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The latest demographics news from The Texas Tribune.

Texas’ ban on certain drag shows is unconstitutional, federal judge says

By Alejandro Serrano and William Melhado Updated: Sept. 27, 2023

Senate Bill 12 would have prohibited performers from dancing suggestively or wearing certain prosthetics in front of children. Critics sued the state, saying it violated the First Amendment. Full Story

Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
A unique Texas legal rule lets the attorney general’s office supersede some judges’ orders

By William Melhado Sept. 25, 2023

Lawyers criticize a provision they say erodes the separation of powers between Texas’ executive branch and its courts. It’s been used repeatedly this year as Texans try to block new state laws from going into effect. Full Story

Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune
Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones urges Texans to get organized, learn from history

By Pooja Salhotra Sept. 23, 2023

In an interview for The Texas Tribune Festival, the journalist urged Texans to organize in response to the state’s book bans and restrictions on public school lessons. Full Story

Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Extremists have turned Texas into a hotbed for hate, report finds

By Robert Downen Sept. 21, 2023

The report blames an “alarming rise in extremist ideology and activity” on white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ groups that are active or headquartered in Texas. Full Story

Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
The percentage of uninsured Texans in 2022 dropped to the lowest in a decade

By William Melhado Sept. 14, 2023

Texas is still the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents, at nearly 17 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey released Thursday. Full Story

Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune
‘An epidemic’: Syphilis rages through Texas, causing newborn cases to climb amid treatment shortage

By Karen Brooks Harper and Jayme Lozano Carver Sept. 13, 2023

Syphilis rates in Texas continue to climb, alarming healthcare workers who see the highest increases among pregnant people and newborns. A shortage of treatment is complicating efforts to combat it. Full Story

Credit: Photo by Cory Clark/NurPhoto
What’s at stake in the long-awaited trial over Texas’s sweeping 2021 elections law

By Natalia Contreras, Votebeat and The Texas Tribune Sept. 11, 2023

The GOP-backed Senate Bill 1 added voting restrictions that plaintiffs claim unfairly impacts voters of color. Full Story

Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
Texas leads the country in keeping its native-born residents home

By Grace Yarrow Aug. 29, 2023

A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas researchers say that economic growth, low taxes and big cities all can keep residents in their home states. Full Story

Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
Texas ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans kids will go into effect despite legal fight

By William Melhado Updated: Aug. 31, 2023

The state attorney general’s office appealed a state district court injunction that said the new prohibitions deprive trans kids of “necessary, safe, and effective medical treatment.” Full Story

Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
This new law will help health care workers save lives in ambulances that cover wide-open West Texas

By Jayme Lozano Carver Aug. 25, 2023

The emerging technology, paid for by a grant established during the 2023 legislative session, will help emergency health care workers talk with doctors in emergency rooms to better care for critical patients. Full Story

Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune
Family legacies and the state’s Jim Crow past underlie a fight over mineral rights on a stretch of South Texas scrubland

By Alexa Ura Aug. 24, 2023

Descendants of a prominent white family and a formerly enslaved couple are fighting over ownership — and the oil and gas royalties that would come with it — of an 147.5-acre tract that has bound and divided generations of their families. Full Story

Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
U.S. census and other surveys likely undercount the number of LGBTQ+ people living in Texas

By Daniel Carter, Texas Community Health News Aug. 23, 2023

Some queer Texans may fear disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity to neighbors or the government. The lack of accurate numbers makes it more difficult to provide appropriate health care, especially in rural areas. Full Story

Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune
In federal trial, Galveston County challenged on efforts to undo Black and Latino voting power

By Alexa Ura Aug. 10, 2023

The coastal county faces a drawn-out trial over claims of intentional discrimination in its 2021 redistricting of commissioners court precincts. The only district in which Black and Latino voters could meaningfully influence elections was dismantled. Full Story

Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
T-Squared: The wait is over. Our full program for TribFest23 is here!

By Matt Ewalt Aug. 8, 2023

We’re bringing people together for talks that will examine education, Texas’ energy future, the 2024 races for U.S. Senate and president, and the state of democracy. Full Story

Credit: Reagan Mcgregor Hicks/Texas Tribune
LGBTQ+ advocates sue to block Texas’ new law that could criminalize some drag performances

By Rebecca Schneid and William Melhado Updated: Aug. 3, 2023

State officials backing Senate Bill 12 have said they want to protect children from seeing sexually explicit performances. But new legal challenges say the law is so broad and vague that it criminalizes constitutionally protected expression. Full Story

Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune
Black and Hispanic Lubbock residents want federal intervention in zoning, environmental policies

By Jayme Lozano Carver July 26, 2023

A new federal complaint comes as the city updates its zoning laws for the first time since the 1970s. Full Story

Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune
Race was a factor in Black professor’s failed hiring, Texas A&M department head says

By Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera and Kate McGee Updated: July 22, 2023

Hart Blanton, the head of the university’s department of communications and journalism, also said then-President M. Katherine Banks interfered with the recruitment of journalist Kathleen McElroy. Full Story

Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune
In a political era of “parental rights,” Texans raising trans kids say new law strips them of choice

By Rebecca Schneid Updated: July 20, 2023

Senate Bill 14, which is set to take effect on Sept. 1, bans transition-related care for minors. Parents of transgender kids say it blocks their ability to support their children. Full Story

Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
Lawsuit seeks to block Texas from banning gender transition-related care for children

By Eleanor Klibanoff and William Melhado Updated: July 20, 2023

The families argue the new law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, violates their parental rights by stopping them from providing medical care for their children and discriminates against transgender teens. Full Story

Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
As race-neutral college admissions begin, Texas counselors work to convince students of color they still belong

By Alexa Ura and Kate McGee July 3, 2023

Black and Latino students make up about two-thirds of Texas’ public schools. But they are vastly underrepresented at its top universities, and Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling will shake up an already complicated application process. Full Story

Credit: Jack Myer for The Texas Tribune