In 1999, Republican state Sen. J.E. 'Buster' Brown was accused of making unwanted sexual advances to a 20-year-old former employee.
In 2011, when two female representatives got into a debate about a bill, male lawmakers screeched 'meow.' That same year, then-state Rep. Mike 'Tuffy' Hamilton, a Republican, asked a female colleague on the House floor a question about her breasts. "Young lady," he said, "would you please tell us why your mountains are better than any of our mountains, and are they man-made or are they real mountains?"
That same year, a lobbying group created flyers protesting a bill Thompson introduced to change rules for certain insurance programs. The flyers showed a baby breast-feeding and said the legislation would 'expand the nanny state.'
In an impassioned speech, Thompson again told her colleagues she wouldn't tolerate disrespect. "And men," she said, "if you don't stand up for women today, don't you walk in this chamber tomorrow."
Gaining Power
For a while, Texas women seemed to be gaining power. The state elected its second female governor, Ann Richards, in 1990. But she was the last. Howard said women have struggled to get leadership roles since. No Texas woman has ever served as Senate president or House speaker.
Richards, a Democrat, worked her way to the top, serving first as a county commissioner and the state's treasurer. But her campaign for governor was said to get a boost not by something she did, but by something her male competitor, Clayton Williams, a Republican, said.
Surrounded by reporters at his ranch, Williams compared the day's bad, rainy weather to rape. "If it's inevitable," he said, "just relax and enjoy it." After that comment, his lead dwindled and Richards won.
Electing more women to state legislatures may help reduce some of the masculine cultures that allows discrimination to proliferate, Sinzdak said. In many state capitols, men take advantage of time away from home to create a 'fraternity-like atmosphere.'
Some female state legislators say they avoid certain situations, such as evening receptions or social hours, out of fear of harassment, Sinzdak said, and they know that holds women back. Those gatherings are often when important conversations take place.
"Policy gets decided on the golf course or at the bar," she said.
In Texas, men ? purposefully or not ? often leave women out of important discussions, Howard said. "We have to work harder to get a seat at the table. But if it means we have to bring our own chair to the table then so be it."
Thompson said she has a harder time raising money than her white male colleagues in part because she's a woman and she's black. Female lawmakers across the country report that it's harder for them to fundraise than men, although research shows no gender disparity.
There are times when a woman is overlooked for a committee chair seat, Thompson said, or is replaced in a chair seat with a man with less experience.
"A lot of times you see committees and you say, 'Why didn't this committee member get to be chair, or vice chair' " she said. "And then here's a man, there's a man, here's a man, there's a man."
Emerge America's Gholar says balancing the makeup of legislatures will not only reduce discrimination but also change the policy discussion and the type of state laws that are enacted.
In Nevada, for example, the organization helped five Democratic women get elected in 2016. This year, the state ratified the Equal Rights Amendment.
In Texas, Thompson proposed an amendment that created the state's first alimony law, and authored bills that were enacted into law requiring insurers to cover more forms of birth control, HPV screening and mammograms. She agrees that having women around changes the conversation. And she is hopeful that the movement this year will bring full respect for women, and an end to harassment.
"I am really optimistic that the squeeze will be worth the juice."
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