The Summer Willis Act would define what consent means in Texas and help sexual assault survivors in the state. But with just two weeks left in the Texas Legislature's 2025 session, this bipartisan-supported measure is stalling. State senator Angela Paxton and advocate Summer Willis joined ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath to explain why and share what comes next.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, everyone. I'm Maggie McGrath, senior editor at Forbes. A new bill in Texas seeks to define
00:10consent and what it means. The problem is this bill is running up against a very tight deadline
00:17to have a hearing. That deadline is this week. And joining us now are two people who are at the
00:24heart of this issue, State Senator Angela Paxton and survivor Summer Willis. Thank you both for
00:29sitting down with Forbes. Glad to be here. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Senator,
00:36I'll start with you. I described this in very broad strokes. There is a bill that is known as
00:42the Summer Willis Act that the Texas legislature could consider, but it is yet to be scheduled
00:46for a hearing. Can you tell us more first, what is the context of this bill? Well, consent is an idea
00:56that in Texas law and other states have this same issue, that Texas law really lists what is not
01:03consent, but it doesn't actually say what is consent. And so that's one of the gaps that this bill is
01:11aiming to close so that we can address the ambiguity that sometimes comes up in these cases.
01:19And on the timeline aspect, I was talking to your staff right before you came on. I know it gets
01:24tricky sometimes to state legislatures, but what is the deadline and how important is it right now?
01:31Well, it is, it is pretty tight on the time. We've got two more weeks left in the session.
01:36So we really need to get a hearing on this bill this week. There's a committee hearing
01:41for, for the bill. Well, the committee that this bill would go through is having a hearing tomorrow.
01:49Um, we are not at this time set to hear, that doesn't mean we can't be heard later this week,
01:55but, um, of course I'm doing everything I can to get us added to the committee, um, agenda for tomorrow.
02:02We'll come back to tomorrow's agenda, but before we go there, I want to bring Summer into this
02:08conversation. This bill has been around for a few years, but it's newly coined in your name.
02:13How did you come to have this bill named after you? Yeah, well, it started 10 years ago when I was,
02:23I became a victim. So a title I never wanted to have, but as a sophomore at the University of Texas
02:30and for years and years, I let the depression and the PTSD eat away at me and I became a shell of
02:38myself. Uh, it wasn't until I found that doing good helped. So I joined Teach for America and the
02:47Peace Corps got married and had kids, but sexual assault is a shadow that's always hanging around.
02:56And so I decided to finally do something about it. And I ran 29 marathons in a year as a way to
03:06heal. But along the way, I met survivors across this country and heard their stories and realized
03:12they were just so similar to mine and I had to do something about it. So when I heard about this
03:17bill to finally define consent, to finally make my rape actually a rape in Texas, because it was
03:23considered one of these loopholes, I had to do something. So I decided to crawl, uh, a marathon.
03:31I got to the halfway point, but as soon as I finished the marathon, some, some congressmen
03:39and representatives named the bill after me, I think they saw what I'm trying to do for survivors.
03:43And I, yeah, it was the biggest honor. And now I'm fighting for it with everything I can.
03:50Now you mentioned a loophole that I think is really important to this overall story. Summer,
03:54I'll start with you. Can you describe in layman's terms, what the loophole in Texas law is
03:58that affected you? Yeah, the specific one that affected me was I was handed a drink at a fraternity
04:07party and I took it and someone else took advantage of me. Um, and because I voluntarily drank, uh,
04:19it doesn't count that someone else raped me. And so, yeah.
04:24And Senator Paxton, what Summer has just described sounds like a typical college experience. Someone
04:33hands you a drink. The, the drug being inside is, is not, is not what anyone should experience, but
04:39zooming out, it sounds like it should be a bipartisan issue. Does this bill have bipartisan support?
04:47It absolutely does. I'm a Republican. I'm carrying this bill in the Senate. Uh, the author in the house
04:51is a Democrat, uh, Donna Howard. We worked on a lot of, um, legislation regarding sexual assault.
04:58Um, and I, I might mention that, uh, you know, Summer has worked with, uh, our governor's sexual
05:04assault task force and has his backing on this bill as well. And, uh, this is, you know, this Summer's
05:11story happened in Texas and we need to, we need to fix it in Texas. I, I also didn't realize this
05:17before, uh, today, uh, but, um, as Summer and I were visiting earlier, we actually did a resolution
05:25on the, on the Senate floor to just recognize and honor Summer for her advocacy around these issues,
05:35um, to be a voice for people who don't know how to speak, don't know who to speak to. Um,
05:43it's so important in, in a person's healing, uh, from any kind of traumatic experience, but especially
05:50sexual, sexual assault to be able to speak. And so Summer is really doing courageous, um, brave
05:56and resilient work. And, uh, she's the same age as my oldest daughter. So, you know, this, this feels
06:03very personal, uh, to me as well. I was also a school counselor and I worked with, um, young women
06:10all the time. And, you know, one of the things we have to work with, with girls, um, a lot as
06:16they're growing up is, is to, to speak, right. To, to have a voice. Um, there are pressures around
06:24girls speaking up that just persist, um, through many decades. Um, but especially when something like
06:30this happens, I'm just so proud of, of Summer and how she has really looked for ways, uh, to make a
06:38difference. And, and again, um, to the point of even working with the governor's office on this bill.
06:44So there's bipartisan support. There's a deadline looming and part of the deadline, I want to make
06:49clear for folks who aren't really familiar with Texas state politics, politics, the legislature
06:53meets once every two years. So when does this legislative session end?
07:00We end June 2nd.
07:02So that's June 2nd and then doesn't meet again until.
07:06We won't meet again until 2027 in January, unless the governor calls a special session. Um, but special
07:15sessions are restricted in content to specific legislative directives from the governor. So, um,
07:24that would, you know, that's not typically, uh, how something like this would come about. Um,
07:30so it's very important that we, we get this hearing this week so that we can pass the bill on the floor
07:36and, um, you know, I felt very encouraged after the resolution, uh, on the Senate floor this morning.
07:43Um, there was, uh, another Republican Senator actually, uh, uh, Senator Paul Bettencourt
07:49actually, um, moved that we add all senators names to the bill. So, you know, that expresses a sentiment
07:58of support. And so I, I think perhaps this will give us some momentum that we have pushed back
08:06against, uh, or had to, had to push back against, but it's, it's, uh, you know, we're, we're hopeful
08:11and I'm going to make several more runs at this. Um, and hopefully, uh, we will hit it for the score,
08:17but, um, chairman, uh, Pete Flores of the committee. And then of course the Lieutenant governor's
08:22support is very important. I was just about to ask, because you talk about the governor.
08:28He's supportive. We have bipartisan support here. So what's the hurdle? It sounds like it's the head
08:33of the committee and the Lieutenant governor. They're the two holdouts. It's hard to look at it
08:39and know exactly where the, the, um, issue is to be honest with you, but I am very encouraged,
08:45like I said, by the full member support on the resolution and what, um, summer is doing,
08:52that there is a willingness to look at this issue. And I'm, I'm hopeful for that. You know,
08:58we've done so much great work, uh, in the direction of, um, protecting victims of, um, or at least
09:06supporting, I guess, survivors of sexual assault in the legislature. And we've dealt with it in so many
09:12different contexts, you know, in schools, um, and trafficking. I mean, in all kinds of ways,
09:19we have shown support around this stuff. So, you know, this is moving, this is moving the bar. This
09:24is, this is not a slam dunk sort of thing. This is changing the definition of consent. And I was
09:32thinking earlier today, you know, we've all heard this, uh, saying your, you know, your, your lips say
09:39no, but your eyes say yes. And you know, it's been used as kind of a joke. It's not funny. It's not
09:44funny when you're talking about something that turns into rape. And we're talking about when someone
09:51is, um, impaired, then they, what we're saying is they are not in a position where they can give
09:58consent. They're impaired. And I, I don't know that we actually said this, but this affirmative
10:04definition of consent is assent in fact, whether express or apparent, but this aligns with other
10:13parts of the penal code. So this would bring, um, the, the law around, uh, sexual assault and consent
10:21in line with other ways that we define such things. So I think it's important. It's important
10:27to modernize. We know a lot more about these, uh, kinds of, um, crimes than we used to. We know
10:34a lot more about the impact of the trauma on the victims and how they can move to being survivors.
10:42They don't all move into being survivors. They may be sort of like the, the living dead. Um,
10:49they're operating in their life and they're doing the best they can, but they are dying inside because
10:54they don't know what to do. And it's something that should never have happened in the first place. So
10:59we need to make sure both parties are responsible, not just, uh, the victim or the survivor.
11:06Summer, you have taken your experience as a victim and survivor and used it for advocacy.
11:14What have you learned about changing hearts and minds? And, you know, we're talking about a Texas
11:19bill here, but I'm wondering if you could speak to the national implications and why folks across the
11:24country watching should, I don't want to say care because everyone should care that everyone is
11:30safe, but what's your message for folks who don't live in Texas and who might not be immediately
11:34affected by this bill? Yeah, well, I was absolutely shocked in October when the Texas Association
11:44Against Sexual Assault, uh, told me that my rape actually didn't count for 10 years. That's what I
11:51had called it. And because of this consent loophole, the worst thing that ever happened to me didn't
11:59count. There's 31 states in our country that have passed definitions of consent, but then there's all
12:07the other ones that haven't. And so I'd encourage people to look up like there are laws to, to figure
12:15out how their state's protecting survivors. And just, I was speaking at a gala the other night and I asked
12:23anyone who is affected or knows anyone who is affected by sexual assault to stand up in the whole
12:30auditorium with 300 people in it stood up, every single one. And it's like, this is something that
12:37people don't like to talk about. They like to keep it behind the closed doors. But realize when you're
12:41walking down the street, this affects everyone and we need everyone's help to come up. The last thing
12:48I'll say is after my rape, I felt so alone. I thought no one would understand it. I blamed myself. Um,
12:56but then today people showed up, senators stood up and clapped. People drove in from all over Texas to be
13:05at our press conference and I've never felt so loved. Um, and yeah, lean on your community.
13:15We're, we're here. Yeah.
13:17On your community. That is an important message. So Senator Paxton, we have this deadline. We have
13:23this timeline that we've been discussing. What is next for you? What do the next 24 hours look like
13:27in terms of what you can and will do to get this bill to a hearing?
13:31Well, I'll continue to have conversations, uh, with Senator Flores, uh, the chairman of the
13:37committee, asking him to, um, support the bill, to set it for a hearing. Um, I'll, I'll be reaching
13:44out to the Lieutenant Governor, encouraging him to be supportive. And, you know, the other thing that
13:49I would ask, um, for people that are listening or watching now, especially if they are in Texas,
13:55if they would, um, call, um, call and call Senator Flores, call the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick
14:01and encourage them to support this bill. Um, the Summer Willis Act to, uh, provide a definition for
14:09consent. We, we still have time. And as long as there's daylight, I'm going to be working, uh,
14:15this bill to, to make sure that we get it across the finish line.
14:18Um, and Summer, last words from you, what is your message to the Forbes audience about this bill
14:25and anything else we haven't hit on that you think is important to share at this moment?
14:30Yeah, I, I feel like I'm a very average person. I couldn't run a mile when I started
14:37running marathons, signing up for 29 marathons in a year. I had no experience with politics before
14:46October, but I started to realize that we all have so much power and so much strength and that
14:53our voice matters. And if you, whatever you care about, you can be an advocate, you can fight for
15:01it. And if your cause happens to be sexual assault, if you want to help survivors, like,
15:08please call, please help us. I've been saying all day, I believe in miracles and I believe in people.
15:15And I think that the two of those working together, it's like, we, we can keep so many
15:20survivors safe. So yeah, thank you. Well, it's an important bill that you both are working on.
15:26We look forward to updates. We will be following this closely. And in the meantime, Senator Angela
15:31Paxton, Summer Willis, thank you so much for joining Forbes. We really appreciate your time.
15:36Thanks so much.