University of Houston Nixed Its Gender and Sexuality Classes. That Won’t Stop Texas’ Crusade Against Higher Ed.
Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:20:28 +0000
The sexual assault of children. The catcalling and income discrimination your sister faces. The struggles your granddad has connecting emotionally. These are topics explored in gender and sexuality studies classes. But following Florida, universities in the Lone Star State, including the University of North Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Texas, and now the […]
The post University of Houston Nixed Its Gender and Sexuality Classes. That Won’t Stop Texas’ Crusade Against Higher Ed. appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/university-of-houston-ends-gender-sexuality-courses-op-ed/
American Skater
Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:04:01 +0000
Between May 2025 and March of this year, I photographed Robinson Gonzalez, a Venezuelan professional skateboarder in his mid-twenties. Three years before I started this work, Gonzalez crossed the Darién Gap, having left his family behind. He was later granted entry into the United States as an asylum-seeker. Back in 2018, during anti-government protests in […]
The post American Skater appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/american-skater/
ICE Never Stopped Chasing People in Cars in the Rio Grande Valley
Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:15:00 +0000
As thousands of people from all over the United States came to the Laguna Madre area this past weekend to watch SpaceX’s latest launch in South Texas, many who live in the nearest towns—Laguna Vista, Port Isabel, Laguna Heights, and South Padre Island—stayed indoors. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had been arresting several people […]
The post ICE Never Stopped Chasing People in Cars in the Rio Grande Valley appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-car-chase-gun-citizen-south-texas/
In Congress, Christian Menefee Says He’s Fighting for ‘the Least, the Last, and the Lost’
Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:06:09 +0000
In May, Christian Menefee won the Democratic primary for Texas’ historically Black 18th Congressional District after Governor Greg Abbott and Republican legislators redrew the state’s congressional map, forcing him to compete against Congressman Al Green, who represented Texas’ 9th Congressional District—another historically Black seat that was redrawn into a majority-white conservative seat—for more than 20 […]
The post In Congress, Christian Menefee Says He’s Fighting for ‘the Least, the Last, and the Lost’ appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/interview-congressman-christian-menefee-houston/
With Texas’ Data Center Boom, Uncertainty Is the Business Plan
Tue, 28 Jul 2026 16:20:27 +0000
The usual worry about Texas’ data center boom is that the state is flying partly blind. It does not yet know how much electricity these projects will actually need, how much water they will take, or whether the tax breaks offered in the name of growth will return enough to justify their cost. That sounds, […]
The post With Texas’ Data Center Boom, Uncertainty Is the Business Plan appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/ai-data-center-boom-uncertainty-is-the-model/
Houston Is Testing Whether Trump’s ICE Is Above Texas Law
Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:02:52 +0000
The morning after a still-unnamed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed 52-year-old Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on Tuesday, July 7, investigators from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office were on the scene. They hadn’t received an invitation from the federal agency, which was slightly unusual, but this wasn’t an oversight. It […]
The post Houston Is Testing Whether Trump’s ICE Is Above Texas Law appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-ice-killing-district-attorney-trump/
The Fall of Hope Rising
Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:58:44 +0000
When Michelle Wright Rhame was asked to be a foster mother, she saw it as a divine calling. She had always wanted to be a mom, but she couldn’t have children of her own—a heartbreak that contributed to the demise of her marriage. She got her opportunity through Hope Rising, a Brenham-based child placement agency […]
The post The Fall of Hope Rising appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/the-fall-of-hope-rising/
Cycling the Rio Grande as Trump’s Wall Looms
Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:01:47 +0000
The sun is low over Nuevo Laredo as David Patricio and three friends start unloading gravel and mountain bikes for their evening ride along the Rio Grande, but the weather is still in the 90s and the humidity stifling. In the early 2000s, the City of Laredo began buying up land to create a series […]
The post Cycling the Rio Grande as Trump’s Wall Looms appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/postcard-laredo-border-wall/
Can a Tejano Star Restore Dems’ Power in South Texas?
Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:55:08 +0000
Bobby Pulido descended a staircase bedecked in flowers to face the quinceañara in her shimmering blue ball gown. Her magnificent hoop skirt swayed as the Tejano star-turned-South Texas Democratic congressional candidate launched into a rendition of “Hermoso Cariño.” It was Pulido’s second quince of four that night, part of a marathon run of birthdays, weddings, […]
The post Can a Tejano Star Restore Dems’ Power in South Texas? appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/bobby-pulido-monica-de-la-cruz-south-texas/
‘Where Do We Go from Here’: Forward or Backward?
Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:14:58 +0000
My parents lived through Jim Crow. Around our dinner table, they told stories that sounded impossible to me as a child. They talked about not being allowed to eat in certain restaurants, or even to try on clothes or shoes before buying them. My father often spoke about growing up in a sharecropping family. At […]
The post ‘Where Do We Go from Here’: Forward or Backward? appeared first on The Texas Observer.
https://www.texasobserver.org/voting-rights-civil-rights-future/