Media Contact

Anna Núñez, ACLU of Texas, (713) 325-7010, [email protected]

January 5, 2017

HOUSTON— Today Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and State Senator Lois Kolkhorst announced the filing of SB6, a North Carolina-style anti-transgender bill that targets vulnerable Texans for continued discrimination and humiliation.

The following may be attributed to Rebecca Robertson, Legal and Policy Director of the ACLU of Texas:

“After having watched the debacle in North Carolina, it is shocking that the Lieutenant Governor would be so intent on pursuing SB6. It’s unnecessary, discriminatory and inconsistent with the constitutional value of equal protection for all. And that’s to say nothing of the havoc it will wreak on the Texas economy should it pass. Make no mistake — the invidious intent of SB6 is to deny transgender Texans the ability to participate in public life.”

The following may be attributed to Terri Burke, Executive Director of the ACLU of Texas:

“The Texas State Legislature has exactly one constitutionally assigned duty: to pass a budget. If they’re planning on spending the session on SB6 and spiteful legislation like it, we’d much rather they restrained themselves to that one duty, packed up their circus tents and went home. But if the Lieutenant Governor is truly worried about the safety of women and children, he would cease his assaults on women’s well-being, repair Texas’s moribund CPS program, and see to the millions of uninsured children whose lives and futures have been compromised by our lawmakers’ warped priorities.”