Texas Democrats Push Faith-Based Appeals in LGBTQ Rights Debates

Texas Rep. Rafael Anchía speaks against Senate Bill 8, the "bathroom bill," in the House chamber at the Texas Capitol on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.

For more than a generation, whenever a politician suggested or said outright that a particular piece of legislation would either please the Lord or draw his fury, the general assumption was that the speaker was a Republican.

The notion dates back to the 1980 presidential campaign, when a still-budding but fast-growing organization called the Moral Majority pushed back against what it saw as the permissiveness of the 1960s and '70s and coalesced around the candidacy of Republican Ronald Reagan. And it came at the expense of Democratic President Jimmy Carter, who ironically had worn his born-again Christianity on his sleeve during his successful race for the White House four years earlier.

That marriage of piety and politics has worked out pretty well for Republicans. Over the past 45 years, the GOP nominee for president has won seven of the 12 elections, and Christian conservatives have provided the bedrock of the party's coalition up and down the ballot pretty much every step of the way.

One knock on Democrats over that time is that, as a party, they have come across as indifferent — and perhaps even hostile — to religion. That may help explain why Democrat Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, won only 18% of the white evangelical vote in 2020, while Republican Donald Trump, who has never been much of a churchgoer, captured 81%, according to an AP VoteCast post-election survey.

But now there's at least some anecdotal evidence in Texas that Democrats are no longer waving the white flag of surrender whenever the political topic migrates toward the spiritual.

Case in point: When state Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas, as liberal a Democrat as anyone presently serving in the Legislature, made his case Thursday that a bill to limit the bathroom choices of transgender people should be defeated, he told his colleague he was speaking as a disciple of Christ.

"I stand up here as a Christian because we've heard from hundreds of religious leaders across this state who oppose this bathroom bill and have continued to call on us to act within one of the most sacred teachings of Jesus Christ: Love thy neighbor," said the 56-year-old Anchia, who has served in the House since 2005. He went on to quote passages from the New Testament and to warn against using "faith as a weapon" against marginalized people.

Hearing heckling and snickering from the chamber floor, Anchia responded: "I'm sorry that my profession of faith offends you. But it is mine and is not yours. I'm sorry the Bible offends so many. I'm sorry it caused the Holy Spirit, my profession of faith, caused one to get out of their seat and speak ill."

Anchia's speech, some parts aided with notes and others off the cuff, was reminiscent of recent public remarks by a younger Democrat, state Rep. James Talarico of Austin. At 36, Talarico is a divinity student and has used his social media platforms to link his progressive politics to religious doctrine. Earlier in the summer, he spent more than two and a half hours with podcaster Joe Rogan, who has a national reach and is a favorite of many young conservatives. The first hour was dominated by questions and answers about religion and faith.

Talarico, now in his fourth term, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate next year and is actively courting voters who have gravitated toward Republicans because they see little in the message of traditional Democrats that appeals to them.

It remains to be seen if embracing matters of faith and spirituality as Anchia and Talarico are doing can help the long out-of-power Texas Democrats attract more voters whose politics are rooted in religion. But it might at least give them a prayer.