When a group of Americans concerned about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election showed up to protest on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, leftists nationwide were quick to denounce the demonstration as an attempted insurrection.
Since then, however, LGBT activists have stormed state Capitol buildings to oppose bills seeking to protect children from life-altering surgery and hormone replacement — and the disruptive protesters have generally been cast as the heroes in mainstream media reports.
The most recent example occurred in Texas, where state lawmakers were considering legislation that would prohibit certain procedures described by transgender activists as “gender-affirming care” for children.
A mob of protesters showed up outside of the House chamber in a bid to disrupt the proceeding, but authorities soon intervened and restored order.
Looks like DPS forcibly removes at least a couple protesters pic.twitter.com/U0UyAcOiO9
— Ryan Chandler (@RyanChandler98) May 2, 2023
House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, made it clear that he would not abide such interruptions. After warning demonstrators that he would clear the gallery if they did not calm down, he made good on the threat a short time later.
Police were on hand to remove the disruptive activists and put at least two protesters in handcuffs.
In a subsequent tweet on the matter, Phelan wrote: “Rules matter in the TX House. Today’s outbursts in the gallery were a breach of decorum & continued after I warned that such behaviors would not be tolerated. There will always be differing perspectives, but in our chamber, we will debate those differences w/ respect.”
On the other side of the debate, supporters of the bill in question were seated in the gallery, identified by T-shirts bearing the message “Save Texas Kids.”
For his part, GOP Rep. Tom Oliverson, a key supporter of the bill, said that the disruptive mob of opponents only “strengthens our resolve to get this done today.”
He went on to lament that parents have been fed a “false dichotomy” regarding gender-transitioning procedures for children and have been told that “it’s either this or suicide.”
The lawmaker concluded that the “science doesn’t support that” and shared his belief that it is “unconscionable … that a licensed health care provider would put a parent in that position.”
