An unseasonable cold and rainy spell drifted through Austin on Friday, as attendees poured into the SXSW conference in person for the first time in two years. But that’s not the only storm brewing as marquee names and business leaders from Hollywood, tech, music, and media step foot in Texas.
Fallout from two incendiary state issues – one being executive orders that target trans children and their families, the other a ban on abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat – is front and center for activists on the ground, and their outspoken advocates in power circles from those influential industries.
As SXSW attendees queued for the hour-long credentials line at the Austin Convention Center Friday, news broke that the Texas Supreme Court dealt a lethal blow to a lawsuit from the state’s abortion providers hoping to declare the ban unconstitutional. Just outside the conference registration hall, Planned Parenthood volunteers stood in clusters on the sidewalk, telling people, “We need you.”
Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson spoke to PvNew ahead of the conference, which tapped her as a keynote speaker last fall as the abortion restrictions intensified.
“We are six and a half months into this, and it’s having a devastating effect. We’ve seen an 800% increase in people traveling out of state to get access to abortion. Think about that not just in percentages, but what it means for someone to take off from work, identify childcare, eldercare, hotels, and going thousands of miles to the nearest abortion clinic outside of Texas,” McGill Johnson said.
The CEO visited Houston last week to meet with providers, she said, where she was distressed to learn of women unable to seek out-of-state care.
“The undocumented patients who can’t travel, children in foster care – yes, children — who can’t get out. There is also a ripple effect in hospitals where patients have intended pregnancies that have gone awry. Those doctors are afraid to treat them with abortion as healthcare because they are afraid of what it could mean for them and the hospital administration. They are essentially sending women home until they get sicker,” she said.
Festivals like SXSW are rarely immune to social justice issues. Following the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, Sundance saw marches and rallies over multiple years centering on women’s issues and themes of respect. On the ground at SXSW, the conference is taking the issues to the main stage.
This includes a panel this Sunday titled “Trans Texans Need Us: Hear From the Front Lines.” The conversation is an urgent one, as the nation continues to reel from a decision by Gov. Greg Abbott to call on child protective services and private citizens to report families that appear to be supporting children undergoing “elective procedures for gender transitioning.” Abbott also pledged that other state agencies would investigate these issues.
“If you asked any mental health professional, they’d tell you that support from our community and our family and friends is one of the biggest indicators to reduce your risk of drug use, suicide, and homelessness,” said Diamond Stylz, a trans activist, organizer and podcast host who will appear on the Sunday panel. “One of the first indicators is, do you have community? Do you have family? Do you have somebody there to support you to block those things.”
In light of this, Stylz said, it “makes this type of rhetoric coming from conservatives even more egregious, because we finally see some parents who are stepping up and showing unconditional love. Then you have the nerve to threaten to send CPS to their house to investigate and harass them.”
Both McGill Johnson and Stylz have messages for the power players, movies stars and business titans currently arriving in Austin.
“I want them to take away the fact that abortion is your business. By this summer, a Supreme Court decision could mean that we will see state after state strip away from people the right to control their bodies,” McGill Johnson said. “We’re talking about 26 states, 36 million women. I think we all have a role to play in making freedom our business. — whether you run a company, you drive advertising or tech, or you are someone who wants your company to speak up.We need people to stand on this issue.”
Stylz said she wanted state leadership and their supporters to be aware that she is ready on the battle lines.
“We’ve been in this fight, we’re ready for this fight,” said Stylz, referencing what she called “ancestors” in the LGBTQ community. “We have been passed the torch and this is our time.”
