County Attorney Menefee gave the following statement in recognition of Pride Month:

“Today marks the start of Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall riots and the impact members of the LGBTQ community have had in the world. This month also marks the 6-year anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark civil rights case in which the US Supreme held the right to marry is a fundamental, constitutionally-protected liberty guaranteed to all people, including same-sex couples.

Happy Pride Month, and may we continue to do our part to ensure that we protect the civil rights of every person, regardless of who they are or who they love.”

About the Harris County Attorney’s Office
Christian D. Menefee serves as the Harris County Attorney, the County’s chief civil lawyer. The Harris County Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting and proactively advocating for the interests of Harris County residents and government through the civil justice system. Menefee continues to be a voice for the people, standing up for vulnerable communities and using civil actions to ensure our rights are protected and expanded.

Tonight, the Texas Voters Forward Coalition and Houston NAACP applaud the Texas Democratic Caucus’s action to break quorum in the Texas State House. The organized walkout, by all but one Black Caucus member, served as a peaceful protest against Senate Bill 7.

The provisions in SB 7 create modern, Jim Crow voter suppression laws in the state of Texas. The harmful bill would legalize racism and discrimination making it more arduous for Blacks, Hispanics, the disabled, the elderly, and the poor to register and vote.

The bill, which died because of the walkout, contained voter suppression tactics including:

• Limits to voter registration, absentee voting, weekend voting, and polling hours
• Make it more challenging for folks with disabilities to vote by mail
• Discourages others from providing anyone a ride to the polls
• Gives the state indiscriminate power to overturn elections
• Encourages voter intimidation by authorizing partisan poll watchers to stand over voters while voting, taking away the constitutional right of privacy

Already, Texas leads the nation as the hardest state for voter registration and participation. This proposed law is filled with severe restrictions and intimidation tactics to control election outcomes. Not only are these efforts anti-democratic and unconstitutional they are overtly immoral.  We know this fight is not over, as Governor Greg Abbott tweets that the issue will be brought back up during a special legislative session later this year.

The Texas Voters Forward Coalition stands in solidarity with the walkout. We pledge our unwavering support in the fight to protect the sacred right to vote by all eligible voters.

Tonight’s action by the Texas Democratic Caucus deserves the respect and support of every Texan. It is indeed righteous and just. May we all rise to the occasion to stand against wrong and defend what is right.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr wisely taught that there comes a time when history calls us to abandon what’s comfortable and convenient to do what is right. These leaders did that tonight.

The Texas House Democrats killed Senate Bill 7 late Sunday night when they took a stand against the most restrictive bill since the end of  Reconstruction, which echoed Jim Crow-era policies, by walking off the state House floor, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill before the midnight deadline.

The election restrictions presented in SB7 would profoundly affect people of color. The unity our state leaders showed at the Capitol was the right thing to do. We must all work together and stand against efforts that obstruct the right to vote.

In Fort Bend County we made bipartisan changes before the 2020 elections, with county commissioners voting unanimously to extend voting hours and creating drive-thru voting for those who were unable to walk inside a voting center. This bipartisan leadership also supported initiatives to increase election security and accessibility by advocating for an online voter registration application portal for eligible voters, funding more efforts to increase civic engagement, and create a tool for registered voters to track their mail-in ballots.

At a time in our country when we should all come together, these restrictive laws needlessly and unfairly make it more difficult for people to vote.  Our fight is not over, Governor Greg Abbott has made clear his intentions to bring this legislation back up as part of a special session of the Legislature. We must continue to shut down partisan falsehoods of voter fraud and use our voices to speak against this attack on voting rights and our democracy.