an immediate impact, registering two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in Colorado’s first three games. However, his promising start was cut short by a knee injury in the fourth game, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Deion Sanders says he won’t attend the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay
Despite the setback, Hayes’ strong early performance likely earned him a medical redshirt, granting him another year of eligibility. With his final collegiate season on the horizon, Hayes opted to join Texas A&M, bringing his pass-rushing skills to the SEC. The Aggies, coming off an eight-win season, are set to face USC in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hayes’ ability to pressure quarterbacks and defend the run should bolster Texas A&M’s defensive front, adding experience and depth to their edge rotation for the 2024 season.
Texas
D-FW can claim Texas’ best high school football team in an otherwise down year for Dallas
ARLINGTON — North Crowley showed out on Saturday in its dazzling 50-21 victory over Austin Westlake in the 6A Division I state title game, winning the program’s second state championship and putting Fort Worth high school football on the map in front of 36,120 fans at AT&T Stadium.
Until North Crowley took the field at 7:30 p.m., there was a possibility the Dallas-Fort Worth area might boast only one state champion in 2024. Celina routed Kilgore 55-21 in the 4A Division I state championship to capture the program’s ninth state title and its first under coach Bill Elliott.
But North Texas teams came up short in the next three title games, the region’s worst showing at state since 2021, when South Oak Cliff became the first Dallas ISD school to win a recognized state championship since 1958, but Denton Guyer and Duncanville fell in the 6A state championship games.
Two-time state champion South Oak Cliff missed a last-second field goal, falling 38-35 to third-year program Richmond Randle in the 5A Division II state title game Friday night. It was SOC’s second straight loss in the state championship game.
“The future is still bright,” South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd said. “We just gotta find out what’s going to get us over this hump.”
Smithson Valley, from the San Antonio area, topped Highland Park 32-20 as the six-time state champion faded in the second half of the 5A Division I state title game Saturday afternoon.
In the second game of the day, eight-time state champion Southlake Carroll extended its title drought to 13 years with a 24-17 loss to Austin Vandegrift in the 6A Division II game.
“It’ll happen one day. I’m excited about what the future holds,” said Carroll coach Riley Dodge, who fell to 0-2 in state title games as a coach.
The Dallas area claimed three football state champions in 2023 with Anna winning the 4A Division I state title and Duncanville and DeSoto sweeping the 6A Division I and II state championships, respectively. The southern Dallas County schools also swept the 6A state championships in 2022, when South Oak Cliff won its second straight 5A Division II state title.
But this year, the rest of Texas didn’t let the Dallas area, a high school football mecca, run the table. Teams from each of the state’s major metros — Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio —- won a title in each division of the UIL’s two highest classifications.
Even before this week’s state championship games, 2024 seemed to mark a changing of the guard. Neither Duncanville, DeSoto nor Houston-area power Galena Park North Shore made it to AT&T Stadium this year. Nor did 12-time UIL state champion Aledo, the juggernaut west of Fort Worth that had won the last two 5A Division I state championships.
But North Crowley did, after knocking off both DeSoto and Duncanville this season. North Texas might not have dominated the competition as it has in recent years, but for a third straight season, the king of 6A reigns in Dallas-Fort Worth.
“When you get to this point, there’s only one team that’s standing that’s hoisting the trophy. And fortunately for us, this year it’s us and we just happen to be from 817,” North Crowley coach Ray Gates said. “We’re elated to be able to bring that type of recognition back to our community, just to let people know that when you talk about this area, when you talk about Metroplex football, you can’t forget about us.”
On Twitter/X: @t_myah
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