Jonathan Saenz
The Texas Values mission is to preserve and advance a culture of family values in the state of Texas.
The Texas Values vision is to stand for biblical, Judeo-Christian values by ensuring Texas is a state in which religious liberty flourishes, families prosper, and every human life is valued.
Texas Values promotes our core values of faith, family, and freedom in Texas through:
-
- Policy research
- Public education and standing for truth in the media
- Grassroots mobilization
- Voter education
- Reviewing legislation and providing legal analysis
- Testifying at the Texas Legislature, State Board of Education, and other governmental entities
Show Links:
Bio
Jonathan M. Saenz, President
Follow Jonathan: @jonathansaenzTX
Jonathan M. Saenz, Esq., is the President of Texas Values, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and advancing a culture of family values in the state of Texas. Jonathan’s work on these issues spans two decades.
Prior to leading Texas Values (2012), Jonathan headed the First Liberty Institute offices at the Texas Capitol in Austin where he served as Director of Legislative Affairs and Attorney for First Liberty Institute (2007-2012). He frequently presents research, analysis, and testimony before the Texas Legislature, State Board of Education, and other government entities on various issues affecting faith, family, and freedom.
Jonathan believes in religious liberty, sanctity of human life, family values, and constitutional rights and has been involved in numerous court cases, including cases before the Texas Supreme Court and the United State Supreme Court. Jonathan is the leading voice in Texas on marriage between one man and one woman and he was instrumental in the passage of Texas laws to protect religious liberty (“Under God” in the Texas pledge, the “One State Under God” license plate, the “Merry Christmas law”, the “Pastor Protection Law”, Freedom to Serve Children Act, and The First Amendment Defense Act/”Save Chick-fil-A” Law), pro-life laws such as the “Choose Life” license plate, the Sonogram law, HB 2 and many others. Jonathan served as a lawyer for Gianna Jessen, a courageous woman who survived a late-term abortion attempt when she was in the womb, and is now a famous pro-life advocate.
Jonathan was also part of the winning legal team that successfully defended the religious freedom and free speech rights of nonprofit pregnancy care centers for women in Austin. Since 2005, Jonathan has worked to protect marriage between one man and one woman and policies that support this principle, and he has helped defeat threatening legislation on these matters in every legislative session since 2007. In 2015, Jonathan was the leading statewide voice in Texas that helped defeat the dangerous LGBT Houston “bathroom” ordinance, that would have allowed men into women’s bathrooms and would have restricted the religious freedom on businesses and nonprofit organizations. Jonathan also helped lead the State Board Education victories to prevent censorship in the Science classroom and protect strong Social Studies & History teaching.
Jonathan hosts the weekly radio show “The Texas Values Report,” and has been featured in local, national and international media such as Fox News, CNN, USA Radio, Austin-American Statesman, Dallas Morning News, and Houston Chronicle among many others and is a sought after speaker for important events. Mr. Saenz received his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center where he was the leader of the Pro-Life Cougars group that successfully defended its free speech rights in a landmark court case against the university. Jonathan received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied family policy issues. Jonathan is a 5th generation Texan with strong family ties to Central and South Texas. He and his family live in Central Texas and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church.
