Demagogue

Do homophobes take a rest during the holidays? Apparently not.

Since last year, a student-funded center at the University of Texas at Austin has offered counseling, workshops, forums and other services to gay, lesbian and female students.

Now some Texas conservatives are targeting the Gender and Sexuality Center, saying UT students shouldn't have to pay $80,000 a year in fees for a center that "promotes a lifestyle" a majority of Texans reject – particularly when parents are struggling to afford college costs.

"They're obviously trying to promote an agenda on one side of the political spectrum," said Will Lutz, a columnist who wrote a scathing piece on the center for the socially conservative Texans for Texas group. "What we've created is a government-funded advocacy group for values a lot of Texans don't agree with."

Within the next year, conservative groups say they plan to draft legislation that would require the center to be paid for by private sponsors instead of student fees.

Following their logic I wonder why they're not trying to defund all the other student groups they don't like-- feminist groups, Jewish groups, Muslim groups, Pagan groups, etc. There have to be more than just this one considering that UT-Austin has nearly 50,000 students and over 900 student organizations.(UT-Austin is one of the largest universities in the country, their annual school budget exceeds $380 million.)

Cases like these exemplify exactly why places like the Gender and Sexuality Center are so direly needed-- especially in places like Texas.