- Today on "Austin InSight," transgender Texans are getting lots of attention from the state legislature.

We look at some proposed policies and their impact.

Plus, Austin is getting a new convention center, but do we really need one?

"Austin InSight" starts right now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hi, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

They comprise a very small portion of the population, but are getting lots of attention from state lawmakers.

We're talking about people who are transgender, an acutely marginalized community according to human rights advocates.

One advocacy publication calls Texas, quote, "the epicenter of transphobic attacks."

Here in Austin, a recent Day of Visibility event brought attention to the challenges the transgender community faces, including what one advocate calls the hostile environment in Texas.

- Our political climate in Texas is definitely quite hostile towards trans people.

It has been for a while.

And we also know so deeply that that doesn't represent Texas and its people.

- According to news reports, 59 bills have been filed in the legislature that propose different restrictions on people who are transgender.

Transgender advocates describe many of these bills as harmful.

Policy impacting transgender individuals made it to the priority list for this session for Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, including restrictions on transgender athletes' participation in college sports.

Here are a few of the proposals: a bill that would require all high school and college athletes to undergo a chromosome test to confirm sex; a bill to require use of public bathrooms per the sex indicated on your original birth certificate; a proposal to outlaw identifying as transgender on official documents, which the bill calls, quote, "gender identity fraud;" a proposal to expand the ban on gender-related medical care like hormones or surgeries to adults, not just minors; and a bill that would prohibit public school employees from using a transgender student's preferred pronouns.

No other state has seen as much proposed legislation as we have in Texas.

Joining us to discuss the potential impact is Landon Richie, the public policy expert for the Transgender Education Network of Texas.

Landon, thanks so much for being here.

- Yeah, thank you for having me on.

- So Landon, we wanna talk to you.

What's your overall reaction to the quantity of proposals, which suggests a lot of energy from lawmakers on the transgender community, even though they make up less than half of 1% of the population?

- Yeah, you're absolutely correct.

There is an outsized focus on an already very marginalized, very vulnerable community, especially in Texas.

But we have also seen this trend over the last 10-plus years.

Session after session, there is an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and every session, there is an increase in the number of bills and the proportion of those bills that target trans and gender-expansive Texans especially.

And so while 205 and over 200-plus bills targeting our community is alarming, it's also not unexpected for what we have seen over the past few years.

- And let's break down one in particular this session.

How would the Gender Identity Fraud Bill impact the transgender community in Texas?

- Yeah, so this bill is receiving a lot of media attention and we want folks to understand that not every bill that is proposed has an equal chance of becoming law.

There are various stops in the process and a lot of interpersonal relationships under the dome inside the Capitol that impact how far a bill actually goes.

And so while this one and others similarly situated are very alarming and people should be alarmed about them, the reality is a lot of these bills are legislators trying to make names for themselves and using the trans community to get their name in the headlines, to have a piece of legislation with their name behind it, right?

And so that's what we're seeing with a lot of these bills.

This one in particular, the very fact of criminalizing somebody's existence would have detrimental impacts on, like you mentioned already and is worth emphasizing, a very marginalized community who, like any other Texan, just wants to exist as ourselves in public and private life with access to the same resources, the same safety, the same protections, and the same opportunities and ability to be who we are in the state that we call home.

- And you brought up a point that over the years, various bills have made a lot of noise, but yet ultimately failed.

Let's talk about 2017.

The so-called Bathroom Bill failed.

But it seems like the momentum has shifted since then.

In your view, why is that?

- In Texas with SB 6, there was a large pushback from companies and businesses and the economic sector and ultimately that helped to kill that bill.

And we are seeing it again, like you said.

But this is on the heels of the attacks on trans athletes and making it more acceptable in the public view to treat trans people as a second class, as not a population that should be included with other sectors of the population, namely cis people and especially in sports.

And so we have a more willing populace and the legislature is aware of that and aware of the success that they've had with framing, harming the trans community in the way of sports, to then bring it back and apply it to bathrooms, which we also knew was going to come around.

They were using sports, just as it was never about kids, it was never about sports.

It was about relegating trans and gender-expansive people to positions of second-class citizenship.

- So right now, that being said, what are you going to do on your end to respond and what's your advice to the transgender community here in Texas and what should they expect in practical terms from this very noisy legislative session?

- In terms of the session as a whole, being trans or queer, gender-expansive in Texas, what's gonna be really important now especially, but also after the session when we see what bills passed and which bills are being sent to the governor's desk, is to tap into support organizations like TENT, like Equality Texas, like other legal organizations that are going to be on the front lines challenging a lot of these bills if they do pass and become law because they are, frankly, discriminatory and targeted towards a particular community.

They can try to legislate out of existence, which they are trying to, but we will exist in spite and despite that and have always existed even up against worse odds and more difficult times.

Our elders, we look to them, and we know that when they were our age, when they were younger, the political climate was not dissimilar from this and there were even fewer legal protections or recognitions for our community then.

And so we are seeing a resurgence of those attacks of wanting to strip people of our livelihoods, but we know that another world is possible and we will create that and see that for ourselves.

- Well, this has certainly been a legislative session we have watched closely and we will continue to watch.

Landon, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your thoughts with us.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - State policy already impacting the transgender community includes blocking changes to gender designation on driver's licenses.

But according to a recent report from "The Texas Newsroom," a public radio news outlet, the state is collecting information on people who seek to change their gender, but they won't say why.

Investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy joins us now with more on this.

Lauren, thanks so much for joining us.

- Thanks for having me.

- So, Lauren, can you tell us what information is the state collecting and how are they collecting it?

- So anytime someone wants to change the sex marker on their driver's license, you have to get a court order to do that.

This has been happening for more than a decade, trans people have been getting these orders and then going to the driver's license department like any of us were and updating their sex marker.

Now when that sex marker change is submitted to DPS, they're actually funneling that information to a special internal email address and that information is being collected.

And we asked them why this is happening, why they're creating a special repository for this information, and they didn't return any of our emails.

- So just to confirm, in your reporting, you say it's not clear what the state is doing with this information, but do you have any insight on that and if people should be concerned about what they may be using this information for?

- Sure, so Republican officials in the state of Texas have been trying to collect information on transgender people for a long time.

People might remember a few years ago there was a report in "The Washington Post" that Attorney General Ken Paxton wanted DPS to turn over information on people who might be transgender according to their driver's licenses, they'd updated their sex marker.

That didn't happen at the time, but now they've found a new way to do that by blocking this policy and then reporting anyone who requests such a change.

We know that since the policy change went into effect in August that at least 80 people have been reported to this internal email server at DPS.

We just got that new information about a week ago, so it's about twice as much as what we thought just a few weeks ago.

- And since you're reporting, what response are you hearing from the state and from the transgender community?

- So the state hasn't responded to any of our emails.

We've reached out to the Governor's Office, to the attorney general, to DPS, and we've gotten no response, not even an acknowledgement that we asked any questions.

And you can guess that the trans community is coming to us in droves asking, "What should I do?

How do I know if I'm on the list?

How do I know they've collected my information?"

When we got these records back, all of the personal identifiable information for people like names, driver's license, all that was redacted.

So all we have is the sheer number of people who've been reported, but we don't actually know their identities.

And I would, you know, I told these individuals who reached out to me and I would tell anyone watching who's trans that if you request a change to your gender marker on your birth certificate or your driver's license now, it's very likely, in fact, it's probable, that you will be reported to this internal collection department.

So if that is something you're not comfortable with, since we don't know what they're doing with that information, then you probably shouldn't update those documents at this time.

- And that is a frightening concept that this information is being used and no one knows for and they're not responding to your messaging.

You've clearly done a lot of digging on this story, and previously, changing sex identification on driver's license was allowed.

What happened?

- Well, we've seen the LGBT community, especially the transgender community in Texas, come under the microscope a lot more in the last few years.

In the last legislative session in 2023, there were half a dozen new laws passed to whittle away at the rights of transgender people here in the state of Texas.

And I think that this change was probably a long time coming.

State officials have tried to legislate this.

As I said, the attorney general's tried to get this information in the past and they've just decided to make the change at the agency level and move forward with it.

Now, we are trying to get more information about why this is happening, the scope.

We're trying to understand whether this internal list that has been created of this 80-plus people so far is being shared with any other agencies, with any private individuals, with the federal government.

So we're filing more records requests.

We're getting more information every day.

But right now it's a big question mark.

And it's just part and parcel of this broader effort to whittle away at the rights of LGBTQ people here in Texas and especially the transgender community.

- And the transgender community has been a huge topic of conversation this legislative session.

We will definitely continue to stay tuned for what you report next.

Lauren, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your perspective.

- You're welcome.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Looking around the world now, after three years of conflict, hundreds of thousands have been wounded or killed in the war in Ukraine, including journalists.

One of them actually has a connection to Austin.

Brent Renaud, an American journalist and documentary filmmaker, was the first foreign journalist killed in the war after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle on March 13th, 2022.

His brother Craig Renaud, also a documentary filmmaker, lives here in Austin and he's created a new film telling his brother's story called "Armed Only With A Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud."

Last month I spoke with Craig about the documentary before it premiered at South by Southwest.

But we have to warn you, some of the subject matter may be disturbing.

(upbeat music) Next week marks three years since Brent's death.

So first I wanna ask, how are you and how is your family doing?

- We're doing good.

Yeah, it'll be three years on March 13th.

So I think finishing this film is a positive step for me and our family.

It's closure.

- And why was it important for you to make this film and release it now?

- Just when it happened, you know, I knew that I had to go over to get my brother from Ukraine and we've covered war zones for 20 years together and it just seemed like the natural thing to do to pick up the camera and take a camera with me to tell that story.

I think it also helped me process and deal with what I had to deal with of bringing my brother back.

But mainly I just wanted to honor my brother and just let the world know how compassionate he was, how good of a filmmaker he was.

- It was so poignant getting to see you two growing up, scenes from your childhood in Arkansas, and then hearing Brent reveal that he had autism.

So how did he handle having autism and reporting in war zones in some of the most dangerous, chaotic places on earth?

My own brother's on the spectrum and so it's just truly incredible.

- Mm-hm.

Yeah, it's not something that was talked about a lot.

You know, I mean, he says it in the film, growing up as kids at that time, it wasn't something that parents were even aware of.

It really wasn't something that was discussed until maybe a year or two before he died.

It was something that he started talking about.

But it wasn't something that was front and center for him.

It was just something that he was coming to terms with and dealing with.

- And who knows who may be inspired in the next generation of filmmakers by him having courage to reveal?

You made a point to include and to not hold back images of Brent in the immediate aftermath of his death.

Brent in the casket.

Why was that important for you to show that?

- Yeah, there's a moment in the film where I'm asked by a colleague, Christof Putzel, who was there filming with me behind the camera, he said, "Why are you doing this?"

And it was something that Brent believed in, of not shying away from what war does to people and the violence that surrounds it.

So I didn't feel like it'd be appropriate for me to treat it any differently than we would've treated a documentary.

Going to war, it's something that we've always done as verite filmmakers.

You know, we're there to report the truth and to capture what we see.

And I did want people to realize what happened to my brother.

You know, he was ambushed, he was killed by Russian soldiers, and that's the reality of what happened to him.

So we didn't wanna hold back with this film.

- Did you ever, in the years since, have you ever gotten an answer as to why the Russian soldiers opened fire like they did?

- Not an exact answer, but my brother was the first American journalist killed at the beginning of the Ukraine war, but after him, there was many more killed.

And it's a problem worldwide that there's been over a hundred journalists killed every year since my brother died.

And at that time, in Irpin and in the capital, Russian soldiers had just started invading the area and taking over certain areas and then they were targeting civilians and targeting journalists, and my brother, I think we underestimated the danger at the time.

You know, we've been to so many different war zones and Brent was going to focus on people fleeing.

It's tragic, but also just a realization of Brent died doing exactly what he set out to do on this earth, which was tell people's stories in a compassionate way.

- When people see this, what do you hope they take away?

- The impact of war and the importance of journalism right now.

You know, I feel like journalism is under attack from many different angles.

You have to be able to go into places and report the truth without being a target.

So I hope people see this film and see the graphic nature of what happened to my brother and realize how important journalism is, and truth telling and documentary filmmaking has a big role in that.

(upbeat music) - The film will air on HBO.

And fun fact, Craig Renaud is actually the filmmaker behind the "Southern Storytellers" series that aired right here on PBS.

Back here at home, as of last week, Austin's Convention Center is officially closed and soon to be demolished to make way for a new facility in a project called Unconventional ATX.

The convention center team recently revealed images of the new center's design.

It's set to open in 2029 and it will nearly double the amount of space to 620,000 square feet.

It will be the world's first zero-carbon certified convention center and will be walkable to popular entertainment areas like Rainey Street, 6th Street, and Red River.

Tourism leaders say replacing the more than 30-year-old existing center will make Austin more competitive to host large conventions and be good for the local economy.

But the project comes with some criticism.

Some Austinites are concerned about the price tag of $1.6 billion and about a recent controversy regarding preserving artwork in the existing center, among other things.

A documentary film called "The Magic Hole" released in February was highly critical of the new center.

- The long-term trends are downward.

Huge convention centers is an outdated business model.

This is a '60s era business model that really went into terminal decline in the '90s and has been accelerating ever since.

(gentle music) - [Speaker] What we've seen is a persistent long-term decline.

The business is not what it used to be.

- Joining us now is Katy Zamesnik, assistant director at the Austin Convention Center.

Katy, thanks so much for being here.

- Thank you for having.

- So, Katy, you're no doubt familiar with the concerns and the criticisms outlined in that documentary and from others, but can we start with this?

Why would you say Austin needs a new convention center?

- Yeah, thank you for that question.

So, as you know, we are the 11th largest city in the country.

Unfortunately, our convention center is only the 61st largest.

When we do the new convention center, we will actually be the 35th largest.

As it stands right now, we actually turn away about 50% of the business leads that we receive at the convention center.

So that means that we have to say no to a lot of that economic impact that would be coming into the city.

That also means saying no to revenue that comes into our bars and our restaurants.

That means saying no to sales tax that would come into the city, all of that tourism that really helps boost the economy within the city limits of Austin.

So with the new convention center, we're gonna really be able to say yes to all of that business, to layer in those business.

So we'll be able to host multiple events at the same time, host those larger events, and really just turn those nos into yeses and boost that economic impact in the city limits.

- And let's talk more about that.

That being said, one of the major concerns, of course, is that the convention industry overall is in decline and that it's not gonna return ultimately to pre-COVID levels ever and therefore maybe the facility is not needed.

What would you say to someone who might say that to you?

- Yeah, I would say that's really not true.

We've seen coming out of COVID the huge resurgence.

We rebounded very quickly out of COVID.

Our hotel tax numbers returned from pre-COVID levels I think by 2022.

So we hit record numbers year over year, beginning around 2020 FY, or in fiscal year 2022, and have continued to grow ever since then.

Even before we released the new renderings of the new convention center, we had events banging on our door wanting to book contracts for the new facility.

So events have, people wanna meet, they will always wanna meet.

You do have a component of that remote, but business is done in person and people continue, there's a valuable component to having that in-person meeting and you see that and we continue to see that.

And we've hosted many large events since COVID and we'll continue to do so with the new center.

- And everyone just wants to be in Austin, right?

- That's exactly right.

We were just listed the number eight destination for events in the country.

- Wow, go us.

- Yeah, it's incredible.

And we hope to climb once we get the new convention center open in 2029.

- But you did bring up another concern though, hotel occupancy tax, also, as you said, the HOT tax.

So opponents of the new center argue that the convention center gets far too large a share of those funds and more should go to cultural activities like live music, et cetera.

That means using the tourism tax on things that draw tourists to Austin.

What say you to that?

- So state law is really clear about what hotel occupancy tax can be spent on.

And so the city has allocated the full amount under state law to go to historic preservation and cultural arts.

So it's 15% for each of those buckets.

And so we do allocate the full amount for both of those.

And I would say that a very successful convention center and our business model seeks to maximize hotel tax.

And so that means that we offer discounts to those events that will bring in more hotel tax.

And so we are trying to contribute even more.

And so a larger, expanded convention center that will host more events, that will generate more hotel tax, means that we are contributing more to cultural arts and to heritage tourism within the city.

And so that's sort of where I think, it's where our success sort of rises all and generates more revenue for everybody.

- And you've touched on this, but talking about generating more revenue for everyone and the new center's impact on the city, how specifically will this change downtown?

And can you elaborate on how it will benefit all of the city and not just the hotel sector?

- Yeah, I mean, have you seen the new renderings of the building?

It's going to be absolutely incredible.

So the new building, we're removing that barrier from east and west, right?

So right now we're big six city block that just, we hulk in downtown.

And what is happening now, we're reopening that street grid.

So 2nd and 3rd Street are gonna be open.

3rd street's gonna be multimodal.

So you'll be able to drive your car.

We're gonna have an outdoor event space out there.

We are gonna have a lot of greenery where we're tying into Waterloo Greenway.

You're gonna be able to walk down Caesar Chavez and walk into the area and walk through and around and just really reconnect.

And so what we're hoping, you know, that everyone's gonna come to love this building because it's not going to feel like a convention center.

It's going to feel like it's connected back into the city grid.

We're gonna have retail space in the new facility and so that's gonna kind of make it more of a 24/7 destination, which it's really not right now.

And then when you combine that with what's happening with 35 and with Project Connect coming in, there's gonna be a train station right there, I think it's really gonna transform and just be a draw not only for our visitors, but for our locals as well.

- Sure.

And definitely it's gonna be a huge undertaking, so we appreciate you breaking it down and speaking with us today.

- Absolutely.

It's my pleasure.

(upbeat music) - Before we go, we want to acknowledge Tom Spencer, a pioneering member of the Austin PBS staff.

He joined the station in 1982 and worked at various roles through 2019, when he suffered a stroke.

Tom died last week at the age of 68.

You may know him from his time as the host of "Central Texas Gardener."

Before that, he helped launch and host one of the first public affairs programs here, "Austin at Issue."

He's also remembered for his many contributions to the local community and environmental causes.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom's friends, family, and colleagues.

And that's our show for this week.

Thank you again for joining us.

You can watch our stories at the Austin PBS YouTube channel and, of course, all of our episodes are available for free in the PBS app.

We'll see you next time.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(bright music)