SA MONTHLY MAGAZINE
T E X A S BATHROOM BI LL Texas Special Legislative Session includes ‘Bathroom Bill’ By: Daniel E. Serna, B.A., Politics Editor
On May 29, 2017 Texas’ 85th Legislature came to a 166 close with some “unfinished business” that Gov. Greg Abbott believes needs to be concluded. Governor Abbott called for a special legislative session which began on July 18 and will last for 30 days to re-look at certain bills. “I’m announcing a special session to complete that unfinished business,” said Gov. Abbott. One bill making headlines since it was introduced in the 85th Legislation is the “bathroom bill” also known as a ‘’privacy bill.” If set into law during the special session the bathroom bill would ban transgender persons from using rest rooms of the gender they identify as, instead making transgender persons use the bathroom of their biological born gender. Many Texans feel this is an assault on the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) community. Other Texans feel that the bathroom bill needs to be placed into law for the protection of privacy and to protect children in rest rooms.
Constituents and several corporations—Amazon, Uber, Pepsi, PayPal, Chase and even Big Oil Companies— claim the “bathroom bill” will hurt The State of Texas economically but more importantly it will make Texas look unethical. The bathroom bill passed the House of Representatives but failed when it was introduced to the Senate. Gov. Abbott was disappointed about the outcome and called for a special session to reintroduce the bill along with others. “If I’m going to ask for tax-payers to foot the bill for a special session I intend to make it count,” said Gov. Abbott. The “Bathroom Bill” was one of the most contentious issues of the Texas 85th Special Session. Ultimately, the “Bathroom Bill” was not successfully adopted as Texas law in the special session as Gov. Greg Abbott hoped. North Carolina’s HB 2, similar to Texas’ proposed Bathroom Bill, continues to have its constitutionality questioned.