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Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-16 - Withdrawn from calendar [HR85 Detail]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. |