Texas Senator Attacks Media For Reporting On Horrific Anti-LGBT Bill

Tea Partier Konni Burton Wants To Force Schools To Out Students To Parents

A tea party state senator in Texas is attacking the New Civil Rights Movement and other outlets that have reported on legislation she filed this week that would effectively force public schools to out LGBT students to their parents. 

Sen. Konnni Burton, a Republican from Fort Worth, falsely alleged Friday on Twitter (above) that this reporter failed to contact her office before NCRM published its story. In fact, I contacted Burton’s office on Thursday afternoon before the story was published. I spoke with her legislative director, who said he would have her chief of staff call me back, which he never did. 

“Anger stoking, click bait sites that do not contact sources to write a story depend on ur anger to keep them relevant,” Burton wrote. “Don’t be their puppet.” 

NCRM was the first to report on Burton’s Senate Bill 242, but numerous other outlets have done so since. Based on our analysis of the bill — as well as a blog post from Burton about the measure — we concluded that it “would place LGBT youth in the conservative state at risk for abuse, neglect or suicide if their parents aren’t accepting.”   

Equality Texas, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, has since come out against SB 242. And one policy expert who’s spent years working in the Texas Legislature — Daniel Williams — agreed that the bill “will kill children.”

LGBT advocates have been encouraging people to contact Burton, which may have prompted her Twitter outburst.