KOLKHORST TO CONTINUE WORK ON ‘BATHROOM BILL’

  

As the Trump Administration overturned the Obama-era directive that allowed transgender students to use public bathrooms and locker based on their gender identity Wednesday night, State Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst says she will continue to work on crafting the Texas Privacy Act.

Kolkhorst authored the bill, which among other things, would create civil penalties against school districts or government entities that didn’t designate dressing rooms, locker rooms, and bathrooms for use based on a person’s biological sex listed on their birth certificate.

"I am grateful for the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education's decision to rescind the mandates issued by the Obama Administration that rewrote a great deal of Title IX and redefined gender which would have allowed men in women's restrooms, showers, locker rooms and dressing rooms in our public schools, colleges and universities” said Kolkhorst Wednesday.

Kolkhorst said lawmakers will continue to work in crafting the Texas Privacy Act to ensure that the state “provides a non-discriminatory solution for all Texas students and the general public in these most intimate settings.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that he agrees with President Trump that it is a state issue, which he says  is why he and Senator Kolkhorst crafted the state policy: "The Texas Privacy Act ensures that public schools continue to designate separate restrooms, locker rooms and showers for boys and girls as well as allowing schools to continue to determine how they will accommodate students with individual needs, as they have always done" said Patrick.

Kolkhorst said the bill is unique to Texas in that it also enhances the penalties for a litany of crimes committed in a bathroom against any individual, regardless of their sex or gender identity.

“The people of Texas must define for ourselves what boundaries are expected in our public facilities” said Kolkhorst.