BATHROOM BILL PASSES SENATE VOTE
After more than eight hours of debate and a series of late-adopted changes, a sharply divided Texas Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill cracking down on transgender-friendly bathroom policies and barring transgender athletes from competing in school sports based on their gender identity.
Senate Bill 3, approved 21-10, would prohibit public schools and local governments from adopting policies that allow people to use multiple-occupancy restrooms and other private facilities that do not match the sex listed on their birth certificate or — in a change added Tuesday — as listed on a driver’s license or Texas handgun license.
The bill’s author, Brenham State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, began the debate by saying her goal was to create, “one statewide policy for how public schools and local governments handle access to bathrooms and other intimate facilities.”
Kolkhorst says “This bill would provide the privacy and safety that Texans expect.”
Austin State Sen. Kirk Watson countered that the senate is, “allowing fear to guide public policy and justifying discrimination.”
Kolkhorst replied that her bill was not designed to target transgender people, but instead those who would take advantage of gender-neutral facilities, including men who “say today I feel like a female and today I have a right to go into these intimate spaces” used by women.
SB 3 now heads to an uncertain future in the House, where Speaker Joe Straus has announced his strong opposition to a measure he says ia unnecessary and risky for the economy.
I agree with kolkhorst this is a very simple decision to make and also makes good sense. But now Joe Straus is saying if us texans don’t vote the other way that we are opening our state to finical loss from companies like the NFL and other sport companies. Well they say money talks so I bet this bill goes the other way whether we like it or not. If you have enough money you can do anything, they say everyone has their price let’s see what’s Joe’s price is even if it’s our dignity
I am so extremely curious how they plan to enforce this law? Anyone have an idea?
Per the committee hearing & Tuesday’s floor debate, if you feel as though you witnessed someone violating the bill, you would file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office. So there is literally no enforcement, just a huge waste of time and money.
So the bill only provides for penaties against the proprieters of the affected bathrooms for a violation? And violations consist of… what? Failing to designate facilities correctly? Designate how? Signage? What’s the penalty for faking your gender to use the ‘wrong’ bathroom? Is there a law against using a bathroom designated contrary to your birth certificate gender? Sounds like this bill just loads schools and public facilities with more obtuse and ambiguous govt. regulations.
Joe Strauss – the same RINO that rejected school choice for the parents of special needs kids. In the same breath he and the House denied $530 million in state funding for public schools and as a result slapped the property tax payer with more bills. We need a conservative in his seat badly.
I wonder where does that state funding come from?
I wonder, is the state or the parent responsible for the education and upbringing of a child?
– “Curioso”, I gave you an answer with some more explanation but it was never posted for some reason last week.