The Texas AG and Texas Governor made moves to undercut new federal civil rights protections for LGBTQIA+ students FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 29, 2024 CONTACT Johnathan Gooch, Equality Texas, press@equalitytexas.org Imelda Mejia, TFN, imelda@tfn.org Austin, TX – This morning Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, announced that he is suing the Department of Education over updates to the Title IX regulations. Title IX is a federal civil rights law designed to protect students in public schools from discrimination. Updates from the Department of Education follow Supreme Court precedent about how to ..read more

April 26, 2024 Austin, TX — Law enforcement Wednesday arrested over 50 people during peaceful protests at the University of Texas in Austin. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza’s office Friday confirmed that charges have been dropped in all 57 arrests made during the protest. Texas Freedom Network Deputy Director Carisa Lopez (she/her/ella) had the following reaction: “The right to peaceful protest and free speech is the bedrock of our democracy. We at Texas Freedom Network and Texas Rising are deeply troubled by the use of excessive force, escalation, and arrests made by law enforcement at the ..read more

TFN was founded in 1995 to counter the far right’s influence on our state’s politics and public education system, and we’re still true to those roots today. Our team advocates tirelessly for Texas public school students — fighting the radical right’s influence in local school board meetings, at the State Board of Education, and the Capitol. A school board, sometimes called a board of trustees, is a governing body of 7 or 9 elected members that oversees an individual Texas Independent School District (ISD). They’re responsible for adopting the annual budget, setting a tax rate, appointing a sup ..read more

Texas Rising brought together student activists for the first HBCU Empowerment Summit this Saturday FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2024 CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), emily@tfn.org HOUSTON – Texas Rising, a leading statewide grassroots organization focused on mobilizing young Texans and Texans of color, Saturday brought together student activists for the first HBCU Empowerment Summit. The event provided an inclusive platform for college-age students to build connections, enhance organizing skills, and generate positive change within the Black community in Texas and beyond. The summit ..read more

“Theologically, community and relationships are the entire basis of my faith and the religion that I serve as a minister. I don’t know how we would do anything but work for other people’s rights and inherent dignity.” – Reverend Chris Jimmerson, a faith leader built, sustained, and guided by community The word “community” can often feel like a nebulous, impossible-to-define concept. We’re divided into communities by various identities, professions, or belief systems. Our neighborhoods are communities. Our public schools have their own community ecosystem. Some might consider their own fam ..read more

Easter falls on Transgender Day of Visibility this year. People will be bearing witness to the resurrection of Christ while celebrating the lives and contributions of transgender folks. To some people, the connection doesn’t make sense. But it does to me. Opinion Piece by Rev. Brooke Dooley originally published in the Houston Chronicle After all, Easter is the story of someone who refused to reduce people to a binary system. A person who lived his life so audaciously that he fed, clothed, held, and made visible people who had been told they were unworthy of love, burdened with sin, o ..read more

Val Benavidez became the executive director in 2020 after serving as TFN’s chief program officer and field director for almost 14 years. During her time as the Outreach Director and then Chief Program Officer at Texas Freedom Network, Val created TFN’s youth-organizing program, Texas Rising, which builds the power of young people of color through extensive voter registration campaigns, GOTV work, and training in grassroots advocacy. Whatever you do, do something, and don’t give up your hope! TFN and Texas need you.” Val Benavidez (she/her/ella), Texas Freedom Network President & Execu ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2024 CONTACT: Imelda Mejia, imelda@tfn.org HOUSTON — The Galveston ISD Board of Trustees tonight rejected creating a new policy under SB 763 allowing chaplains who are unqualified to act as school counselors to be employed or accepted as volunteers to serve as “mental health personnel and support” in the district’s public schools. SB  763, which went into effect in September 2023, requires every school district in the state to take a vote on whether or not to employ chaplains or accept them as volunteers in their school district by March 1, 2024.  U ..read more

Event photos can be found here. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 14, 2024 CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), emily@tfn.org EL PASO, Texas – Civic engagement organization, Texas Rising, today hosted a Valentine’s Day “Speed Dating” event facilitating meaningful conversations on key issues between young El Pasoans and local candidates ahead of the March Primary Election. The event was put on by the local chapter of the organization, consisting of students from UT El Paso.  “We’re building the voting power of young people at Texas Rising through more than voter registration — we’re committed to b ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 13, 2024 CONTACT: Emily Witt, emily@tfn.org HOUSTON — The Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Board of Trustees last night rejected to create a new policy under SB 763 allowing unqualified chaplains to be employed or accepted as volunteers to act as “mental health personnel and support” in the district’s public schools. The district has previously allowed chaplains and faith leaders to volunteer or be employed if they held the required qualifications and credentials. The board affirmed this policy will remain the same. SB  763, which went into effect in September 2023, re ..read more