Bill Zedler
Texas Legislature is about to pass their General Appropriations Bill (SB1). For most of Texas this isn’t really newsworthy, and for the rest of the country it means even less. What has caught the attention of some Texas residents is what State Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) did next. An amendment, being called the
Zedler Amendment (or Zedler-1) was filed regarding the funding of gender and sexuality related student centers. According to the document, colleges and universities will no longer be able to use any higher education facility, property or funding obtained under this act to “support, promote or encourage any behavior that would lead to high risk behavior for AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B, or any sexually transmitted disease.”
Yes, you read that correctly. When this bill goes through, all centers dedicated to supporting students within the LGBT community through housing or funding will no longer be able to use appropriated money to do so. Rep. Zedler seems to think that giving aid to those students will promote risky lifestyle and spread disease. And he’s not alone in that thinking.
Two weeks ago, Texas A&M’s student Senate introduced a bill on campus that would allow students with religious objections to not fund the LGBT Resource Center. It’s not the first time they’ve set their sights on the Center. In 2011 they passed a similar bill that required allocated funding for the Center to be split equally with a center for “traditional and family values”. Fortunately, it was vetoed by the student body president.
Camden Breeding, an LGBT activist at A&M, said he expects the student senate to pass the bill but that it is illegal. Camden says it would violate a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said public universities can assist any university groups without being in violation of the First Amendment. Texas has a long way to go before it accepts that LGBT students make up a portion of the population of their schools.
It’s not too late to stop Zedler-1 from becoming enacted. If enough people step in and object it could be dropped. These outdated and offensive views aren’t acceptable by any standards. The idea that homosexuals, bisexuals or transsexuals are solely responsible for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is a disgusting and bigoted view tightly held onto by anti-gay members of the community. Zedler’s reasoning for filing this amendment is baseless.
Members and supporters of the LGBT community can still contact their representatives to prevent this amendment from coming to fruition.