HRC announced its endorsement of Mark Phariss to represent Senate District 8 in the Texas State Senate.

“Mark Phariss will fight for all of his constituents -- no matter who they are or whom they love -- if he is elected to the Texas State Senate,” said HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse. “We are proud to endorse Mark’s candidacy and look forward to working with him in the Texas Legislature, where he would be the first openly gay state senator in the Lone Star State. Following an especially tough year for LGBTQ Texans, Mark’s voice is needed now more than ever in Austin.”

Mark has been a civil rights advocate for the past 20 years. He fought for pro-equality legislation, like the Equality Act and non-discrimination ordinances in San Antonio and Plano, and against harmful, anti-LGBTQ legislation. He has served on the boards of numerous organizations that have advanced equality, including the Board of Governors of the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Texas. In the fight for marriage equality, Mark and his husband, Vic Holmes, were one of the two couples who successfully sued the State of Texas for marriage equality, and they filed amicus briefs supporting marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges. This endorsement follow another Dallas-area HRC endorsement, for Julie Johnson, who is running for Texas State Representative in Texas House District 115.