Texas drag shows become a right-wing target amid rising extremism
LGBTQ Texans say lawmakers and right-wing figures are misrepresenting what happens at all-ages performances to propagate hate and violence against queer people. Full Story
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![Counter-protesters form a barricade outside of a transgender storytelling event as Sara Gonzales of Defend our Kids Texas chants “there are only two genders,” in Denton, on Nov. 19. 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
On the margins of downtown San Antonio, a maligned neighborhood mobilizes to save itself
Born of segregation and redlining, the near West Side has long been mostly Latino, mostly low-income. Redevelopment pressures are closing in, and neighbors are working to keep it affordable for some of the city’s poorest residents. Full Story
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![Attendees watch as the Dia De Los Muertos procession continues down the Alazan-Apache neighborhood in San Antonio, TX on Nov. 1.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Houston’s at-large City Council districts deprive Latinos of fair representation, lawsuit alleges
The League of United Latin American Citizens sued the city Monday, asking a federal court to halt its practice of electing five of its 16 council members through at-large elections. Full Story
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![Houston City Hall on October 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Hundreds of Texas Methodist churches vote to split from denomination after years of infighting over gay marriage and abortion
Those leaving are frustrated that the church has taken positions they feel are too liberal. Full Story
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![Lakeridge Methodist Church in Lubbock on Dec. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Jewish Texans see surge in antisemitism as a precursor to fascism
Extremism experts and historians sound alarms as politicians, media personalities and celebrities amplify antisemitic conspiracies that have historically led to the killing of Jews. Full Story
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![Outside of the sanctuary at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin on Nov. 1, 2021. Late the night before, an unknown individual set a fire at the front doors of the synagogue. Franklin Barrett Sechriest, then a student at Texas State University in San Marcos, was charged with the crime.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: The future of rural Texas
In this week’s episode, Texas Tribune regional editor Nic Garcia guest-hosts from Texas Tech University for a discussion about the issues facing the rural residents of the state. Full Story
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![The Needmore Gin in Terry Co. sits idle before the 2022 cotton harvest on Aug. 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott embraces “invasion” language about border, evoking memories of El Paso massacre
In the days since Abbott was reelected for a third term, he has embraced the word like never before, using it in a letter to President Joe Biden, echoing the intensifying language many Republicans have adopted in recent years. Full Story
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![From left: Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan gave updates on their plan for Texas to build its own border wall at a press conference at the Texas Capitol on June 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of October 1. It includes detailed data for the 112 agencies in state government and positions at each of those agencies. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers target property taxes, election fraud and transgender people in new legislation ahead of 2023 session
Thousands of bills are expected to be filed for the legislative session that begins in January. Lawmakers are expected to have a budget surplus when they return to Austin. Full Story
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Republicans rebounded in some suburban counties that had been drifting blue
After seeing Democrats gain momentum in suburbs of Houston and Dallas, Republicans succeeded in reclaiming ground this election. But the GOP is still a long way from returning to pre-Trump support, even in ruby red counties. Full Story
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![Voters line up outside of the Hays County Independent School District Arnold Transportation Building voting center to cast their vote in the Texas General Elections on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Kyle.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
For the first time, Texas voters send Muslims and openly gay Black men to Legislature
Voters elected Christian Manuel Hayes to House District 22 in Beaumont, Venton Jones to HD-100 in Dallas, Salman Bhojani to HD-92 in Tarrant County and Suleman Lalani to HD-76 in Fort Bend County. Full Story
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![An empty House chamber, prior the start of the special session on Thursday, July 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune -
Rural Texas is the state’s foundation. And it’s in jeopardy.
Downtowns are deserted, hospitals are closing, teachers are leaving. Every part of life in rural Texas is harder — but it’s worth saving. Full Story
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![Vehicles pass through Dublin in Central Texas on March 25, 2021.]()
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LGBTQ Texans voting with marriage, worker protections and trans rights in mind
The Texas Tribune spoke with LGBTQ voters, the parents of queer youth and advocates from across the state about what’s at stake for them this November. Full Story
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![Thomas Smith, right, and his partner Kevin McCardle outside of the Polk County Courthouse building in Livingston on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. Smith has voted for mostly Republican candidates his entire life but will now be voting for Democrats this election as issues like women’s rights and same sex marriage are being scrutinized.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
An evangelical GOP congressional candidate in Texas wrote a novel about Anne Frank finding Jesus
Johnny Teague, an evangelical pastor and business owner who won his primary in March, authored “The Lost Diary of Anne Frank,” a novel in which Frank seems to embrace Christianity just before she is murdered by the Nazis. Full Story
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![Johnny Teague, a pastor in west Houston is the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in Texas’ 7th district.]()
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Republican Mayra Flores rejected from all-Democratic Hispanic caucus
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus bylaws explicitly block Republicans from joining due to major policy differences between members in the past. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, meets with supporters after the Pro Life America's Hopeful Future conference in McAllen on July 9, 2022. Flores, recently sworn into office, faces an uphill battle in November as she competes against Vicente Gonzalez for the Texas CD-34 seat.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Inside a bus, East Texans get the health care they can’t afford or find anywhere else
Access to health care is limited in rural Texas. The mobile clinic operated by Beaumont-based TAN Healthcare aims to close that gap. Full Story
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![Shelly Huffman meets with a nurse practitioner as patients receive healthcare at a mobile health clinic in Kirbyville, Texas, U.S., on Monday, October 17, 2022.]()
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T-Squared: New journalism fellowship for HBCU students
Fellowships will be available in spring, summer and fall for Texas graduate and undergraduate students at historically Black colleges and universities. Full Story
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For Republicans, winning Hispanic voters will be a bigger fight than South Texas
Nearly half of Hispanic Texans live in the state’s five largest counties, a voting bloc Democrats cannot afford to lose as they struggle to compete in the state’s vast rural areas. Full Story
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![Straight Edge barbershop owner Virginia Murillo discusses how she has shifted her political views to those that align more with the GOP. Although Murillo comes from a Democratic supporting family, including immigrant parents, she has gradually moved towards a more Conservative point of view, citing religion and children moral welfare. She remains ambivalent on some issues and finds herself straddling views that have long been part of the Democratic Party’s platform too. Oct. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Jaime R. Carrero for The Texas Tribune -
Asian Americans are one of Texas’ fastest-growing demographics. But they feel ignored by politicians.
Asian American and Pacific Islander voters said that candidates don’t often reach out — and that their elected officials don’t adequately represent their interests. Full Story
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![Alex Pham, an Asian American student at UT, registers to vote, as University Democrats vice president Emma Reed, right, and volunteer deputy registrar Alex Meed, left, help. Scenes from a drive to register voters held by University Democrats on the University of Texas campus in the final hours of voter registration for midterm elections on Tuesday, Oct 11, 2022 in Austin. Asian communities are growing rapidly in Texas but they are still feeling left out of the political process . (May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
At Houston youth summit, young conservatives weary of GOP infighting
The event came as a younger, more diverse generation of Americans increasingly flocks to the left of the Democratic Party. Full Story
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![Young participants gather for the 3rd Annual Crenshaw Youth Summit on Sunday, October 9, 2022 in Houston, Texas.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune
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