Texas Democrat who joined GOP in supporting ban on gender-affirming care for minors loses primary

By SEAN MURPHY and ANDREW DEMILLO
Associated Press

A four-term Democratic incumbent in Houston has been ousted in a statehouse primary race that centered on her support for a ban on gender-affirming health care for minors. Democratic challenger Lauren Ashley Simmons defeated incumbent Shawn Thierry in Tuesday’s primary by nearly 30 percentage points. Simmons had the support of LGBTQ+ groups in Texas and nationwide. Thierry faced criticism for her support of a bill in the Texas House that banned gender-affirming care for transgender children. Rice University political science professor Mark Jones says Thierry had the support of many Black religious leaders in the African American-majority district. But Jones says that support clearly wasn’t enough to overcome Simmons’ support from progressives in the district.