T For Texas, T For Tennessee
Old news: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said he will sign a bill, likely unconstitutional, to ban drag performances in Tennessee despite photos having surfaced of him performing in drag when he was younger (1977). So far, like George Santos before he admitted he had been a drag performer, Lee is calling questions about his time as a cross-dresser, “ridiculous, dishonest and disrespectful.”
Newer news: Obsessively homophobic Tex Rep Nate Schatzline, a former anti-Jesus pastor, wrote a bill to ban drag performances— only to see a video of himself performing in drag go viral on social media. NBC News reported “A video that surfaced on Twitter and TikTok this week appears to show Texas state Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Republican, skipping, running and dancing in a park while donning a black sequined dress and a red eye mask. At the end of the roughly 90-second video— which plays over the song “Sexy Lady” by Javi Mula— the four participants are named, including Schatzline, whose character is called “The Virgin.” ‘Nate Schatzline has made his entire personality attacking the LGBTQ community, trans especially children, and vowed to ban drag shows in Texas,’ the Twitter user, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote. ‘Here is Nate… in drag.’”
There is something seriously wrong with states starting with the letter “T”— pretty much always has been. Just yesterday, one of Texas’ worst racist congressmen, extremist Chip Roy, was on the floor screaming about how some of his Republican colleagues aren’t anti-immigrant enough. “Will Republicans honor their campaign commitments to secure the border– yes or no? What I am seeing right now from my Republican colleagues does not give me faith that they will stand up in the breach as did those men who stood on the wall at the Alamo. I am tired of words! Things are going to change in this body. If my Republican colleagues believe that they’re going to be moving through relatively meaningless provisions, doing precious damn little for the very people who sent us here to change things and they think that some of us are just going to go along for the ride, they are sorely mistaken. We will not.”
And that brings us to Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX)— who Roy was referring to in his racist speech— first elected in a South Texas swing district in 2020. At the time, the district had an R+5 partisan lean. After redistricting the partisan lean went to R+13. In 2016, under the old lines, Hillary beat Trump 50% to 46% and in 2020, Trump beat Biden 50.3% to 48.9%. Under the new lines, Trump’s 2020 victory would have been 52.9% to 45.8%. Last year, Gonzales was reelected against a nondescript Democrat 55.9% to 38.8%.
Today, some people say he could be the first Republican congressman to flip to the Democrats. Several of his policies are at variance with MAGA orthodoxy. He’s a hawk on Ukraine and doesn’t think Biden is helping Ukraine enough. Last July, he was one of 46 Republicans who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which requires each state to recognize any marriage performed in another state, and codifies same sex marriage into federal law. And this morning, Jim Wagner reported he’s “facing a censure vote this weekend from the Texas Republican Party for actions including voting in favor of a bipartisan gun-control package during the last Congress after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which is in his district. The state party’s expected censure would follow a similar move by a county party in Texas, which also cited Gonzales’s support for same-sex marriage legislation in the last Congress and votes against a House rules package and border legislation in this Congress. The censure resolution by the Medina County Republicans concluded that Gonzales has been ‘a poor representative’ of his constituents.” Behind the scenes, Roy has encouraged the moves against Gonzales.
The San Antonio Report, which first wrote about the statewide censure effort, said the State Republican Executive Committee is expected to vote Saturday. To pass, the effort would need the support of three-fifths of the 64 committee members.
If successful, the state GOP’s move could encourage other Republicans to run against Gonzales in a primary next year or deny him party funding.
…The congressman, who was elected in 2020, is an opponent of a bill introduced by Rep. Chip Roy that would require that asylum seekers be detained while their cases are processed. Of all lawmakers, Gonzales represents the largest stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gonzales’s objection and the opposition of several other Republicans have thwarted efforts by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to bring an immigration bill to the House floor despite repeated promises during the 2022 campaign.
The gun-control legislation that Gonzales supported expands criminal background checks for some gun buyers, bars a larger group of domestic-violence offenders from purchasing firearms and funds programs that would allow authorities to seize guns from troubled individuals. It also provides additional funding for mental health services and school security initiatives.
A bipartisan group of senators, including John Cornyn (R-TX), negotiated the gun-control package. Gonzales was one of 14 House Republicans to support the bill.