Bill Text: TX HR85 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Honoring Victor L. Holmes and Mark A. Phariss of Plano for their civic engagement and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-16 - Withdrawn from calendar [HR85 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR85-Introduced.html
| 88R9875 AMB-D | ||
| By: Plesa | H.R. No. 85 | |
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| WHEREAS, Victor L. Holmes and Mark A. Phariss of Plano have | ||
| made a lasting, positive difference through their advocacy for the | ||
| LGBTQ+ community; and | ||
| WHEREAS, A longtime couple, Vic Holmes and Mark Phariss were | ||
| two of the plaintiffs in DeLeon v. Abbott, a successful lawsuit | ||
| against the State of Texas that ended its prohibitions against | ||
| same-sex marriages; they also supported the right to marry by | ||
| filing amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. | ||
| Hodges and the Texas Supreme Court in Pidgeon v. Turner; their | ||
| stalwart efforts garnered national attention, and in 2017, the | ||
| University of North Texas Press published a book, Accidental | ||
| Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes, and Their Fight for Marriage | ||
| Equality in Texas; they wed on November 21, 2015; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Mr. Phariss has practiced business law in Texas for | ||
| 38 years; dedicated to civil rights, he has championed the Equality | ||
| Act and nondiscrimination ordinances in San Antonio and Plano; he | ||
| has served on the boards of such organizations as the Human Rights | ||
| Campaign, Equality Texas, and the Hendrick Scholarship Foundation; | ||
| in 2018, he became the first openly gay candidate to be nominated in | ||
| a contested party primary for a Texas Senate seat, and in the | ||
| general election, he carried the vote in Plano, Richardson, and | ||
| Dallas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, For more than two decades, including the Don't Ask, | ||
| Don't Tell era, Mr. Holmes served his country in the United States | ||
| Air Force, attaining the rank of major; today, he teaches aspiring | ||
| physician assistants as an associate professor at the University of | ||
| North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth; he serves as the | ||
| faculty advisor for Pride at UNTHSC, and he has shared his time and | ||
| talents with the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, among | ||
| them, Ed-U-Care Dallas, the LBGT PA Caucus, and the Coalition for | ||
| Aging LGBT; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Vic Holmes and Mark Phariss have demonstrated an | ||
| unyielding commitment to the advancement of human rights and the | ||
| LGBTQ+ community, and in so doing, they have earned the admiration | ||
| and appreciation of innumerable people; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby honor Victor L. Holmes and Mark A. Phariss for | ||
| their civic engagement and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community | ||
| and extend to them sincere best wishes for the future; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for Mr. Holmes and Mr. Phariss as an expression of high | ||
| regard by the Texas House of Representatives. | ||
