Tea Partier Don Huffines Among Co-Authors Of Dan Patrick’s Bathroom Bill

A Republican Texas state senator on Friday linked same-sex marriage to worldwide poverty, and suggested that transgender rights pose a threat to the survival of the human race.Â

Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas, a tea partier who is rabidly anti-LGBT, made the comments during a panel discussion on legislative issues hosted by The Texas Tribune. He referenced same-sex marriage in response to a question from an audience member about the impact of poverty on public education.Â

“The No. 1 cause of poverty, not only int he United States, but worldwide â€” most people donâ€™t know this â€” [is] divorce,” Huffines said. “The traditional family between a man and a woman is what is the ministry to our health, our education and our welfare. Thatâ€™s just a statistical fact. Even the state of Texas will give you that. So if we really want to focus on poverty, letâ€™s focus on keeping the families united and together. Itâ€™s a fact.”Â

Huffines also expressed strong support forÂ Senate Bill 6, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s anti-transgender bathroom bill. One audience member who’s a student at a Dallas university told Huffines, a co-author of SB 6, that the school has gender-neutral restrooms.Â

“There has never been an incident ever of anyone violating anyone in a restroom,” the student said. “I would invite you to come to a university, take a look at what itâ€™s actually like, and maybe get the party of small government out of the restroom.”

Huffines responded by saying he’s “met with the transgender community on various occasions.”

“They do not want trangneder bathrooms, because thatâ€™s discriminatory,” Huffines said. “Let me just tell you real quick on that topic. They want to make sure we are gender-neutral. There is no gender. They donâ€™t want there to be male and female. They want it to be gender-neutral. Itâ€™s however you perceive your gender. Think of the implications of that on our society, the human race, who we are as a species. Just in the business community, how would you ever sell insurance? Everythingâ€™s about who we are, right, as a male or female. That is their goal.”Â

Huffines, a political newcomer, was elected in 2014 after he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Sen. John Carona. Carona was among the first Republican lawmakers in Texas to publicly back LGBT rights.Â

In 2015, Huffines authored an unsuccessful bill that would have nullified LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances in cites across the state. And, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of nationwide marriage equality, he sent out a fundraising email featuring a rainbow-colored map of the U.S.Â

â€œIf the federal government thinks that Texas is going to go down without a fight, theyâ€™ve got another thing coming,â€ Huffines wrote in the email. â€œWe will continue to fight for our statesâ€™ rights, but I cannot do this without your support.â€

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