Texas Senate passes draconian transgender bathroom bill after scaremongering campaign
The Texas Senate has passed a bill that bans gender-neutral bathrooms and forces trans people to use the bathroom of their “biological sex”.
The North Carolina Senate ignored warnings from business leaders this week, voting to advance the Republican-backed bill, SB 6, by a vote of 21-10.
The bill threatens schools with hefty fines if they permit transgender children to use the bathroom of their preferred gender – up to $10,500 for “multiple violations”.
The proposed law would also voids local anti-discrimination protections for trans people.
Anti-LGBT groups in the state have previously run ads depicting a little girl getting raped in a bathroom in a disgusting anti-trans smear campaign.
After North Carolina faced a crippling economic boycott over a similar law, leaders from the entertainment industry, business world and sport have all this month warned Texas lawmakers that their state will also be shunned if SB 6 passes.
Among them are the National Basketball Association and National Football League, both of which have threatened to move major games out of Texas if the law is passed to ensure the safety of fans and staff.
But the warnings were ignored.
After clearing the Senate vote, SB 6 will now move to the Texas House of Representatives, before landing on the desk of Governor Greg Abbott if it passes.
JoDee Winterhof, Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs of the Human Rights Campaign, said: “After hearing an outpouring of opposition to this bill during nearly 20 hours of citizen testimony last week, it’s outrageous that the Texas Senate would advance SB 6 to the House.
“This measure is another product of Dan Patrick’s anti-LGBTQ agenda, and it’s troubling that lawmakers in the Senate cannot see it for what it truly is: an attack on their transgender neighbors, coworkers and friends who deserve the same dignity and rights as anyone else.
“We hope the House members recognize this and stop SB 6 in its tracks.”
HRC added: “SB 6 is a discriminatory, anti-transgender bill, and one of the many egregious anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in Texas this legislative session. By making it illegal for transgender people in Texas to be afforded access to facilities consistent with their identity, it opens them up to increased discrimination and harassment as they simply live their everyday lives.
“It also exposes Texas to tremendous risk of the kind of financial, legal, and political blowback that North Carolina has continued to reckon with after the passage of HB2.”
