Texas Lawmakers vs. Imaginary Furries. By The Barbed Wire

Howdy, partners in doomscrolling. I’m Brian Gaar, senior editor of The Barbed Wire, here with more updates as our state legislature nears the finish line of another really good session (especially if you’re a private school family tired of not getting taxpayer dollars).

But buried between all the political whiplash and cowboy cosplay, there’s still nuance, cultural reflection, and yes, the occasional accidental act of decency.

Let’s start off with a story that will make you sigh for a solid minute: Our state leaders are trying to make laws based on internet rumors! Yes, lawmakers this legislative session pushed the F.U.R.R.I.E.S. Act to stop students from roleplaying as animals in classrooms — a crisis that doesn’t exist and never did. 

The bill, based on right-wing propaganda and zero evidence, died in committee, but not before wasting time in the latest round of Texas' war on public schools.

Meanwhile, the Texas House voted to repeal a long-defunct 1973 law that criminalized “homosexual conduct.” But before you pop the champagne, it still needs to pass the Senate, which is run by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is a big fan of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. 

So, yeah, Texas hasn’t exactly turned blue.

In arts news, filmmaker Margaret Brown revisits her 2004 documentary, “Be Here to Love Me,” a heartbreakingly honest portrait of Texas’ patron saint of melancholy, Townes Van Zandt.

And we look at the legacy of John S. Chase, Texas’ first licensed Black architect. Chase, who would have turned 100 this year, broke barriers in architecture while designing for and within Black communities. 

Churches Helped John S. Chase Become Texas’ First Licensed Black Architect. Now, They’re Landmarks

On Sunday, the Boynton Chapel Methodist Church unveiled its Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Marker, thanks in part to the late Black architect who designed it.

By James Russell

In 1957, when the pastor of Boynton Chapel Methodist Church was looking for a larger facility, the congregation of the church in Houston’s Third Ward settled on a young Black architect to design it. 

John Saunders Chase, who would have turned 100 this year, was the first licensed Black architect in Texas and preached the gospel of modernism throughout a career full of firsts. Chase was influenced by modernists like Frank Lloyd Wright and acclaimed Black California architect Paul Revere Williams. However, Black churches of that era kept to neo-Gothic designs. Pitching modern design defined by its simplicity, straight lines, and geometric shapes could have been a waste of time. To the small congregation, it was a hit. 

A year later, the resulting church was unlike any other building in the area. Visitors would drive by to check out the structure that — if not for the bell tower, stained glass, and sign above the entrance — could have very well been an office building.

Rev. Linda Davis, who has led the church for nearly nine years, said that’s still the case. 

“We are a small congregation, but I tell people that we are very mighty as it relates to our historical significance. You see it in the work he’s done here,” Davis said, referring to Chase. “A lot of people drive by just to see it.”

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