SXSW Returns In-Person to Stormy Texas Political Climate

variety.com:

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterAn unseasonable cold and rainy spell drifted through Austin on Friday, as attendees poured into the SXSW conference in person for the first time in two years.

But that’s not the only storm brewing as marquee names and business leaders from Hollywood, tech, music, and media step foot in Texas.Fallout from two incendiary state issues – one being executive orders that target trans children and their families, the other a ban on abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat – is front and center for activists on the ground, and their outspoken advocates in power circles from those influential industries.As SXSW attendees queued for the hour-long credentials line at the Austin Convention Center Friday, news broke that the Texas Supreme Court dealt a lethal blow to a lawsuit from the state’s abortion providers hoping to declare the ban unconstitutional.

Just outside the conference registration hall, Planned Parenthood volunteers stood in clusters on the sidewalk, telling people, “We need you.” Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson spoke to Variety ahead of the conference, which tapped her as a keynote speaker last fall as the abortion restrictions intensified.“We are six and a half months into this, and it’s having a devastating effect.