Rep. Joe Straus makes remarks after being being sworn in for his fifth term as speaker of the Texas House on Jan. 10, 2017. Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune

During a Tuesday interview on Texas Standard, a statewide news magazine based out of KUT Austin, author Lawrence Wright talked with The Texas Tribune‘s Alana Rocha about “America’s Future is Texas,” his latest piece in The New Yorker.

In the article, Wright – a longtime staff writer for the magazine – includes the following quote from House Speaker Joe Straus about the “bathroom bill,” controversial legislation slated for the special legislative session that would regulate which bathrooms transgender Texans can use:

“I’m not a lawyer, but I am a Texan,” Straus said. “I’m disgusted by all this. Tell the lieutenant governor I don’t want the suicide of a single Texan on my hands.”

In this clip, Wright talks about his exchange with the speaker.

Listen to the full interview with Lawrence Wright on www.texasstandard.org.

Alana Rocha joined the Tribune staff as the multimedia reporter after working eight years in television and radio news. She's covered politics for stations in Florida, Kansas and most recently in Austin...