AUSTIN — The Texas flag flown over the state Capitol on Tuesday recognized the transgender men, women and children who live in the Lone Star State.

Amber Briggle, whose 10-year-old son, Max, is a transgender boy, said she won the flag in a silent auction at the League of Women Voters State Convention earlier this year. She requested the flag fly in honor of all transgender Texans either on Max's birthday or on Tuesday, the first day of the 2019 legislative session.

Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, honored her request to fly the flag. Briggle, who lives in Denton and serves as the co-chairwoman of the Human Rights Campaign's Parents for Transgender Equality National Council, said the flag-raising was meant to raise the visibility of trans people across Texas.

"Transgender people are valuable members of our communities, and loved by countless people around them. Flying this flag today in honor of them is just one way of recognizing this fact," Briggle told The Dallas Morning News late Tuesday. "Discrimination is not a Texas value, and voters recognize that. Flying the flag today was a powerful reminder of this. And an amazing way to begin this new legislative session."

Howard, in a text to The News, said it was common for Texans to ask state lawmakers to raise a flag in honor or recognition of special occasions, people and causes.

"My policy is to assist these requests so long as they are not discriminatory," Howard said. "I was honored to help Amber do so in recognition of the inclusion of trans Texans and the fact that our representative government truly represents all Texans."

1 / 6Amber Briggle hugs her 10-year-old transgender son Max.(Courtesy Photo / Amber Briggle) 2 / 6Max Briggle and Amber Briggle laugh during a family game in their Denton home on May 15, 2016. (Ranjani Groth / Denton Record-Chronicle) 3 / 6Max Briggle plays with mother, Amber Briggle, and sister, LuLu Briggle, in their Denton home on May 15, 2016.(Ranjani Groth / Denton Record-Chronicle) 4 / 6Amber Briggle walks to enter the courtroom with her transgender son Max Briggle, where a hearing for the federal lawsuit on transgender bathroom rules will be held at Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse in Fort Worth on Aug. 12, 2016. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News)(Nathan Hunsinger / Staff Photographer) 5 / 6Amber Briggle enters the courtroom with her children Lulu Briggle, 4, and her transgender son Max Briggle , then-8, where a hearing for the federal lawsuit on transgender bathroom rules will be held at Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse in Fort Worth on Aug. 12, 2016. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News)(Nathan Hunsinger / Staff Photographer) 6 / 6From left, Max Briggle, Adam Briggle, Amber Briggle and LuLu Briggle at their Denton home on Sunday, May 15, 2016. (Ranjani Groth / Denton Record-Chronicle)

Two years ago, Briggle's family and thousands of other advocates for transgender rights flocked to the Texas Capitol in Austin to advocate against the bathroom bill, which would have restricted what restrooms and changing rooms transgender people could use. That bill failed, thanks largely to opposition from Fortune 500 companies and other business interests.

This year, few expect the bathroom bill to be a priority once again. But LGBT activists say opposing this legislation, and anything else that may chip away at their rights, will remain a top priority. Briggle hopes her family can put the bathroom bill behind them.

"Let's hope it's a good sign for the rest of this year. I'm still tired from fighting in 2017," she said.

In 2016, Briggle's family had dinner with Attorney General Ken Paxton, who at the time was leading a lawsuit to rescind transgender-friendly school rules the Obama administration put into force. Later that year, the family got an invitation to visit the White House to attend a screening of Rogue One.

Max will be 11 years old next month. He plays the cello, ukulele and piano and has a black belt in taekwondo, said Briggle, who has big plans for the flag that flew over the Capitol on Tuesday.

"I get to keep it," Briggle said. "Gonna fly it in my front yard next to my pride flag when it gets here."