At Texas State GOP Convention: MassResistance-Texas leads charge to successfully pass 12 strong pro-family items in party platform!

Includes items on homosexuality, counseling and therapy for LGBT issues, Planned Parenthood, gender identity, sex-ed, traditional marriage, and more.

July 2, 2018

Over 10,000 Texas Republicans came to the state convention in San Antonio.

We’ve all seen how state Republican parties across America are compromising -- or completely caving in -- on critical “culture war” issues. They don’t want to upset the powerful LGBT lobby, or antagonize their squishy donors – or have been infiltrated by RINOS.

But in Texas, thanks to MassResistance and other front-line groups, they’re standing firm! This year there are now at least twelve strong pro-family items in the 2018 Party platform!

Keeping the Texas GOP true

When the Texas State GOP Convention took place on June 14-16 in San Antonio, pro-family activists from across the state were prepared. Much of the effort was coordinated by David Pickup, an outstanding MassResistance-Texas activist and organizer, who is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. David did an incredible job of bringing together people and groups, and making it happen! The Texas Republican Party is still quite conservative, but this still required a lot of push and education.

The pro-family coalition was able to add, strengthen, (or keep from being removed) important items on: Homosexuality; Defunding Planned Parenthood and keeping them out of schools; Supporting counseling and therapy on LGBT problems; Opposing “gender identity” lunacy; Removing radical sex education and sexual indoctrination from schools; and defining marriage. (See the full list below.)

How they did it

Here’s how the MassResistance Texas activists described their effort on the MR-Texas website:

MassResistance-Texas joined with like-minded organizations and individuals to shape the platform at the Texas Republican Convention in San Antonio to protect Texans from the radical sexual agenda being pushed by LGBTQ activists.

Working together, we fielded a grass-roots force that was in every meeting room we needed to be in, going from one room to the other, listening intently for every plank we championed to come up for debate and voting. We constantly kept in touch via text messages and phone calls. We spoke on microphones at the meetings and on the floor of the convention of almost 10,000 Republicans.

In many committee cases, our team members were major voices in pushing the right planks through. In our opinion, many of the official committee members simply didn’t know much about any of our favored planks, and they desperately needed solid information and passion in order to vote the way they should— and we gave it to them over and over!

We were so busy, we had no time to convene together, choosing instead to handle most events via one or two people in various committees. Now that’s dedication and expertise!

In the meantime, one thing we are realizing is the desperate need for EDUCATION about gender and sexuality issues in the Republican Party and in the state legislature. We need to create a framework of education that can better inform all Texans over the next two years to effectively halt the infiltration of the LGBT ideology into our schools, churches and legislature.

We are so grateful to all our members and fellow organizations who gave up their whole week to shape the future of Texas politics. And as always, we are grateful to God who is the real Mover and Shaker behind and through it all.

The 12 pro-family items now in the platform

Here are the 12 pro-family items, listed by item number, PASSED in the Texas State GOP Platform as a result of the efforts of this coalition:

14. Counseling and Therapy: No laws or executive orders shall be imposed to limit or restrict access to sexual orientation [change] counseling for self-motivated youth and adults. [State]

93. Obscenity Exemption: We urge repeal of the Texas Penal Code “Obscenity Exemption” that allows children access to harmful, explicit, or pornographic materials under the guise of education materials.

120. School Health Advisory Councils: Until the legislature removes sex education from the curriculum of public schools, the State of Texas should adopt changes to Texas Education Code 28.004 to require every member of the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) to be appointed by the Board of Trustees; require every school district to post SHAC meeting minutes, full and fair disclosure of the contents of the human sexuality instruction, and proposed changes to health education; close loopholes and prohibit contraception distribution and demonstration; and expand the grievance process to cover the entire section of Texas Education Code 28.004. [State, Local]

121. Sexual Education: We demand the State Legislature pass a law prohibiting the teaching of sex education, sexual health, or sexual choice, or identity in any public school in any grade whatsoever, or disseminating or permitting the dissemination by any party of any material regarding the same. All school districts, individual schools, or charter schools are prohibited from contracting with or making any payment to any third party for material concerning any of the above topics. Until this prohibition goes into effect, sexual education shall only utilize sexual risk avoidance programs and promote abstinence outside of marriage. [State, Local]
NOTE: The committee went beyond our recommendations and put in a recommendation to prohibit sex education. We were originally recommending “risk avoidance” programs until these programs are entirely abolished. 

240. Gender Identity: We oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity. We call upon our Legislature to enact laws prohibiting the use of hormones before the age of 18 in an attempt to change gender. We believe it should be illegal to remove healthy body parts in minors in an effort to try to transition to the opposite sex.
NOTE: We were not able to get them to insert puberty blockers. They did not understand or want to take the time to understand that part of the issue. Time ran out on the floor to add it on the floor. We have a lot of teaching ahead of us.

256. Homosexuality: We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin, and we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.

262. Planned Parenthood: We support completely eliminating public funding for Planned Parenthood and any other abortion providers and all their affiliates, and we oppose their digital or physical presence in our schools and other public institutions. We also support elimination of public funding for embryonic stem cell research, research on fetal tissue, or human cloning.
NOTE: This was also added on the floor -- as a legislative priority!

311. Child Rights: We call on the Texas Legislature to pass legislation to protect privacy in public schools and government buildings as allowed by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, by ensuring that multi-use facilities, including showers, changing rooms, and bathrooms, are designated for and used only by persons based on the person’s biological sex.

312. No Sexuality Indoctrination: We call on the State Legislature to pass legislation so that no public school or other educational institution may force, require, or pressure any child or student to profess, espouse, or adopt, or otherwise be indoctrinated without explicit parental consent, specific views on sex, sexuality, gender, or gender identity.

313. Gender Identity Pronouns: We oppose any attempt to criminalize and/or penalize anyone for the wrong use of pronouns.

316. Homosexual Behavior: We affirm God’s biblical design for marriage and sexual behavior between one biological man and one biological woman, which has proven to be the foundation for all great nations in Western civilization. We oppose homosexual marriage, regardless of state of origin. We urge the Texas Legislature to pass religious liberty protections for individuals, businesses, and government officials who believe marriage is between one man and one woman. We oppose the granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.

317. Definition of Marriage: We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal, and moral commitment only between one natural man and one natural woman.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to David Pickup and all the others who worked so hard on this!

We all need to make this happen in more places!