AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas House today passed Senate Bill 8, which bans transgender and intersex people from accessing restrooms and other multi-user facilities (e.g. domestic violence shelters, jails, prisons) that align with their gender identity in government-owned buildings. Similar bills failed to pass the Texas legislature in 2017 and in 2023. Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that bans like these violate people’s fundamental right to equal treatment.
The amended bill will now return to the Texas Senate.
The following quote can be attributed to Ash Hall (they/them), policy and advocacy strategist on LGBTQIA+ rights at the ACLU of Texas:
“It is unconscionable and unconstitutional to pass this bathroom ban.
“Texans, including the transgender community, should be able to safely use public facilities that align with our gender identities as a basic matter of respect, safety, and privacy. Instead, S.B. 8 will encourage ‘gender policing’ by bad actors who seek to harass or harm transgender people — or anyone who may not conform to stereotypical gender roles in public spaces. This law puts anyone at risk who doesn’t seem masculine or feminine enough to a random stranger, including the cisgender girls and women this bill purports to protect. Some people might forgo using public restrooms entirely out of fear for their safety, even if it endangers their health.
“This bill is bad for trans and intersex people, bad for cisgender people, bad for business, bad for public health and safety, and bad for Texas. Transgender people have always been here and always will be.”
