A Texas state lawmaker says that she switched her party allegiance from Democrat to Republican after being “betrayed” by a pro-transgender “progressive abyss.”
Texas Representative Shawn Thierry, who will soon be exiting state government after losing to Democratic primary challenger Lauren Ashley Simmons in May, cited her anti-LGBTQ+ stance as a key reason for leaving what she called a “radicalized” Democratic Party in a lengthy statement on Friday.
Thierry specifically cited Democratic support for transgender rights and healthcare, a supposed “dismantling” of sex-based Title IX protections and what she called “the rights of biological women” as her reasons for becoming a Republican.
“The Democratic Party has veered so far left, so deep into the progressive abyss, that it now champions policies that I cannot, in good conscience, support policies like promoting sex changes for children during a vulnerable stage of their lives, and dismantling Title IX protections for women in sports,” Thierry wrote.
“Mothers around our country from all backgrounds, races, and communities understand that it’s our sacred duty to preserve the innocence of our children, protect them from being sexualized, and sterilized,” she added. “To respect universal truths, and to uphold the rights of biological women as defined by science, nature, and common sense.”
Members of the Texas delegation are pictured with cowboy hats and a sign that says “Good Bye Brandon” at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 17, 2024. Texas state Representative Shawn Thierry announced on Friday that she was switching her allegiance from Democrat to Republican because progressives had become “radicalized” by supporting transgender rights and healthcare.
Leon Neal
In an email sent to Newsweek, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said that his party was “elated that Shawn Thierry has found her true community—the hateful arms of the Republican Party of Texas.”
“Shawn Thierry compromised her Democratic values, betraying the constituents of House District 146, and in response, they rightfully fired her,” Hinojosa said.
“We hope that Switch-Up Shawn finds solace within a party that demonizes Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities given her long recorded history of berating these very communities in her district, staff office and on the Texas House floor,” he added.
Thierry was one of three Democrats to back a Republican bill banning transition-related healthcare for transgender minors in Texas earlier this year. Several similar bills have been passed in Republican-controlled states in recent years, despite nearly every major U.S. medical organization supporting at least some transition care for minors.
She also backed a bill banning transgender participation in women’s college sports and legislation to ban “offensive” and “sexually explicit” books from public school libraries, which opponents argued would be used to block books on LGBTQ+ and race issues.
Simmons, a queer-identified labor organizer who uses she/they pronouns, is likely to replace Thierry in January, as the Houston district that she represents votes heavily Democratic.
While Thierry’s career as a Texas state lawmaker is set to at least temporarily expire with the end of her term, she was hired as the U.S. director of political strategy for the anti-transgender group Genspect earlier this month.
