AUSTIN, Texas (KTVT) — The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs will meet on Monday to consider Senate Bill 7, which would mandate the bathrooms that transgender people may use in government and school buildings.
The Texas Women’s Privacy Act would set rules for the use of “multi-occupancy private spaces,” like restrooms and locker rooms, in “state agencies and political subdivisions,” such as schools. It bases access on an individual’s “biological sex, defined by sex organs, chromosomes and birth certificate,” rather than gender identity.
What happens if the Texas Women’s Privacy Act passes?
The bill requires that “A political subdivision or state agency shall ensure each multiple-occupancy private space in a building the political subdivision or state agency owns, operates, or controls is designated for and used only by individuals of the same biological sex.”
The legislation imposes civil penalties on the institutions of $5,000 for a first violation and $25,000 for subsequent violations. It would also allow residents to file complaints with the attorney general and file lawsuits.
SB 7 also requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to house inmates according to their “biological sex,” and states that “family violence shelters designed specifically to provide services to female victims … may only provide services to an individual whose biological sex is female” or their minor children.
The bill provides certain exceptions, such as permitting access for custodial, maintenance, medical or childcare reasons.
The legislation also contains provisions designed to hinder legal challenges by restricting jurisdictional authority and implementing mechanisms that could impose financial penalties on anyone attempting to prevent the law’s enforcement.
Texas lawmakers previously failed to pass identical bills SB 7, filed by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, is identical to two bills that failed in the regular session, House Bill 32 and Senate Bill 240. In 2017, a bill designed to restrict transgender individuals’ restroom access failed to pass during a special legislative session.
In 2016, during former President Barack Obama’s second term, the U.S. Department of Education tried to implement requirements that school districts nationwide allow transgender students to choose the campus bathrooms or locker rooms they wished to use. Texas led a lawsuit challenging that directive, and a federal judge in Texas ordered it suspended. President Trump then rescinded the order during his first term.
If it passes and ultimately gets the governor’s signature, SB 7 would take effect 91 days after the last day of the legislative session.