SAN ANTONIO NEWS Report: Chip Roy one of U.S. House's most frequent filers of anti-LGTBQ+ legislation

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes swaths of both San Antonio and Austin, was among the most aggressive U.S. House members in filing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023, a new congressional report shows.

Last year, Roy and other Republicans held more than 50 anti-LGBTQ+ votes on the House floor and filed more than 95 anti-LGBTQ+ amendments to bills scheduled for debate, according to an analysis by the Congressional Equality Caucus, which is comprised of openly LGBTQ+ House members.

The report, titled Obsessed: House Republicans' Relentless Attacks Against the LGBTQIA+ Community in 2023, also notes that GOP members introduced 55 bills targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community last year.

Roy — who's made inflammatory statements and public meltdowns part of his political brand — was most active in tacking anti-LGBTQ+ amendments to bills, according to the report. His volume of anti-LGBTQ+ filings puts him in company with fringe figures such as U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado; Matt Gaetz, R-Florida; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.

Roy's proposed 2023 amendments included:
Stripping funding from a Marine Corps University scholars program because it mentioned that gender is different from sex assigned at birth.
Prohibiting Defense Department funds from hiring personnel such as directors of diversity and inclusion.
Disallowing military bases from using Defense Department money to pay for Pride Month celebrations for their personnel.
The report accuses GOP lawmakers of filing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation to fan the flames of the culture war and rally the Republican base ahead of the 2024 election. It also urges the Biden White House to condemn the escalating legislative attacks and trumpet its efforts to push for federal nondiscrimination protections.

"House Republicans are obsessed," Congressional Equality Caucus Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin wrote in the report's introduction. "Not with lowering healthcare costs. Not with growing the middle class. Not with making life easier for working families. No, they’re obsessed with attacking the LGBTQI+ community, especially kids."