- Homosexuality
- ⚢✔ Legal
- Gay Marriage
- ⚭✔ Legal
- Censorship
- ✖ State-enforced
- Changing Gender
- ✖ Legal, but requires surgery
- Gender-Affirming Care
- ✖ Legal, but banned for minors
- Non-Binary Gender Recognition
- ✖ Not legally recognized
- Discrimination
- ✖ No protections
- Employment Discrimination
- ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Housing Discrimination
- ✖ No protections
- Adoption
- ✔ Legal
- Intersex Infant Surgery
- ✖ Not banned
- Military
- ✔ Legal
- Donating Blood
- ✔ Legal
- Conversion Therapy
- ✖ Not banned
- Age of Consent
- ✔ Equal
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Public Opinion
Recent surveys in Texas have revealed a mixed response towards LGBTQ+ rights and issues.
OPPOSE
SUPPORT
Texas Surveys
(Texas Tribune, 2014)
Perception of LGBTQ+ People
Survey results from 4 LGBTQ+ Equaldex users who lived in or visited Texas.
Overall
Perceived Safety**Survey results represent personal perceptions of safety and may not be indicative of current actual conditions.
Equal Treatment
Visibility & Representation
Culture
Services
History
Homosexual activity in Texas is legal.
Current status
Since Jun 26, 2003
Legal
same sex activities legal.
Same-sex marriage in Texas is legal.
Unrecognized
Despite the supreme court ruling, the constitutional ban of same sex marriage in Texas is still valid.
Censorship of LGBT issues in Texas is state-enforced.
Current status
Since Oct 28, 2021
State-enforced
Numerous schools and libraries in Texas have been instructed to terminate or remove books with topics that, "make students feel uneasy". The topics under fire include (but are not limited to) lgbtq characters, same-sex relationships and gender discussion. Teachers that ignore this law could be fired.
Right to change legal gender in Texas is legal, but requires surgery.
Current status
Legal, but requires surgery
Requirements for transgender people to change their legal gender on their birth certificate vary by county. In some locations sex reassignment surgery is required, while other locations only require that the individual has received “appropriate treatment” according to a physician.
Gender-affirming care in Texas is legal, but banned for minors.
Current status
Since Sep 1, 2023
Legal, but banned for minors
It is illegal to provide gender affirming care to minors in Texas, with the exception of intersex infants, classified in bill SB14 as "medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development".
Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Texas is not legally recognized.
Current status
Not legally recognized
Non-Binary gender is not recognized in the state of Texas.
LGBT discrimination in Texas is no protections.
Current status
Since Jan 1, 2018
No protections
No Full state discrimination protections. Certain cities may have laws of their own. Full housing pending statewide. full public accommodation pending state wide. As well as no laws in place to prevent bullying.
LGBT employment discrimination in Texas is sexual orientation and gender identity.
Current status
Since Jun 15, 2020
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Protected federally under a Supreme Court ruling.
Ambiguous
City protections in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, San Antonio. In one county. As well as sexual oreination hate crime law.
Until Dec 31, 2017
No protections
No protection from employment discrimination at the state level
LGBT housing discrimination in Texas is no protections.
Current status
No protections
This state does not provide any legal protections from discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identification.
However, the Human Rights Campaign states, "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires grantees and participants of HUD programs to comply with local and state non-discrimination laws that include sexual orientation and gender identity.
HUD also prohibits inquiries regarding the sexual orientation or gender identity of a prospective tenant or applicant for assisted
housing in every state (March 2012)."
However, the Human Rights Campaign states, "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires grantees and participants of HUD programs to comply with local and state non-discrimination laws that include sexual orientation and gender identity.
HUD also prohibits inquiries regarding the sexual orientation or gender identity of a prospective tenant or applicant for assisted
housing in every state (March 2012)."
Same-sex adoption in Texas is legal.
Current status
Since Jun 26, 2017
Legal
Single adoption, joint adoption by married couples and second parent adoption by married couples are all legal. In some cases, adoption has also been approved for unmarried LGBT couples.
However, Texas allows adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT people on the basis of religion.
However, Texas allows adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT people on the basis of religion.
Intersex infant surgery in Texas is not banned.
Current status
Not banned
No US state has enacted a ban on surgeries that attempt to change an intersex minors sex without their consent.
Blood donations by MSMs in Texas is legal.
Current status
Since May 11, 2023
Legal
The new FDA policy on blood donation eliminates deferrals and screening questions specific to men who have sex with men (MSM). Prospective donors will be asked the same set of questions regardless of their sex or sexual orientation.
Banned (less than 6-month deferral)
Blood donation centers follow the new FDA 3-month deferral guidance.
Banned (1-year deferral)
Blood donation centers followed the non-binding FDA one year deferral guidance.
Conversion therapy in Texas is not banned.
Current status
Not banned
Conversion Therapy is currently legal. No law currently bans it, despite organizations such as the American Psychological Association denouncing it.
Equal age of consent in Texas is equal.
Current status
Equal
Age of consent is 17 regardless of gender or orientation. However, Texas has a "Romeo and Juliet law" allowing younger people of similar ages to consent, but the wording of this law excludes same-sex partners, but this still technically doesn’t make aoc ‘unequal’.
US Equality Rank
#60
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