Every morning, we send you a free email packed with Austin news, business, and entertainment. Join 16,000+ readers who wake up to Austonia's newsletter.
Local news and fun, every day 6am.
Featured
austonia newsletter
Most viewed
SXSW announces virtual festival with possible in-person event for 2021
While this years SXSW festival was canceled, it will return next year.
South by Southwest announced Tuesday it will include online programming as part of its 2021 festival, but has not eliminated the possibility of an in-person portion of the event.
According to an announcement on the SXSW website, SXSW Online will be "a digital experience featuring conference keynotes and sessions, screenings, showcases and much more." SXSW Online will take place from March 16-20.
SXSW is working with the City of Austin and public health officials to make plans for an in-person event, though no details have been announced yet.
The festival will be preceded by SXSW EDU, a branch that focuses on all things education, from March 9-11. SXSW will accept "Panel Picker" events for both SXSW and SXSW EDU. Applications will be accepted from Oct. 6-16.
SXSW will not accept applications for the music festival this year, as it will be "curated by programming staff with priority given to showcase presenters and artists who were scheduled for the 2020 event."
However, the Film Festival will still accept applications for Feature Film, Short Film, Episodic, Music Video, Virtual Cinema, Texas High School Short and Title Sequence from Oct. 6-28.
SXSW 2020 was cancelled at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 6, a week before the event was supposed to begin.
- Nearly 100 Austin festivals canceled, postponed or at risk as ... ›
- Reeling from canceled festivals, Austin's small businesses find new ... ›
- SXSW sued over no-refund policy after 2020 cancellation - austonia ›
- Austin musician Jackie Venson hits 1.5 million live streams - austonia ›
- SXSW announces virtual annual event with Keynote Willie Nelson - austonia ›
- Austin Rodeo cancels ProRodeo for the second year - austonia ›
- SXSW Music Festival announces showcasing artists - austonia ›
- Oprah confirmed to kick off SXSW EDU - austonia ›
- What to expect at SXSW virtual 2021 festival - austonia ›
- These 27 Austin musicians are taking over the SXSW stage - austonia ›
- SXSW hands out 50% stake to out-of-town owner after losses - austonia ›
Popular
(Paxton Smith/Instagram)
Paxton Smith’s 2021 valedictory speech at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas wasn’t the same speech she had previously shared with school administrators. She dropped the approved speech and made a case for women’s reproductive rights after lawmakers passed the Texas "Heartbeat Bill.”
Her advocacy made news on NPR, YouTubeTV and in The Guardian. Just over a year later, the “war on (women’s) rights” she forewarned has come to a head as the U.S. Supreme Court voted Friday morning to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection for abortion access.
“It is up to the people to show up and show the courts and the politicians that we won’t sit back and let this happen,” Smith told Austonia Friday morning. “We will show up, we will fight back. Before, we were scared of them, now they should be scared of us.”
Now a University of Texas sophomore and abortion rights activist, 19-year-old Smith said she wanted to give the same speech in the “the most public way possible” to reach “as many people as possible who don't agree that I deserve this right.”
However, she says the response was “actually overwhelmingly positive” and supportive of her cause. According to a recent UT poll, 78% of Texas voters support abortion access in most cases.
The speech opened up further opportunities for activism: she advocated for reproductive rights at the International Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, interviewed with Variety magazine and spoke to tens of thousands at Austin’s Bans Off Our Bodies protest at the Texas Capitol in May.
Smith also serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a national nonprofit organization that helps fund abortions or medication abortion—like Plan C pills—in all 50 states. Most recently, Smith has been attending protests in Washington, D.C. leading up to the ruling.
“This is land of the free. This is where you get to choose how you live your life,” Smith said. “Overturning Roe v. Wade violates everything that we have come to believe about what it means to live in this country. I think a lot of people aren't willing to accept that this is a human right that is most likely just going to be gone for over half of the country within the next couple of weeks.”
Bracing for the next steps, Smith gave some tips for supporters:
- Find a protest to attend.
- “I would say invite somebody to go to those protests with you, invite a couple of friends, invite people into the movement,” Smith said.
- Talk about the issue on social media—use the platform you have.
- “Have these kinds of conversations where people can just talk about their fears and then find ways to go and advocate for yourself,” Smith said.
- Volunteer at a nonprofit near you.
“I feel like a lot of the reason things have gotten as bad as they have within the abortion rights world is that people are not making a scene, not protesting, not putting the effort into ensuring that the government doesn't take away this right,” Smith said. “I want to emphasize that if you're not doing anything, don't expect the best scenario, expect the worst because that's the direction that we're going in.”
- U.S. Supreme Court allows legal challenges to proceed on abortion ... ›
- Most restrictive abortion law in U.S. affects Texas women - austonia ›
- U.S. Supreme Court rules there's no right to abortion, setting up ... ›
- 78% of Texas voters think abortion should be allowed in some form ... ›
- Texas' growth may be slowed by abortion ban, poll reports - austonia ›
(Council Member Chito Vela/Twitter)
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion, Friday morning. Moments later, Austin City Council set a special meeting for next month to pass a resolution aimed at decriminalizing abortion.
The GRACE Act, which stands for guarding the right to abortion care for everyone, is a twofold plan submitted by council member Jose “Chito” Vela. It recommends that city funds shouldn’t be used to surveil, catalog, report or investigate abortions. It also recommends that police make investigating abortion their lowest priority.
Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who co-sponsored the resolution along with council members Paige Ellis, Kathie Tovo and Mayor Steve Adler, said the importance of the GRACE Act cannot be overstated.
“By introducing this resolution during a special session, City Council is doubling down on fighting back for reproductive health,” Fuentes said. “Items like the GRACE Act will promote essential healthcare while enabling individuals to exercise their bodily freedom.”
The act takes an approach similar to when former council member Greg Casar moved to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Ultimately, state law doesn't allow city officials to order police chiefs to adopt specific enforcement policies so the resolution would be a request to Police Chief Joe Chacon. In May, Politico reported that Vela is having "ongoing conversations" with Chacon about the proposal.
Austonia contacted Attorney General Ken Paxton for comment on the GRACE Act but did not hear back by time of publication. On Friday, Paxton celebrated the overturning of Roe and announced an annual office holiday on June 24 in recognition of the high court's decision.
In a press release, Vela said the Texas state government has a history of overturning municipal protections of human rights. Thirty days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Texas will ban all abortions, with exceptions only to save the life of a pregnant patient or prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function.”
Still, Vela expressed hope for the GRACE Act’s longevity. Council’s special meeting on it is set for the week of July 18.
“We know this resolution is legally sound, and Austin is not alone in this fight,” Vela said. “We are working with several other cities who are equally horrified by the prospect of an abortion ban and want to do everything they can to protect their residents.”
- Tesla offers travel support for employees leaving home state for ... ›
- Vela plans resolution to prevent police from investigating abortion ... ›
- 78% of Texas voters think abortion should be allowed in some form ... ›
- Texas' growth may be slowed by abortion ban, poll reports - austonia ›
- Most restrictive abortion law in U.S. affects Texas women - austonia ›
- U.S. Supreme Court allows legal challenges to proceed on abortion ... ›
- Texas law banning abortion as early as six weeks goes into effect as ... ›
