Out today from @TexasObserver: On September 22, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8, #Texas’ new “bathroom bill,” into law, marking another escalation in the Republican war on the rights of #trans people. What may be less evident on first glance is how the #law also represents an attack on public institutions—and on the legal system writ large.
Andrea Segovia, senior field and policy analyst for the #Transgender Education Network of Texas, said the law, which bans trans people from using their preferred bathrooms in certain public buildings, will make them feel less safe engaging in a basic biological function anywhere outside of their homes. “Every time that an anti-trans bill passes, it is another attempt at removing trans people from the public eye,” she told the Texas Observer.
Trans folks and #LGBTQIA+ advocates spent countless hours testifying against various iterations of the bathroom bill over the eight years since the first one was proposed in this state, only for the latest version to be fast-tracked through the Legislature during this year’s second special session. Major corporations, whose opposition to these kinds of laws historically helped prevent their passage, have largely gone silent on the 2025 versions of this law that have passed or been proposed around the country.
With anti-trans policies now openly backed by President Donald Trump’s federal government, it’s perhaps unsurprising that state officials feel confident passing more extreme measures. But beyond the harmful effects the law is likely to have on transgender and gender non-conforming people, it may also allow Republicans to weaponize #transphobia against public institutions. The law enables the state to investigate and levy massive fines against schools, libraries or other entities that they suspect of violations. In addition, it’s designed to be especially difficult to challenge in court, in ways that experts say are likely to be unconstitutional.
Read more: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-bathroom-bill-weaponizes-transphobia/
