The election is barely over, and Texas Democrats are already showing voters what comes next.
On the first day lawmakers could file bills, Democratic Rep. Suleman Lalani introduced proposals for Muslim Heritage Day, Ramadan recognition and halal meals in public schools. Within days, Democratic Rep. Donna Howard filed a bill to repeal Texas abortion restrictions and the state’s ban on gender-transition treatments for minors. Other Democrats filed bills to repeal the state’s “homosexual conduct” statute.
Then Maggie Ellis, the incoming chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, announced that she wants to change the rule protecting judges who decline to perform weddings that conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs.
The message is hard to miss: The election is over. The push to reshape Texas has begun.
The first wave is already here
These proposals cover different issues, but they point toward a common political priority: using government to advance a progressive vision of public life.
One bill would require public schools to provide halal meals when a student or parent requests them. Others seek official recognition for Muslim heritage and Ramadan. The proposals to repeal Texas’s restrictions on abortion and gender-transition treatments would undo major policies conservatives fought to enact. And the effort to repeal the old “homosexual conduct” statute would turn a long-standing progressive priority into a fresh test for the new Legislature.
Ellis’s remarks add another front. Texas judges currently have a rule allowing them to refrain from performing a wedding based on religious belief. Ellis wants the court to revisit that protection. For Christian Texans, the question is immediate: Will the government continue to respect conscience, or will officials be pressured to set faith aside to satisfy a new political standard?
These are not all the same issue, and they do not need to be packaged as one coordinated plan. They are separate battles unfolding at once. That is exactly why conservatives should take the moment seriously.
