Texas again trying to restrict the bathrooms transgender people can use

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Legislation identical to two failed regular session bills seeking to restrict what bathrooms transgender people can use in government and school buildings have been filed in the Texas House and Senate after Gov. Greg Abbott outlined the restrictions as a special session priority.

State Sen. Mayes Middleton filed Senate Bill 7 on Thursday, days after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick indicated the Galveston Republican would carry the special session’s “bathroom bill.” The bill is identical to House Bill 32, filed by Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, as well as Senate Bill 240 filed by Middleton during the regular session. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, is also listed as a coauthor for SB 7.

SB 7 and HB 32 would mandate that multiuse bathrooms at K-12 schools, public universities and state and municipal government buildings only be used by people of one sex or another, as indicated on their birth certificate. Violating the provision would carry a $5,000 first-time fine and $25,000 for any subsequent violations.

The bills also would disallow trans people from being housed in jails and prisons matching their identifying gender and would turn away trans women from women’s violence shelters. Attorney General Ken Paxton would be given oversight to investigate complaints about alleged violations, according to the bill.

Legislation restricting bathroom usage was placed on the special session agenda by Abbott, with the goal of “protecting women’s privacy in sex-segregated spaces.” SB 7 and HB 32 aim to uphold that ideal, as both are dubbed the “Texas Women’s Privacy Act.”

During the regular session this year, SB 240 passed along party lines and was sent to the House, where neither it nor its House equivalent, House Bill 239, received a hearing. But representatives in the lower chamber had hinted at their appetite for the proposal in March, when a majority of the House signed on as co-authors to HB 239. HB 32 currently has Swanson listed as the sole author of the legislation.

Middleton, R-Galveston, was not immediately available for a request for comment, according to a spokesperson with his office.

Efforts to pass a bathroom bill have risen and fallen since 2017, when similar legislation was also placed on a special session agenda before failing to garner enough support. The new bills are more robust than their 2017 counterparts, however, as the proposed $5,000 fine is higher than Senate Bill 6’s $1,000 proposal and have provisions that may insulate the bill from legal challenges, should it be passed.

If either bill is passed and signed by Abbott, it will join several other laws set to go into effect in September that will have long-lasting effects on transgender people in Texas, including new requirements for medical documentation and a state definition of male and female.

The laws are part of a growing trend among government officials cracking down on the presence of transgender people in public life, including a lawsuit filed by Paxton and executive orders issued by President Donald Trump in January. Most of those have been directed at the limited presence of trans athletes in professional, club and collegiate sports.

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