Final answer:
In Texas, sexual orientation, including LGBTQ populations, is a protected category in fair housing laws, a protection that is not explicitly granted at the federal level by civil rights law.
Step-by-step explanation:
A protected category according to Texas fair housing laws, but not national ones, is sexual orientation, including LGBTQ populations. While federal law does not explicitly prohibit housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, some states, including Texas, have enacted their own laws that do provide such protections. Federal civil rights law does not consider sexual orientation as a protected class, though federal civilian employees and security clearance issues do have protections. The Supreme Court has implied that states may not prohibit gay people from seeking protections via the democratic process. This inconsistency indicates a lacuna in the provision of fair housing protections for sexual orientation at the national level versus the state level.