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A new study sought to gauge public opinion among Texans on a range of controversial topics that may find their way onto the state legislative docket this year, such as gender-affirming care for children and the definition of marriage in the Texas Constitution.
The poll from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found that Texans' views varied widely based on party affiliation and demographic factors. For example, when asked about legislation brought forward by state representative Bryan Slaton which would classify any gender-affirming care given to children that did not match their sex assigned at birth as child abuse, 57% of Texans expressed support. However, this particular proposal garnered very strong support among Republicans and very strong opposition among Democrats.
Renée Cross is senior executive director and researcher at the Hobby School. Cross spoke to Houston Matters with Craig Cohen to discuss the survey.
"Legislation focusing on parents' rights regarding their transgender children is likely to be among the most controversial proposals to come before the Legislature this session," Cross said. "As with many legislative proposals, we found a strong partisan split on these policies."
Two of the most contentious items on the survey had to do with a state confederate holiday and the teaching of critical race theory on the college level. Fifty-five percent of Texans support the removal of Confederate Heroes Day, which currently falls yearly on January 19 and honors leaders of the Confederacy like Robert E. Lee, as an official state holiday. Also, a narrow minority of Texans — 48% — support legislation that would strip faculty at public colleges and universities of tenure if they teach critical race theory.
Meanwhile, some results suggest Texans share some common ground across party lines. For example, 67% of Texans support legislation that would require every Texas school district to offer ethnic studies as required curriculum, including Mexican American or African American studies.
Also, a majority of Republicans as well as Democrats supported legislation from representative Tom Oliverson from Houston that would require publishers who sell books to Texas public schools to include content ratings similar to those used for movies. Lastly, a majority of Texans supported changing the definition of marriage in the Texas Constitution to no longer define marriage as specifically being between one man and one woman.
"One interesting aspect about these results is that we find Texans have positions that aren't nearly as dogmatic as, say, their elected officials," said Mark P. Jones, senior research fellow at the Hobby School and political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. "Texans are mostly at the center and not so much at the extremes as their elected officials are."
Cross thinks these results point to a rapidly changing culture. "Some of the more progressive views, like the support for ethnic studies, are somewhat surprising because this is a big culture shift from even 10 years ago," she said. The complete report is available on the Hobby School website. Future reports will examine support for legislation regulating marijuana, abortion, firearms, elections, immigration and energy.