State Rep. Harold Dutton

In a dramatic reversal from earlier this week, the Texas House Public Education Committee passed a bill this morning barring transgender students from participating in athletics.

Chair Harold Dutton, a Houston Democrat, brought the bill back up for a vote in retaliation after his bill allowing Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to remove school board members was killed on a technicality last night by Rep. Alma Allen, a Houston Democrat. Democrats generally oppose the bill, but Dutton has advocated for more state control over the Houston Independent School District for poor performance.

Senate Bill 29, a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s, would codify existing University Interscholastic League policy requiring students play on the teams based on their biological sex and not their gender identity. While UIL already prohibits most transgender students from participating in athletics that align with their gender identity, it does allows students to use amended birth certificates. SB 29 would take away that option.

The bill passed 8-5, with all Republicans and Dutton voting for it and the remaining Democrats against it.

“I don’t know how big this problem is, and I wish I did because I’d be in a better position,” Dutton said before the roll call vote, adding, “I can tell you this, the bill that was killed last night affected far more children than this ever will.”

Allen sits on the committee.

Committee member State Rep. Diego Bernal, a San Antonio Democrat told the Texas Tribune it was “soul-crushing” and a blatantly retaliatory move.

“The vote, bringing it back up, was used as a form of retaliation by the chairman,” Bernal said in an interview.

Others chimed in as well, including House Democratic Caucus Chair Chris Turner, D-Mansfield, without mentioning that a member of his own party who, as a chair can kill or pass legislation, was the one who reconsidered the vote and passed it out.

“Senate Bill 29 is a terrible bill and I’m severely disappointed it came out of committee. Targeting trans youth puts this already vulnerable group of students at risk of further harassment and needlessly denies them the opportunity to experience the important social and emotional benefits that youth sports can provide to all children,” he said.

“Our kids deserve our protection in every manner,” Turner continued. “Any policy that harms the emotional and educational well-being for our students is bad for Texas students, for Texas families, and for our state. The bill should move no further in the process, and the Texas House should be allowed to focus on common-sense policies that benefit Texans, not discriminatory legislation that attacks our children.”

Human Rights Campaign Texas State Director Rebecca Marques also slammed the vote. “Advancing this bill — knowing full well it harms Texas children — is unconscionable. Bills like SB 29 are opposed by educators, sports organizations, and medical professionals. Every session, Texas lawmakers recycle the same discriminatory playbook to generate fear, and every session, Texans across the state face the consequences. We saw this play out in 2017 when threats of the infamous anti-LGTBQ bathroom bill cost businesses important revenue and damaged the state’s reputation on a national scale.”

The bill now heads to the powerful Calendars Committee, which can kill the bill or advance it to the House floor.

— James Russell