Texas “Bathroom Bill” Sets Standards for Transgender Bathroom Usage

A new transgender “bathroom bill” in Texas will prohibit students from choosing the bathroom they identify with, limiting their rights and freedom. Although it may only apply to public schools within the second-largest state, this bill is reminiscent of the one that caused a national uproar in North Carolina.

Republican Rep. Chris Paddie claimed the bill had “absolutely no intent” to discriminate. Transgender students will be directed to use a separate single-occupancy restroom.

“It’s absolutely about child safety,” Paddie said. “This is about accommodating all kids.”

The bill cleared a large procedure hurdle on Sunday and now a final vote is required in the state House. After, a vote in the state Senate will be held before the bill reaches Gov. Greg Abbott for a signature. By Friday, those tasks will likely be accomplished.

While campaigning for president last year, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas expressed his fears while weighing in on the North Carolina bathroom law.

“There is no greater evil than predators, and if the law says that any man, if he chooses, can enter a women’s restroom, a little girl’s restroom, and stay there, and he cannot be removed because he simply says at that moment he feels like a woman, you’re opening the door for predators,” he said.

Back in January, Texas filed Senate Bill 6, also known as the Texas Privacy Act, which would require all people in Texas to use restrooms and locker rooms that matched the gender printed on their birth certificates. If approved, schools would be fined up to $1,500 for offenses if they didn’t oblige.

Opponents of such bills claim they are only based on fear and attack the transgender community.

“These bills are unnecessary,” Cathryn Oakley, senior legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, said. “They are not addressing any problem. They are based simply on fear.”

She also claimed it was “bizarre” and “perplexing” that lawmakers in Texas would want to pass this bill given the backlash North Carolina received.

“This amendment is the bathroom bill and the bathroom bill is an attack on transgender people,” Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat, said. “Some people don’t want to admit that because they are ashamed, and this is shameful.

Other opponents threaten with lawsuits once the amendment is taken into effect.

“If the Legislature succeeds “in forcing discrimination into Texas law, you can bet that Lambda Legal will be on the case before the next school bell rings,” Jennifer C. Pizer, senior counsel and director of law and policy at the national gay rights group, said in a statement.

JoDee Winterhof, a senior vice president at the Human Rights Campaign believes transgender students deserve “dignity and respect.”

“Transgender youth deserve the same dignity and respect as their peers, and this craven attempt to use children as a pawn for cheap political points is disturbing and unconscionable,” he said.

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