Raw Story reports on Dr. Steven Hotze’s testimony before a Texas House Committee comparing gays to rapists and murderers.  Hotze, a well know right winger who was once Chairman of the Harris County GOP, made his argument that Texas should ignore the U.S. Supreme Court if it should rule that same-sex marriage is protected under the U.S. Constitution.  Hotze apparently believes that Texas need not follow the supreme law of the land and should chart its own course in discriminating against gays.

Saying the state should only enforce laws that are “morally right,” Hotze explained how that determination is made, stating, “First you look in the Bible.”

“There are ways around the law. We have legalization — the Supreme Court, even though I believe it was completely wrong, said it is constitutional to kill a baby in the womb,” Hotze said. “I think it’s a horrible injustice and it’s unconstitutional. But, let me just say this, in Texas we said ‘We don’t believe that’s right. So we’re going to do everything we can to protect the unborn that we possibly can,’ and we’ve done that. And that’s the same thing.”

He added, “If they were to come out ruling that marriage between two individuals is legal, I would say let’s do to stop it just like we stopped abortion. Cut off funding for it, that’s all I’m saying.”

Told by Turner that he respects people no matter how they live their lives, Hotze claimed that sexual preferences  is a choice homosexuals make, just as murderers and rapists choose to commit “immoral acts.”

“If you make that a standard, that it’s a person’s chosen behavior, no matter what it is, it gives them minority status? You’ve got to be kidding. Where do you stop?’ Hotze said incredulously. “Look, if people are involved in activities that are immoral and wrong, you can love them, but you don’t respect what they do and you try and help them find a way out. Whether they’re alcoholics, whether they’re murderers or adulterers. Whether they’re perverts, pornographers or whatever. You want help them. Or homosexuals, you want to help them out.”

Turner again stated that people should be respected, no matter their differences, to which Hotze replied, “Then we can get rid of all the laws against people that do immoral acts, like murder and rape and embezzling. Cause you want to make them feel good, don’t you? You don’t want to make them feel bad about their actions because they might be born that way.”

Under current Texas law, possession of small amounts of marijuana can result in up to $2,000 in fines, up to 180 days of jail time, and a conviction of a Class B Misdemeanor on your record just for the first offense.  And the law is used to disproportionately punish minority offenders.  When was the last time you heard about an upper-middle class white kid going to jail for holding a joint?

But now, the Texas Legislature is awash with bills to change the current laws on marijuana possession.  They range from complete decriminalization to making possession of small quantities essentially equivalent to a traffic violation.  Progress Texas gives an outline of the essential features of each bill.

Rep. Joe Moody’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 507

• The most effective civil penalties bill filed
• Changes possession of less than one ounce of marijuana to a civil penalty – similar to jaywalking or not wearing a seat belt
• Anything over one ounce of marijuana remains a class B misdemeanor

Rep. Harold Dutton’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 414

• Would change any marijuana possession less than one ounce to a Class C Misdemeanor
• Makes possession a simple ticketable offense you could pay
• Punishments increase if ticketed multiple times in a year

Rep. Gene Wu’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 325

• Possession of less than .35 ounces of marijuana becomes a Class C Misdemeanor
• Makes possession a simple ticketable offense you could pay
• Punishments increase if ticketed multiple times in a year

Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 1115

• Rather than potentially being arrested when carrying up to four ounces of marijuana an officer will only give a citation; However, the person charged is still responsible for appearing in court at a later date.
• Does not reduce the penalty of marijuana possession (Class A or B misdemeanor), which can still result in jail time.

The Texas Senate is again trying to take down one of former Gov. Rick Perry’s signature accomplishments.  Yes, the Legislature is trying for the third or fourth time to undo a statute which provides in-state tuition to some undocumented students who were brought here as children.  Remarkably, Texas was the first in the nation to pass such a law, but that was in 2001 before the Tea Party all but took over the Texas GOP.

Sen. Donna Campbell (TP-New Braunfels) has introduced a bill that require Texas colleges to charge undocumented students only out-of-state tuition.  This would double the cost of a college degree for some of the poorest students.  Campbell and her supporters claim that Texas needs to focus on giving college privileges to American citizens only and that this is about fairness.  What this is about, however, is playing to the hard core anti-immigrant base of the Republican primary electorate who live in abject terror of the day when Latinos are in the majority in Texas.  So rather than help educate these kids who did not come to Texas of their own volition, the Tea Party will place every obstacle in the way of a better life for them.  Sadly, this is exactly what the base and leaders of the Texas GOP want. Campbell’s proposal is a major legislative goal for the Senate’s tea party-backed members. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made it a campaign promise in 2014 to repeal the law.  In a rare act of political courage, Perry has said recently he still supports the law.

Rep. Stuart Spitzer (TP- Kaufman) wants to cut $3 million from programs to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.  Spitzer instead wants Texas to spend that money on abstinence education – something even he admits has not been particularly effective. Texas has the third highest HIV infection rate in the U.S. and the fifth highest rate for teen pregnancy.  But these daunting statistics did not prevent the GOP-dominated House from overwhelmingly approving Spitzer’s budget amendment.  But that did not happen until Spitzer had made a fool of himself in verbal jousting with Democrats opposed to the measure.

Spitzer, a surgeon, proclaimed that his personal goal “is for everybody to be abstinent until they’re married.”  Spitzer then backed up his wishful thinking about controlling other people’s sex lives with an example from his own personal experience. Spitzer extolled the virtues of abstinence by telling his fellow Legislators that he practiced abstinence until marriage.

“What’s good for me is good for a lot of people,” argued Spitzer.

Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) then asked Spitzer if abstinence worked for him.

“It did. I’ve had sex with one woman in my life and that’s my wife,” Spitzer answered alsco claiming that he was a virgin at age 29 when he got married, and that his decision not to have premarital sex enabled him to become a surgeon and state representative.

Dutton wasn’t through Spitzer yet, “Is that the first woman you asked?” Dutton asked.

Spitzer kept digging the hole deeper, when claimed that sexual intercourse was the only way to contract STDs.

“If you think you can’t get an STD without having sex, maybe we need to educate you on how to get STDs,” said Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth).

Texas Tea Partisans can hardly wait to jump on the so-called religious freedom bandwagon, despite the backlash seen in Indiana and Arkansas.  Texas Rep. Matt Krause (TP – Fort Worth) has proposed a constitutional amendment that would require Texas to have a “compelling governmental interest” before it can “burden in any way” a person’s free exercise of religion.   The Huffington Post explains how Krause justifies his plan:

“Should a Jewish bakery have to bake a cake for the neo-Nazi convention coming into town? Nobody would say that. Nor would anybody say a gay florist couple has to give flowers to a Westboro Baptist protest at funerals.” 

If this passes, Red will no longer be required to provide services to any who disagree with him because his religious beliefs are such that any one who holds an opinion different than him is in the possession of the Devil.

Mimi Schwartz questions Ted Cruz’s Texan identity and bona fides.

Aside from those ubiquitously noted black ostrich-skin cowboy boots, Mr. Cruz is about as traditional a Texas politician as Ralph Nader. Yes, Mr. Cruz gets credit for his colorful language, though his is more in the style of a Southern Baptist preacher than an acerbic West Texas wildcatter. And yes, he self-identifies as an outsider and an individualist.

Mr. Cruz did not grow up in the same state as L.B.J. or even Rick Perry, who stepped down in January after 14 years as governor. Their Texas was predominantly rural — poor, isolated, unique. The landscape and climate shaped not only their language and culture, but also their politics: L.B.J. saw Hill Country deprivation and wanted to alleviate it; Mr. Perry’s D.I.Y. worldview and his passion for economic prosperity (his own, especially) can be traced to his escape from Paint Creek. The anti-intellectualism of Midland shaped George W. Bush far more than his family compound in Kennebunkport, Me., did.

Mr. Cruz was born in 1970 in Calgary, Alberta, to an Irish- and Italian-American mom and a Cuban-exile dad. By the time the family got to Houston, Texas was nearing the end of its transition to an urban state. The population boom that attended the oil boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s turned a conservative Democratic Texas into an even more conservative Republican stronghold.

Mr. Cruz was raised in the churchy suburb of Katy, and attended the private Second Baptist in Houston for high school, a training ground for ambitious, religious and determinedly prosperous community leaders. He wasn’t deprived or isolated; he had TV and afterschool activities. He became a passionate follower of Milton Friedman, which isn’t exactly common in Texas high schools (compared with, say, football). A great many Texans were starting to shove their progeny toward the Ivy League by the ’80s, so no shame was affixed to Mr. Cruz’s schooling at Princeton and Harvard Law School.

If you want to spot a faux Texan, just look down.  Very likely they will be wearing some fancy cowboy boots that haven’t ever touched anything but carpet and pavement.