Can you imagine how frustrated this Senatorial bully feels? He’s done everything he can do to make your life and the lives of the people your care about more difficult and YOU have stopped him in his tracks!

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He tried to sneak SB 723 through committee without alerting anyone and with only a 10-hour notice, we jumped into action. Six of us testified against the bill while nobody testified for the bill. I wish I could have taken a picture of Senator Williams; he looked as if he was sucking on a lemon!

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When the Senator Williams tried to bring it up for a Senate vote, we stormed the capitol with news reporters and documentary film makers shoving cameras in the faces of the bigots* in Senator Williams’ office. Additionally, we flooded the phone lines with calls. In the end, Senator Williams had to pull his bill for consideration.

After beating him once, Senator Williams came back for seconds last week and this time he went all in. Not only did he find a Democrat to support his hate bill, he got a number of right-wing organizations to mobilize their base in support of his bill:

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And you know what happened? WE STILL BEAT HIM! Through YOUR actions, we were able to turn that Democratic Yes vote into a No vote. After we cost him the support he needed, he retreated to regroup.

Last Friday Senator Williams tried again to put his anti-trans bill on the “fast-track” (intent calendar) and by yesterday morning, he had to pull it off the table for consideration by the Senate… YET AGAIN! By Monday, virtually ALL Democratic Senators had publicly stated their opposition to the bill.

Now, the only chance Senator Williams has to get SB 723 voted on is by getting it through a log-jam of bills by midnight THIS Friday night. Please don’t underestimate the right-wing’s willingness to ruin YOUR life by any means necessary. SB 723 is not dead until Friday at midnight!

Senator Williams expected to encounter a scared, apathetic and powerless group of people he could bully. Instead, what he found is that we are courageous, engaged and we can organize in ways that few groups can. What he found when he faced us was a COMMUNITY.

If you were active in calling, email, faxing and/or spreading the word, you are due some congratulations! YOU stood up to a bully! YOU were part of the largest Texas trans action in our history! YOU stopped hate in its tracks time and again! YOU proved that we don’t have to settle for being a second-class citizens!

The clock is still ticking. Senator Williams still has some time to try to pull a fast one. We MUST remain vigilant and we MUST act if the right-wing attempts to pull a fast one next couple of days.

While you’re doing warm-ups for your victory lap on Saturday morning, please take 2 minutes and add your name to this ANTI-723 petition:

Also, please think about thanking/supporting the following organizations that organized the Texas anti-723 campaign. They all worked closely together to stop SB 723:

• Transgender Foundation of America
• GetEqual
• HRC
• Transgender Education Network of Texas