Houston News

KERA | By Bill Zeeble Published June 3, 2025 at 11:29 AM CDT A bill banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work in Texas’ K-12 schools is on its way to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 12 bans DEI policies in hiring and training, bans student groups centered around gender identity and sexual orientation, and prohibits school employees from…

The bill, which is poised to become law, creates up to a $250,000 fine for medical professionals who change a patients’ listed sex outside of certain exemptions. By Ayden Runnels May 22, 20257 PM Central The Texas House on Thursday approved a bill requiring health agencies to create a new field in medical records for the…

Lawmakers added $100 million to a child care scholarship program but failed to expand access to free preschool for children with disabilities. By Jess Huff June 23, 20255 AM Central LUFKIN — Texas lawmakers this year added $100 million to a scholarship fund to help families across the state pay for early child care, an extraordinary investment that…

If it becomes law, the bill would define sex based on reproductive organs and require state documents and policies to comply with that framework. By Eleanor Klibanoff May 10, 2025 Dozens of trans people and their allies gathered in the outdoor Capitol rotunda Friday, chanting at the top of their lungs. They will not erase us.…

By Blaise Gainey Published May 13, 2025 at 5:38 AM CDT The Texas House passed a measure on Monday that opponents say could raise the price of gender-affirming health care for adults in Texas — or simply stop insurance providers from covering the care altogether. Since the bill was previously approved by the Texas Senate, it now…

Students are concerned the legislation could silence supportive teachers, dismantle safe spaces, lead to overenforcement and prevent honest conversations about identity. By Sofia Sorochinskaia April 29, 2025 5 AM Central When Marshall Romero came out as a trans male in 2021, he didn’t think his identity would become a political issue. But in the years since,…

Shafaq Patel Apr 1, 2025 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an appeal Tuesday to reinstate Texas A&M’s drag show ban, aiming to reverse a federal judge’s temporary block. Catch up quick: A federal judge ruled on March 24 that Texas A&M’s ban on drag performances violated the First Amendment. State of play: Paxton’s appeal seeks to revive the ban, arguing that drag…

By  ELEANOR KLIBANOFF/The Texas Tribune Updated 2:29 PM CST, December 3, 2024 Twenty five years ago, the Texas Legislature passed a sweeping set of reforms to resuscitate the state’s collapsing rural health care system. Now, health care providers, advocates and local leaders are proposing similarly aggressive action to pull the rural maternity care system back from…

By Kate McGee Published December 12, 2024 at 1:02 PM CST University professors across the political spectrum in Texas are preemptively self-censoring themselves for fear of damaging their reputations or losing their jobs, according to a new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a First Amendment advocacy group. More than 6,200 professors from across…

Emboldened by the recent election, some Texas lawmakers are already filing bills that would dictate bathroom use, limit gender identity markers on documents and restrict funding for surgeries. By Eleanor Klibanoff Dec. 4, 2024 5AM Central Eight years ago, when conservative state lawmakers tried to restrict what bathrooms trans people could use, moderate Republicans quietly killed the…