Austin DSA

No ALPRs presents: a community movie night this Saturday, August 2nd 4 to 6 PM! 🍿🎥 FREE! We will have snacks and speaker Daniela Silva will share how you can keep the Austin community safe!

RSVP link in bio! 🎟️

Austin DSA Batcast: The Struggle for Trans Rights, Episode 2.

"The road to fascism is paved with many small human rights violations." - Rox S, Co-Chair of Austin DSA's Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign

As the 2025 Texas Legislative session came to a close, state lawmakers returned to a subject that dominated the previous session in 2023. The last two legislative sessions alone have seen an unparalleled influx of bills targeting Texas’ trans population; attacking their access to healthcare, their bodily autonomy, and their ability to exist at all. This may seem like standard procedure for a state where LGBTQ+ people have long been political targets, but the rapid increase in harmful legislation comes on the cusp of a larger national trend. And yet, Texas is distinct in its long, rich history of queer culture that dates back over a century.

The 2023 session saw 7 major anti-LGBTQ+ bills pass that have fundamentally changed the way queer people are able to live in this state. A state where its very own citizens spent decades paving a path forward for marginalized groups, put the best interest of religious fundamentalists first. Texas has set queer people back in ways we’re only just beginning to see the effects of. The 2025 state legislature may have closed [now extended with a special session], leaving behind its own trail of anti-trans legislation, but still, in the midst of this, Austin residents continue to resist and take the necessary action required to challenge hate and bigotry every step of the way.

In this episode of the Austin DSA Batcast, we're covering the fight for trans rights in Texas, with a special interview from our Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign Co-Chair Rox S.

Head to linktr.ee/austindsa) to watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify!

Wait, did you say something about a party? Yes, that’s right! If we can get 100 people to pledge to get and use an Enhanced Library Card as a primary form of ID by August 15th, we’ll throw a party! With House Bill 229 taking effect September 1, we want to make sure that as many people as possible have and are using their gender-free IDs by then. Pledge by adding your name here: tinyurl.com/ELC-ID-Pledge

Get your ELC at your convenience, and join Austin DSA TRBA for a party (details TBA) when we reach 100 new ELC-holders by August 15!

Pledge to get and use an Enhanced Library Card as a primary form of ID whenever possible here: tinyurl.com/ELC-ID-Pledge

Why should I get one? We just went over what an ELC includes. What it does NOT include is a gender marker. House Bill 229, which will take effect on September 1, 2025, has codified reproductive system-based definitions of immutable, biological sex into state law. While we have yet to see what effects HB 229 will have, we anticipate it will prevent transgender Texans from seeking gender marker changes on their IDs. Getting an ELC means that you can identify yourself without outing yourself or disclosing your gender identity.

That's not all! We're getting Enhanced Library Cards in solidarity, too. ELCs are also recommended for people in other marginalized communities, like those who are unhoused and undocumented immigrants. Even if you aren’t transgender, it’s a good idea to get an ELC. The more people who have and use an Enhanced Library Card as a form of identification, the more its use is normalized. That way, someone providing an ELC to a police officer won’t immediately be singled out. Protect yourself and other vulnerable members of our Austin community at the same time!

How do I get one? To qualify for an Enhanced Library card you will need: to be over the age of 18, a photo ID, and proof of address. You will have to go to a participating library in person to present your documents and have a photo taken. Digital forms of ID and proof of residency are accepted. Enhanced Library Cards are available at nine Austin Public Library locations: Central Library, 710 W César Cháves ST. Cepeda Branch, 651 N Pleasant Valley Rd. Little Walnut Creek Branch, 835 W Rundberg Ln Menchaca Road Branch, 5500 Menchaca Rd. Milwood Branch, 12500 Amherst Dr. Ruiz Branch, 1600 Grove Blvd St. John Branch, 7500 Blessing Ave. Southeast Branch, 5803 Nuckols Crossing Rd. Terrazas Branch, 1105 E. César Cháves St.

Getting an ELC is FREE and takes just a few minutes at a local library branch (view the participating locations in the slides above). You’ll get your ELC printed right in front of you and can start using it right away to identify yourself to APD, the Austin Municipal Court, and more.

Did you know there is a form of secondary ID with no gender marker that you can get for free?

Austin DSA’s Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Campaign invites you to join our Enhanced Library Card Drive! We’re all getting gender marker-free photo IDs to say fuck you to Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, and all of the state legislators who refuse to recognize transgender Texans’ right to self-determination. Get an Enhanced Library Card with us, stick it to the man, and join us for a party when 100 people pledge to get and use ELCs by August 15th!

What is an Enhanced Library Card? An Enhanced Library Card (ELC) is a form of secondary identification offered by the Austin Public Library that includes your name, address, photograph, and date of birth, plus a scannable barcode. Not only does it let you check books out from the library, but it’s also an acceptable form of ID for numerous city departments and community organizations. Notably, you can use your ELC to identify yourself to the Austin Police Department.

Do you like libraries, gender-neutral IDs, solidarity with marginalized groups, defying Greg Abbott, and parties? You can enjoy all these things at once when you pledge to get an Enhanced Library Card along with Austin DSA's Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign! More info in the thread 🧵

Fundraising House Party: Help our delegates attend DSA Convention! Live music, grilling, drinks. camaraderie. Friday, July 25, 6 PM. $25 suggested donation for ticket.

We're raising funds to help our Austin DSA delegates attend DSA National Convention in Chicago in August! Join us Friday, July 25th, for a Fundraising House Party with live music, grilling, drinks, and camaraderie. Suggested donation is $25 to attend, donate here: buff.ly/OPs0vrA

From Austin DSA, congratulations to Zohran Mamdani and NYC DSA for yesterday’s monumental victory in the New York City mayoral primary election. Policy that serves working class interests wins! We've done it before here in Austin, electing Mike Siegel to City Council last year, and Zohran's huge win shows that the Democratic Socialist movement can beat establishment politics.

Austin DSA congratulates Zohran Mamdani and @socialists.nyc for their monumental win in the NYC mayoral primary election. This victory shows that working-class politics can triumph over establishment politics for city leadership.

Let’s keep up the momentum, join DSA: dsausa.org/join

A graphic that reads: Witness and Solidarity in Palestine: Testimony from Austinites. Hybrid, RSVP for Zoom link and location. Thursday, June 26, 2025, 7 to 8:30 PM. Below the text is an image of a person walking in the West Bank.

This Thursday, June 26th, join Austin DSA and Seminarians for a Free Palestine for a panel and Q&A with several Austinites who have recently returned from doing solidarity work in the West Bank.

Masking will be required for in-person attendees.

RSVP: buff.ly/GqeYIkY

Graphic with a rainbow background and text that reads: June General Body Meeting! Time - Tuesday, June 24th, 7 to 8:30 PM. Location - 2008 Justin Building A. Virtual Attendees: RSVP for Zoom link.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24th, join us for our monthly General Body Meeting! Austin DSA gathers monthly for updates on our current campaigns, rousing political speeches, and to vote on what the chapter should work on.

RSVP: buff.ly/yxfk0Lt

Austin DSA Presents: Labor History and Tactics, The Origins of Mayday. Join us on Zoom. Thursday, June 12th, 7 to 8:30 PM. In the background is an image of demonstrating workers.

Join Austin DSA's Political Education Committee on Thursday, June 12th at 7 PM for a conversation on Labor History and Tactics. Times are dark, but we can still organize, fight, and win!

RSVP here: buff.ly/jbsB9t3

Headline: Austin DSA stands against AI Surveillance! Imagery: Two screenshots of a local Fox 7 article explaining that voting on the ALPR program has been removed from the agenda, thanks to community members showing up to the work session on Tuesday to oppose the program. Subhead: Corporations want to collaborate with I.C.E and the far-right. We say: not now, not ever!

Headline: Austin DSA stands against AI Surveillance! Body text: This week, Austin City Council was set to decide if they would renew the automated license plate reader program (ALPR). Over 500 scanners that record our movement without a warrant, were installed at fixed locations and police cars across the city. Our community was subjected to over 75 million license plate scans and 165 arrests. By stopping the use of ALPRs, we protect our immigrant communities, people seeking healthcare, and our First Amendment rights. It's too risky to collect data that could fall into the wrong hands. We say: not now, not ever!

Austin City Council was due to vote to renew the Automatic License Plate Reader Program today. Austin DSA took part in getting the vote on this dangerous surveillance program shut down. We say: not now, not ever!

Austin DSA and Austin Against Apartheid organize for a free Palestine by diverting US resources away from Israeli genocide and apartheid. In doing so, we are standing against all occupational forces that stand between working class people and freedom. We all deserve to live in a world free from money spent on state violence and war instead of life affirming services like housing, healthcare, and social safety nets. Israel’s aggression and religious framings of the conflict breed acts of hatred around the world. The struggle for Palestinian liberation affords us a vocabulary for envisioning a safer, freer world. A free Palestine means a safer society at home and abroad.

A free Palestine means a safer society at home and abroad.

For over a year and a half, Austin DSA has argued that the state of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people is inseparable from struggles for justice in Texas and the United States. We see this everywhere: from the militarized police forces that stalk Black and Brown neighborhoods after being trained by the Israeli military, to the women in Gaza forced to navigate reproductive healthcare structures that have been obliterated by imperial US foreign policy as reactionary domestic policy destroys those same systems at home. The local is inseparable from the international, as the violence that the US oversees abroad returns to our own communities in the form of fascist violence.

We stand in solidarity with Nueces Mosque, Austin Diyanet Center, and the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association (IABA), which on May 22 were spray painted with “symbols, including Stars of David, defacing the mosque’s main entrance and surrounding property.”

Conventional media in the United States often frames violence in Palestine as a religious conflict that has lasted for centuries. The spray painting of a Star of David on a mosque perpetuates this myth, when in fact, this conflict is defined by the aggression of a Zionist, racist, setter-colonial state against an indigenous people which refuses to let itself be destroyed. Framing this as a religious conflict hides a national liberation struggle and inflames both Islamophobia and antisemitism around the world. While Zionism claims that no Jewish person can be safe from antisemitism without a militarized ethnostate, Jewish people suffer when their religion is co-opted and equated to the violent, political ideology of Zionism.

The use of a Jewish religious symbol as a hate crime against Austin’s Muslim community at large and the UT community at Nueces Mosque in particular is only one more example of how these dynamics have tangible consequences in our city. Recall the stabbing of Zacharia Doar following a Palestine solidarity protest in Austin in 2024, the attempted drowning of a child in Euless, TX later that year, and the emboldening of local neo-nazi groups to carry out actual antisemitic hate crimes in the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election. None of us are safe unless all of us are safe.

We stand in solidarity with Nueces Mosque, Austin Diyanet Center, and the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association (IABA), which on May 22 were spray painted with “symbols, including Stars of David, defacing the mosque’s main entrance and surrounding property.”

Austin DSA 2025 Convention! When: Saturday, May 31, 10 AM to 4 PM. Where: IBEW Local 520 Union Hall, 4818 E Ben White Blvd.

Saturday, May 31st, join us for our 2025 Convention! Austin DSA holds an annual convention to vote on the next year's Leadership Committee and major chapter resolutions, and hear speeches from our endorsed elected officials and active campaigns. All members are welcome!

RSVP here: buff.ly/92HqCBm

Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Call to Action! We need your help to stop a bad bill: Texas HB 1106.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: House Bill 1106 Targets Gay and Trans Kids and is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee this Wednesday, May 21 at 8 AM. HB 1106 modifies the definition of child abuse to explicitly allow parents to reject their kids for being gay or trans. This bill endorses conversion therapy and gives parents license to verbally abuse their children on the basis of their identity. It does nothing to protect abuse victims; it only enables abusers.

Austin DSA’s Trans Right and Bodily Autonomy Campaign is issuing a call to action to drop cards against a harmful bill, HB 1106, TOMORROW, May 21st!

tinyurl.com/how-to-drop-a-card

Ditch Cap & Stitch The Austin City Council is set to vote on a set of mini-parks SURROUNDED by up to 22 LANES of HIGHWAY and FRONTAGE! Cap & Stitch would demand our city permanently divert resources away from affo...

You can also send a letter to City Council here: tinyurl.com/ditch-cap-and-stitch

URGENT ACTION NEEDED! Tell Austin City Council to Ditch Cap & Stitch! Focus on making housing affordable and fighting Climate Change! More information on the following slides.

The Problem: City Council is set to vote on a set of mini parks SURROUNDED by up to 22 LANES of HIGHWAY and FRONTAGE ROAD! The State is in the midst of wrecking OUR city with I-35 expansion. Our local elected officials on City Council and the Travis County Commissioners Court have voiced their opposition alongside an array of community groups. Cap & Stitch would see our city diverting resources for affordable housing and projects to fight climate change locally! If approved, our city would be forced to pay even more for the car-centric vision of the capitalists and the far right!

Theory: Local democracy involves making careful decisions based on community feedback. The investment of our resources, like the city budget, must equally advance quality of life for the working class. Mike Siegel, our District 7 champion, is warning the council, “That every dollar committed [to Cap & Stitch] is a dollar taken from crucial 2026 bond initiatives. It would trigger a devastating credit downgrade. Any cap commitment comes at the cost of building thousands of units of affordable housing, constructing drainage improvements to prevent flooding, expanding solar power generation and battery storage, and adding libraries and pools in underserved areas.”

Action: Contact your City Council Representative and the Mayor's Office! Take action virtually, and if possible, call your representative, and join us in person! We'll need to voice our concerns at every opportunity. If you’re able, join us at City Hall on Thursday, May 22, at 10 AM, or call in remotely! Sign up here: tinyurl.com/atx-council-signup Online registration closes at Noon on Wednesday. In-person registration at the City Hall kiosks is open until 8:15 AM on Thursday.

Urgent Action Needed! Contact your City Council Representative and the Mayor’s Office! Take action virtually, and if possible, call your rep, and join us in person!

If you're able, join us at City Hall on Thursday, May 22, at 10 AM, or call in remotely! Sign up here: tinyurl.com/atx-council-signup

Graphic with a red background and white text that reads: Socialist Happy Hour: Come hang out with comrades, new and old! Location: Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe St. Time: Friday, April 18, 7 to 9 PM. Next to the text is an illustration of a dancing beer mug.

Tomorrow night, Friday, May 16, join us for our monthly happy hour! This is a great opportunity to catch up with old comrades and make new ones. We'd love to see you there. Can't make this one? Catch us again on the 3rd Friday of each month!

In this premiere relaunch episode of the Austin DSA Batcast, we’re covering The School Voucher Fight in Texas: What's at Stake with SB2!

Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI7R...
Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5jeX...

Austin DSA's Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign Call to Action (Urgent!) We need your help to stop TWO bad bills! Texas HB 778 and HB 229.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: HB (House Bill) 778 is a de facto ban on health care for transgender and intersex adults. On the surface, it requires insurance companies to cover health care for detransitioning. However, detransition care is already covered; it's the same health care that trans and intersex adults need. The true aim of this bill is to increase liability for trans and intersex health care so much that insurance companies pull coverage altogether. If this bill passes into law, insurers will be intimidated into cancelling coverage, and only the most wealthy of trans and intersex people will be able to afford essential, life-saving health care that they need. For a more detailed explanation of this bill and why it's so dangerous, read this op ed: tinyurl.com/HB778-testimony

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: HB 229 defines legal gender to be binary (man or woman) and immutable (trans people don't exist). The purpose explicitly written into the text of the bill is to determine what jail cells to place transgender and intersex people into, what bathrooms they can access, etc. In a chilling reference to segregation, HB 229's text contains the line “separate is not inherently unequal.” Make no mistake, this bill is an attempt to legislate trans and intersex people out of public life.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Call your Texas state representatives TODAY (5/8) and TOMORROW (5/9) in opposition to HB 778 and HB 229, two extreme anti-trans bills that have been scheduled for a house floor hearing tomorrow (Friday, 5/9) at 10am. You can find your representatives in the Texas House and Senate here: equalitytexas.org/find-your-lawmakers If you would like assistance preparing your talking points, reach out to us at trba@austindsa.org for support and guidance.

Austin DSA’s Trans Right and Bodily Autonomy Campaign is issuing a call-to-action to contact your Texas state representative in opposition to TWO bad bills (HB 778 +HB 229)! Find your representative here: equalitytexas.org/find-your-la...

Graphic with a red background and text that reads: Austin DSA May Day Fundraising Show! Thursday, May 1, Doors open at 8PM, show starts at 9PM. Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe St. Performances by: Slomo Drags, Medieval Snails, Pony Soprano, AMA.

Graphic with a light gray background and red text that reads: JOB FAIR! May 4th, 12 to 4 PM. Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches, 3220 Manor Rd. Looking for a new career? Explore job opportunities with Austin's local unions.

This May Day, Austin DSA has TWO events you can attend to celebrate! Thursday, May 1st, we’re hosting a fundraising concert at Hole in the Wall on Guadalupe 🎸 Then, on Sunday, May 4th, there will be a union job fair at Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches!

RSVP at austindsa.org/events!

Graphic with a red background and text that reads: Austin DSA May Day Fundraising Show! Thursday, May 1, Doors open at 8PM, show starts at 9PM. Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe St. Performances by: Slomo Drags, Medieval Snails, Pony Soprano, AMA.

Graphic with a light gray background and red text that reads: JOB FAIR! May 4th, 12 to 4 PM. Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches, 3220 Manor Rd. Looking for a new career? Explore job opportunities with Austin's local unions.

This May Day, Austin DSA has TWO events you can attend to celebrate! Thursday, May 1st, we’re hosting a fundraising concert at Hole in the Wall on Guadalupe 🎸 Then, on Sunday, May 4th, there will be a union job fair at Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches!

RSVP at austindsa.org/events!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 22, join us for our monthly General Body Meeting! Austin DSA gathers monthly for updates on our current campaigns, rousing political speeches, and to vote on what the chapter should work on.

RSVP here: actionnetwork.org/events/2025-...

Stand in solidarity with CWA Local 6154 against SB 2446 to protect LMHA/LIDDA right to serve our communities! DM us for more information #mentalhealthmatters #solidarity

Graphic with a red background and white text that reads: Socialist Happy Hour: Come hang out with comrades, new and old! Location: Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe St. Time: Friday, April 18, 7 to 9 PM. Next to the text is an illustration of a dancing beer mug.

Tonight, join us for our monthly happy hour at Hole in the Wall! This is a great opportunity to catch up with old comrades and make new ones. We'd love to see you there. Can't make this one? Catch us again on the 3rd Friday of each month!

To get involved with Austin DSA’s TRBA campaign, head to austindsa.org and click the button to become a DSA member! If you would like to make a donation to support the fight for trans rights in memory of Rox’s partner, Amelia Elizabeth Perry, there is a link on the Austin DSA website as well.

The right to individualized medical care belongs to every Texan, including those who are trans or intersex. Tell your rep in the Texas House to vote NO on HB 778! Find your rep here: wrm.capitol.texas.gov. For talking points, email the Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign at trba@austindsa.org.

The goal of this is to create a “chilling effect” that dissuades insurers from covering transition-related care altogether. This is a backdoor attack on bodily autonomy, framed as compassion, but engineered as punishment. HB 778 is an intentional move to effectively ban healthcare for trans adults.

While this bill seems reasonable, it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It requires insurers to provide coverage for detransition (something insurers already cover) for the duration of a patient’s life, even if the patient is no longer covered by the same insurer when they seek detransition care.

Austin DSA member Rox’s testimony against House Bill 778. This is what is at stake in this fight: lives. The lives of our loved ones, coworkers, neighbors, and members of our community. No one deserves to be restricted from healthcare that will save their life, and HB 778 will do just that.