Anti-Trans Texas Dem Thierry Falls Behind Primary Challenger Simmons; Runoff Next
Anti-trans Democrat Shawn Thierry came in second place to challenger Lauren Ashley Simmons, a black queer union organizer in the greatest test for Democrats compromising on transgender rights.
A Houston Democrat who delivered a lengthy anti-transgender speech on the Texas House floor before voting for the state's gender-affirming care ban finished second in a Texas primary challenge. Representative Shawn Thierry, the Democrat in question, garnered 44.4% of the votes in Tuesday's primary election. Her challenger, Lauren Ashley Simmons, a Black queer union organizer, received 49.5% — just shy of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. This outcome represents a significant warning for Democrats who believe they can compromise on transgender rights, suggesting that casting votes like Thierry's could be perilous.
Representative Thierry faced widespread condemnation on May 12 after a full floor hearing and vote on SB14, a gender-affirming care ban in Texas. During the hearing, she delivered an extended speech in which she described transgender girls as “biological males,” referred to gender-affirming care as “chemical castration,” and claimed that gender dysphoria could be resolved “by therapy,” echoing assertions made by conversion therapy advocates. She voted against every amendment proposed by Democrats to mitigate the bill's harm before voting to pass the legislation.
Mothers Against Greg Abbott stated, “Rep Shawn Thierry needs to be censured by Texas Dems. A stand needs to be made about what she did.” Abortion rights activist Olivia Julianna said, “You’ve sided with the people seeking to censor, discriminate, and oppress. You cannot hide from that.” The Meyerland Area Democrats voted to censure her for her vote, stating “we firmly believe these votes have demonstrated a lack of consideration for the best interests of our community and an undermining of the values we hold dear.”
On October 10th, 2023, queer union organizer Lauren Ashley Simmons announced her campaign against Representative Thierry. In the announcement, she stated, “Our current representative has lost her way and now votes with Greg Abbott and republicans to take away our rights, destroy our public schools, and hurt our kids.”
Simmons rapidly garnered endorsements from prominent Democrats and organizations in Texas. Among her major endorsements are former Representative Beto O'Rourke, Texas AFT, Texas AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign, Houston Federation of Teachers, Equality Texas, SEIU Texas, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, and the Houston Chronicle. Meanwhile, Representative Shawn Thierry's small-dollar fundraising efforts began to wane, and her campaign was sustained only by significant contributions from Republican donors, despite her district's D+80 rating. These contributions include organizations like “Charter Schools Now” and the “Family Empowerment Coalition.”
Those donations were not enough to secure her from a primary challenge, however. On March 5th, results came in from local voters: Representative Thierry had come in second place, a full 5 percentage points behind challenger Lauren Ashley Simmons. The remaining votes went to Ashton Woods, who also challenged Representative Thierry over her harsh anti-trans votes.
The vote did not secure an outright victory for challenger Simmons, leading the race to a runoff in May. However, considering the number of votes for the third place candidate with criticisms similar to Simmons', Thierry's reelection prospects seem dim. This primary election's outcomes might serve as a warning to other Democrats across the United States facing pressure from Republicans to compromise on transgender youth rights. While Democrats voting against transgender rights are relatively rare, there have been notable instances, including a recent vote on discrimination in sports and bathrooms in New Hampshire’s House of Representatives. If this result is any indication, compromises on transgender rights may prompt successful primary challenges as well as a potential national budget fight over anti-trans riders. The race between Thierry and Simmons is set to conclude in the May 28 primary, with Ashton Woods, who finished third, already endorsing Simmons fully.
You can see Simmons campaign page here to learn more about her campaign here.
Who knew there could be good news out of Texas. Damn!
"This outcome represents a significant warning for Democrats who believe they can compromise on transgender rights, suggesting that casting votes like Thierry's could be perilous."
Let's hope so. We were dealt a blow here in Philly yesterday with both our US senators allowing Republicans to pull funding from the William Way Center, which does so much for the LGBTQ+ community here. I've been feeling very jaded with many Dems lately. I'm trying to have hope, but it's getting to be more difficult.