Individual Rights
As a U.S. citizen who values individuality and freedom I will advocate for those rights in Texas as well. Here are my stances on a number of issues that are important to Texans far and wide.
Guns
A lot of Texans are curious about my stance on guns because I am a Democrat. My brother-in-law who is an avid gun collector asked me if I would take away his guns if I became Governor of Texas. I answered: “What for? I don’t want them. Keep your guns”
The possession of guns in Texas is a right secured under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Guns are culturally important to the state and they are tools that many need to protect themselves and their land. If you have ever encountered a feral hog in Texas while enjoying some of our beautiful scenery you know the importance of guns as a tool.
I respect all of our constitutional rights as Americans, but they are weighted with responsibilities. There have been too many deaths in Texas from the misuse of guns and other firearms and that needs to stop. When law enforcement officers are against the most recent expansion to gun rights that our state lawmakers have embraced, then, we have a problem. Cops don’t support those new laws and neither do I.
Voting Rights
As a woman, I don’t take my voting rights for granted. As a woman of color even more so. We must always strive towards strengthening the right to vote and not reverse the gains people have fought and died for. Women and people of color have been imprisoned, beaten, and murdered fighting for this right.
It is our fundamental right as citizens of a democracy to determine the elected leaders of our state and our country.
Elected officials have betrayed our trust when they have tried to make it harder for us to vote when they gerrymander districts to limit our electoral power, and try to scare us into thinking elections are not fair and honest. That is a betrayal of the faith we put in them when we elected them to office.
In 2019 the former Texas Secretary of State David Whitley, appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, engaged in voter purges of naturalized citizens. He attacked a vulnerable community and directly attacked the voting rights of my family. My husband is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Many like him were purged from voting rolls even though they had every right to vote. Can you imagine having your right to vote arbitrarily taken away? We were furious. We had every right to be. Perhaps you felt the same way.
Improper and ideologically based voter purges and voter restrictions that only serve to intimidate and even suppress the vote will be rolled back under my leadership.
I am not afraid of letting more people vote, why are other politicians? In my administration, we will ensure that everyone who is entitled to vote can vote. And we will make sure we have safe and secure elections in Texas because that is the foundation that the rest of our democracy is built on.
LGBTQIA+
The LGBTQIA+ community in Texas deserves equality under the law, and our state is still falling short. Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal, as federal rulings have made clear. To have the Texas Attorney General challenging that principle in court is shameful. We should be advancing the rights of LGBTQIA+ Texans, not fighting against them.
Housing discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation should be illegal everywhere in Texas, and gender identity should be a protected class under state hate crime laws. These changes are long overdue, and I intend to fight for them.
Texans should never have to face discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
As a mother of children who may be perceived as members of a minority group, I know the importance and value of being treated with dignity and respect. I know what that means for the future of my children. As public servants, we will serve every Texan, not just the ones we perceive as part of our tribe.
I will also fight for the rights of trans and non-binary student athletes. All kids deserve to play, be included and to be treated with dignity. They do not deserve to have their existence turned into a political issue. There is an unfolding process in sports’ governing bodies like the NCAA and the IOC to determine rules for the most elite athletes in the world. But that process should have nothing to do with whether a 9-year-old trans child gets to play soccer with their friends.
In a Joy Diaz administration, children will be respected. Full stop. A governor who bullies children doesn’t deserve your vote or mine.
Texas needs a fair, respectful system to allow participation and mediate disputes, as recommended by GLSEN. Other states have managed to serve the needs of their student athletes, and we can too.
Disability
How is it possible that Greg Abbott, Texas’ first governor with visible disabilities, has turned his back on the community of Texans with disabilities? It seems ideology is how Abbott rules, instead of having compassion for fellow Texans.
When I am elected governor, my administration will make Texas a more inclusive equitable state for people with disabilities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed more than three decades ago but Texas still can’t show significant progress in the way it treats people with disabilities. Under Abbott’s administration students in Special Education were underserved and suffered as a result. This is wrong, from the way we build in Texas, to the way the state offers services online and in person.