Protest over Texas governor's policies in downtown Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Dozens of advocates gathered in downtown Austin to speak against what they call "policies of hate" from Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans.

The governor says legislation he supports on issues like healthcare and border security are about protecting Texans.

"We are upset and enraged over everything that the [legislature] and Governor Abbott has been doing in regards to a lot of vulnerable communities such as immigrants, LGBTQIA+," Ivonne Diaz, organizer with Texas Rising, said. "They should be focusing on providing access to a lot of the vulnerable populations, such as healthcare needs, veterans, education."

Some spoke about the real-life impacts of Abbott's policies. He signed a bill last week barring transgender youth from accessing transition-related care.

"I'm transgender, I'm 19 years old, even then, Abbott has deeply impacted my community," June Gormin said. "I feel a duty to be here for my community."

She and others describe the difficulty of accessing healthcare. 

"A lot of the places that I went were adolescent groups, and that's where I got my hormones, that's where I got my general primary care, everything like that. I lost all of that very recently," Gormin said. 

"I no longer have a dietitian or a primary healthcare physician because of [Attorney General Ken] Paxton's and Abbott's efforts to shut down gender-affirming care for trans youth. It's affected me not even in my gender-affirming care journey, just in my regular healthcare," Leo Brainard said.

"Healthcare is also very difficult for me to find. It took a pretty long time for me to get good healthcare, and now that I have it, I'm afraid of losing it every day honestly," Finn Smith said. "It's really hard to be in public and live my life and do the things that I want to do because of all the aggression and all of the hate that's going on in this state right now."

They say they want Texas to be an inclusive state.

"I'm a 6th generation Texan, I've lived here my whole life, and I'm also transgender and a minor so of course all of Greg Abbott's recent decisions and all of the recent legislation has affected me," Brainard said.

"I want this to be a place where I can thrive and live, and with the direction that it's going under Abbott, I do not see it being that way," Gormin said.

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Gormin says she chose to leave Texas for college.

"I did not want to pick any in-state school," she said. "I knew that I couldn't stay in Texas and be safe."

Abbott and other Republicans argue the law is about protecting young people. 

"A person under the age of 18, they don't have the mental capacity to make a life changing decision," Abbott said previously.

"We protect children against lots of things," State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Rockwall) said previously, citing things like smoking, drinking, and buying lottery tickets.

"If you look at suicide rates, the issues that are with trans youth, gender affirming care saves lives," Gormin said. "The access to puberty blockers, the access to gender affirming care at a young age should be in the hands of the parents and the families, it shouldn't be in the hands of the government."

Immigration is another issue advocates say hasn't been handled properly.

"In El Paso, our communities are not in crisis, the border is not in crisis, what is in crisis is the lack of immigration reform in over 35 years and also all the hate and laws that are meant to criminalize our community," Diaz said. 

"America is not open to people who are trying to come here illegally," Abbott said previously.