LT. GOV AND KOLKHORST TO INTRODUCE ‘BATHROOM BILL’
Texas could soon follow in the footsteps of Indiana and North Carolina and pass its own “bathroom bill” in the upcoming legislative session.
Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst, the author of Senate Bill 6, will be joined by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick as they announce the filing of the bill during a press conference today (Thursday).
Patrick has been pushing for legislation he said would protect women by ensuring men who identify themselves as women would have to use public restrooms according to which gender they were born with. The same rule that would apply to transgender men would also apply to transgender women.
The bill has already faced opposition from a wide range of groups including people from the LGBT community and the Texas Association of Business.
The Texas Association of Business denounced the bill, saying it could cost Texas businesses $8 billion in revenue. Chris Wallace, president of the Texas Association of Business, said protecting Texas from billions of dollars in losses is simple- “Don’t pass unnecessary laws that discriminate against Texans and our visitors.”
When North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” passed it provoked widespread backlash. Multiple entertainers cancelled concerts and the NBA pulled its All-Star Game from the state. In all, Forbes estimated North Carolina lost more than $600 million in the six months after the legislation was signed into law.
However, Lt. Gov. Patrick is undeterred. In December he sent a note applauding North Carolina, saying that “Legislation like this is essential to protect the safety and privacy of women and girls, and is simple common sense and common decency.”
Lt. Gov. Patrick and Senator Kolkhorst are set to reveal the details about the bill at a news conference at 1 p.m. in Austin.
Sorry to see politicians take up causes that have no merit and are baseless. Post one court case where this was ever an issue or problem. Try focusing on jobs, healthcare and the environment. My guess is next election cycle you will be able to say, “it was for the children”. Ha.
This is a bill about nothing.
Shame on you, Lois Kolkhorst. I would expect this from small-minded, paranoid Dan Patrick. I thought you had more common sense than to spend your time and our money on issues that are nothing more than a tempest in a teapot.
I’m a man, and I had to do my business in a ladies restroom the other day at a convenience store because there was someone in the men’s room and I really had to go bad. The clerk told me I could use the ladies room if I needed to. She was a life saver! Would I get in trouble now for doing that? Just curious.
Don’t people go to the restroom at home. There should be a Bill to make public restrooms not disgusting.
I agree! I’m not sure why this is such a thing!? Go in, don’t talk to any one, get finished… who cares. I care more about bathrooms being nasty than who I share them with.
Well, I’ll try commenting again and see if my comment passes muster….I suggest people can become more informed about people with sexual identities other than male or female by reading about hermaphrodites and pseudo-hermaphrodites. One commentor has suggested that “God makes no mistakes.” No, God did not make a mistake in creating man and woman but Adam and Eve made the mistake of sinning against God and thus mankind and womankind were forced to leave the Garden of Eden. The world is an imperfect place where over thousands of years animals and plants, our environment and we ourselves have been evolving and changing. There are far more important issues our legislature should be addressing than this nonissue which is just more political posturing. I have lost the respect I once had for Mrs. Kolkhorst that she has allowed herself to be mani-pulated into presenting this bill which does nothing to improve the quality of life of Texans.
Thank You, I consider Lois a friend however she has lost my vote!
I am old and naive,but how the hell do you enforce this law?? Inspections, cameras, x-rays, quick peeks,..?? Who is going to do the enforcement? How much will it cost??
Lois & Dan will be checking at the door.
I read the proposed bill, but it doesn’t say what the hermaphrodites are supposed to do. Anyone here know?
For “Concerned Citizen,” you might be interested in knowing that there are babies born with male and female reproductive organs (See hermaphrodites, website”gotQuestions.org” and read “What does the Bible say about hermaphrodites?” Options for the child can be extensive testing to determine which sex is more dominant, surgery or hormone therapy. Some parents wait til the child is older and see how they identify themselves before any treatment is done.
For those who look at this issue through religion, God doesn’t make mistakes but once Adam and Eve sinned and had to leave the Garden of Eden, that made us susceptible to all the problems of the world including genetic abnormalities.
This bill is just more political posturing. I am very disappointed in Sen. Kolkhorst’s presenting this bill. Our state has so many pressing issues that need addressing that I am disgusted with Patrick and Kolkhorst wasting precious time on this nonissue.
The ironic thing about this whole “bathroom bill” thing is that politicians have made an issue out of something that never was an issue to begin with, then the media convinced us all we should care. And if we don’t agree we’re labeled as hateful, racist, intolerant bigots. Trans people have been using public restrooms as long as there have been trans people and I don’t recall reading about any assaults, molestations, etc. It’s all part of the socialist agenda: create an issue to create a divide, then conquer. And the uninformed American public will fall victim to this while those of us that recognize it for what it is will be called “paranoid radical extremists”. In the end, all of us will be the victims and the government will tell us not only what bathroom we can use but when we can use it. Let the name-calling commence.
God has nothing to do with gene and chromosome assignment. It is nature and science. Read up on Sexual assignment in the real world medical journals. Try A&M medical library. Any PART of a human can be effected by impairment to the genes, call it what makes you comfortable, but they are ALL birth defects. And the humans that are dealt this hand are not there by choice, and they all require our understanding regardless of the particular type of ” difference”. But for the Grace of God, go you”.
God is Creator! Not science or other stuff!
Great job Lois! We need common sense in America! We don’t want child molestors trying to hurt our children! God made u male or female! End of argument!
My opinion, don’t ask, don’t tell. If you genuinely have your wires crossed, then go where you want.
Whatever happens regarding this issue, somebody is going to get hurt whether it’s a transgender person by being denied their choice or a lady getting molested by a fake transgender person.
I can understand both sides of this but to me it’s a dead end… damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
My vote? We don’t need this bathroom bill.
Good job Lois! Get it done! Common Sense must be brought back to the USA with Texas in a big Way!
Good luck future health classes…It will be impossible to get an “A” in that class now.
This will not prevent criminals from committing crimes no more than gun control would prevent murders. I’m pretty sure it is already illegal to molest and rape people anyway. What would this do, make it more illegal? Personally I don’t care what bathroom you prefer to tinkle in. I understand how some people might feel that a bathroom is a private place and should be restricted to one gender, but the transgenders should be free to be comfortable as well. They are not criminals and should not be treated as one!
Transgenders are not the problem, it is those whom will claim/pretend to be “transgender” to exploit others with criminal intent if bathrooms are left open to individual interpretation.
I can’t believe this is happening, and I certainly hope it doesn’t pass. Have our lawmakers not learned from the mistakes of other states? This is going to be costly if it passes, and embarrassing that it was even suggested regardless of outcome. The rest of the country already makes fun of Texas and Texans for our “backward” ways. Don’t add more fuel to the fire. I’m already ashamed that this is being promoted by our local, home-grown senator. She made me start to regret supporting her when she actively supported Trump, now she has lost my vote for good.
This world has really turned troubling. I dont care what these people think they are, a male is a male and a female is a female. If these deranged people cant make up their minds, they need to just walk out into the woods someplace and take care of business. I am amazed we have let it get this far to even be talking about it. What is wrong with people….
As a parent of a transgender child I take great offense to you calling my child deranged! You show your ignorance in the statement you make, please keep your narrow minded comments to yourself! Also the law makers should worry about more pressing issues, I do understand this is for safety measures. I am also a parent of a young lady as well as a transgender child! It doesn’t matter what law is passed, sick and twisted people are going to do what they want no matter what. Most transgender people just want to be comfortable and not draw attention to themselves!
Im sorry, maybe it goes to parenting and the need of treatment. I for one am tired of all of it and people thinking I need to play along with their delusion or their feelings. If you are born and male you are a male if you are born a female you are a female. What you do in your bedroom is none of my business, nor is it your business to think you can keep whining to think I will eventually agree with it. Transgender is nothing more than something made up in your mind and if that is how you want to role, then go ahead. But that does NOT mean that I or anyone else has to accept, pamper, go out of our way for, or anything else. Just like you dont have to accept or go out of your way for me.
But that is just what you are asking them to do, is “go out of their way for you”. They just want to use the bathroom where they feel comfortable. You ask them to not be so whiny, and yet you are setting here whining. Why pass a costly bill to to make it illegal? It makes no sense. Please provide a scientific study of how it is made up in their mind, because I’m pretty sure you just made that part up in your mind.
Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital and its current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, said that transgenderism is a “mental disorder” that merits treatment, that sex change is “biologically impossible,” and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.
The transgendered person’s disorder, said Dr. McHugh, is in the person’s “assumption” that they are different than the physical reality of their body, their maleness or femaleness, as assigned by nature. It is a disorder similar to a “dangerously thin” person suffering anorexia who looks in the mirror and thinks they are “overweight,” said McHugh.
The former Johns Hopkins chief of psychiatry also warned against enabling or encouraging certain subgroups of the transgendered, such as young people “susceptible to suggestion from ‘everything is normal’ sex education,” and the schools’ “diversity counselors” who, like “cult leaders,” may “encourage these young people to distance themselves from their families and offer advice on rebutting arguments against having transgender surgery.”
Well stated.
Parents need to be parents.
God makes no mistakes, if you were born a boy….you are a boy. If you were born a girl….you are a girl. No matter how much you try to cover it up with surgery, clothes and what not. You are what you are born. It is the parents that make the child confused. Child grow and learn.
Parents we need to stop confusion with/within our children.
God makes no mistake. So to say you are trapped in a body that’s not your “true” self…..is completely insane.
You are not pampering anyone! As far as my parenting you need to keep that out of this since that has nothing to do with my child being transgender! I dare say you have dealt with trans people in your life or maybe you are too homophobic and just choose not to acknowledge that fact! People like you and your narrow mindedness need to realize that these people are around. If you are too afraid of being molested in a public bathroom by a criminal then stay at home!
I think I have provided enough FACT and opinion, I am done with this conversation. You keep enabling this behavior, that is your choice. Maybe in time you will be able to get help for you and your child. I guess it is sometimes easy to ignore an illness rather than take it on and deal with it and get treatment. I wish you would visit the johns hopkins website and read more into what the studies really have found. It does not provide a bright future..I wish you well….
The APA does not consider transgender people to be disordered by definition, and clearly states that in and of itself, being transgender is not an illness. In fact, the APA says the exact opposite: “gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder. The critical element of gender dysphoria is the presence of clinically significant distress associated with the condition.” Dr. McHugh deliberately misrepresents the position of the American Psychiatric Association by asserting that since gender dysphoria is in the DSM, all transgender people are by definition disordered.
The APA does not consider transgender people to be disordered by definition, and clearly states that in and of itself, being transgender is not an illness. In fact, the APA says the exact opposite: “gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder. The critical element of gender dysphoria is the presence of clinically significant distress associated with the condition.” Dr. McHugh deliberately misrepresents the position of the American Psychiatric Association by asserting that since gender dysphoria is in the DSM, all transgender people are by definition disordered.
Dr. McHugh has deliberately cherry picked a number from a methodologically flawed study to advocate for parents reject the identities of their children. We know for a fact that children whose families reject their identities are at far greater suicide risk, and McHugh’s actions increase that further.
The lawmakers definitely should be focusing on real issues, with that being said this shouldn’t be a question. Go to the restroom with what gender you were born with. Let’s focus on drug use, crime and why people have no morals anymore. If people had integrity drugs and crime would have no place in this country.
Enabling a child who feels they are a gender they are not is tantamount to child abuse.
I’ll go with what Jesus said in Mark 10: “In the beginning of creation God made them male and female.”
I think the Son of God has better insight than supposed human expert. Jesus also addressed the definition of marriage. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and the two will become one flesh.” Any other definition goes against the will of God. Any preacher who goes against what Jesus has said is a heretic.
are you serious? have you ever been assaulted or felt threatened in a public restroom? why don’t you go out to the woods took care of your business? what is wrong with you? people have been gay since the beginning of time and cross dressing since the 70s and way before that. there is no need for this bill and no need for you to think the future is dim. lbgtq have been using the restroom they identify with forever and haven’t caused any problems. I would like to see some statistics showing how many people are harmed in public restrooms by trans people. if anything you are putting them in harms way by putting them in the wrong restroom. would you like a full bearded trans man walking in to the womens restroom after your daughter? this bill is just going to harm
Euphemism: “Take care of business.” Just say what you mean – commit suicide. You are telling trans people that something is wrong with them, so they should kill themselves. I really hope you are an “internet troll” who posted this only for a reaction. Otherwise it means that you not only condone suicide, but actively encourage it. Either way, I’m praying for you.
you have slipped a nut or bold if you read that into what I said. TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS is go to the restroom. Geez. this world really is going to hell in a handbag.
As another trans parent, you want my child to kill themselves? KWHI, how are you allowing this comment to be posted? Suggesting suicide? I can only hope that my trans child, who is in med school, will be working when you need medical care.
My child uses the female bathroom for fear of being assaulted by men. You should see the looks from some women wondering if it’s a “man” in the bathroom. So you see, it’s a situation either way. I’ve been to many sporting events and concerts where women went into the men’s room just to avoid the long line. Many clothing chain stores have co-ed dressing rooms. “Futurenotbright” do you avoid those stores like Academy? Oh, I guess my child can get the supplies there to “walk out into the woods and take care of business”.
Where in the world is anyone saying anything about suicide?
I and my family have been using public restrooms for over 60 years, none of us ever encountered any incidents that this ” bathroom bill” seeks to prevent. This is vote pandering to the paranoid, nothing else. IF this “trash” disguised as legislation passes, Texans will suffer. Billions of dollars and almost 200,000 jobs will be lost. Don’t forget, we are larger than N. Carolina, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” You, taxpayer will foot the bill for the resulting deficit, and education (children) and the sick will most likely face more cutbacks so let us pray that these politicians find their respectability and FAIL this bill. I would have preferred to have written about what is really wrong with this type of legislation, but the local majority cannot comprehend, BUT it does understand MONEY.