The state of Texas, located in the south in the United States, contains a large community of LGBTQ+ citizens. More specifically, the city Austin, Texas has the third largest population of LGBTQ+ people based on the size of the city. Austin, Texas, and Texas in general, is home to several icons of the LGBTQ+ community such as Karamo Brown, co-founder of the LGBTQ+ group "Queer Eye" and Demi Lovato, a queer artist and activist. There is history of heavy violence against the LGBTQ+ community within Texas such as riots, as well as liberation and parades celebrating those within the community. 20th century 1972–2000 In 1972, an LGBTQ+ couple was denied the right to marriage. During this year, it was not illegal, but it was uncommon and deemed inappropriate and then denied by the state. In 1973, same-sex marriage was then deemed as illegal, and marriage licenses could only be issued to couples who were of a man and a woman. In 1975, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, the oldest southern LGBT rights organization is founded. In 1979, Houston Gay Pride Parade was first held in Neartown, Houston. The Texas Democratic Party added certain LGBTQ+ rights to the party's platform in 1980. The 1984 federal Supreme Court decision in Gay Student Services v. Texas A&M University upheld the requirement for public universities to uphold the First Amendment rights of students. In 1986, Baker v. Wade resulted in a short-lived blow against Texas' sodomy law. This was ultimately overturned in the same year by Bowers v. Hardwick, a Georgia federal case which criminalized sodomy as a non-private act, and SCOTUS refused to hear appeal regarding Baker v Wade. In 1997, the Texas legislature prohibited the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The 1999 state Supreme Court case Littleton v. Prange annulled transsexual marriages in the state. 21st century In 2001, Governor Rick Perry signed the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, which criminalized violent or coercive action against other Texas residents on various immutable traits, including sexual orientation. Gender identity was not included in this legislation. The 2003 landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Lawrence v. Texas nullified all remaining sodomy laws in the United States. However, Texas Penal Code § 21.06 is retained without legal effect. Perry criticized the decision and called the sodomy law "appropriate". In 2003, the legislature enacted a statute that made