MELISSA WHITLER | NBCU Fellow
Melissa@DallasVoice.com
The federal government is not the only one taking swings at the LGBTQ community. The ACLU is tracking 35 bills in Texas, and, according to Equality Texas’ 2025 Legislative Bill Tracker, 58 anti-LGBTQ bills have already been introduced in the house and senate as of Jan. 29.
Many of these were pre-filed before the session began and have yet to move to committee. The proposed bills overwhelmingly focus on defining biological sex, prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion, restricting gender-affirming care, and forcing people to use bathrooms and other separated spaces according to their sex assigned at birth.
One of the main priorities for the Texas legislature this session seems to be strictly defining sex and gender. HB229 and SB84 propose specific legal definitions: “male” and “man” are defined as individuals with a biological reproductive system developed to fertilize ova, while “female” and “woman” are defined as individuals with a biological reproductive system developed to produce ova. This would require government entities to identify individuals strictly as either male or female, with no alternative options.
The legislature is also seeking to establish a person’s gender at their birth. HB980 would require birth certificates in Texas to include a person’s biological sex, specifically defining sex based on the presence or absence of a Y chromosome.
HB477 and SB406 define biological sex as determined by sex organs, chromosomes, or endogenous profile, and would mandate sex be included on birth certificates. The bills specifically restrict changes to a minor’s biological sex on a birth certificate, allowing amendments only for correcting clerical errors, completing originally missing biological sex information or addressing cases of initially ambiguous sex determination.
HB239, HB2062 and SB240 are part of what is being called the Texas Women’s Privacy Act, which would require private spaces in government facilities be designated and used exclusively by individuals matching their biological sex. The bill also includes a provision that would penalize individuals for challenging these privacy regulations in court, as they may be liable for the prevailing party’s legal costs.
This would prevent transgender people from using facilities that align with their gender and provides significant legal protections for its implementation.
HB403 and HB437, the Female Prisoner Protection Act and the Juvenile Girls Protection Act, respectively, would require that inmates and juveniles in Texas correctional and detention facilities be placed based strictly on biological sex.
Several bills introduced seek to dismantle DEI efforts. HB436 would prohibit Texas government entities from requiring participation in DEI training that references race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation. HB167, the Ending Institutional Racism Act, would prohibit governmental entities from creating diversity offices, giving preferential treatment in hiring or mandating DEI training that references race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.
HB1075 and HB938 are a continuation of last session’s attempt to ban drag performances in the presence of a minor. And the legislature has a continued fixation with where people go to the bathroom, as HB1014 and HB1015 would require people to use all public school bathrooms and changing facilities based on their biological sex as stated on their original birth certificate. HB1016 would add additional criteria and requirements for schools that allow students to use facilities based on criteria other than their biological sex assigned at birth, and these schools would still have to provide accommodations for students who prefer sex-separated facilities, disincentivizing inclusive bathrooms.
Educators are at risk of more scrutiny and restrictions on top of their already stressful jobs. SB810, for example, would prohibit school districts and charter schools from taking any negative action against an employee who uses language that aligns with a person’s biological sex rather than their gender identity, with “biological sex” referring to the sex assigned at birth based on physical characteristics.
HB1655 would criminalize school employees supporting a student in socially transitioning, including using their chosen name and pronouns, with the possibility of a school district losing its state funding for the entire school year if it is found that a violation occurred.
Another bill, HB973, would prevent school district employees from modifying a student’s recorded sex even after legal proceedings or a court order approving a legal gender marker change.
HB1012 and SB88, which would modify the legal definition of harmful material to be broader, could be used to limit minors’ access to information on LGBTQ identities. Anything that could be construed to “appeal to a minor’s interest in sex” would be prohibited from being shown in the classroom.
Sports are another area of interest. HB1123 would establish new requirements in Texas schools that prohibit students from competing in sport categories for a biological sex different from their sex assigned at birth. In ambiguous cases, students could be required to undergo genetic testing just to be allowed to participate in sporting events.
HB370 extends these restrictions beyond schools to any events receiving state funding. If passed, this amendment to the Texas Events Trust Fund law would prohibit events from receiving funding if they allow biological males to compete in sports designated for female athletes, with biological sex based on a person’s original birth certificate.
The bill clarifies that, while biological males cannot compete in female-designated sports under this rule, they can still participate as coaches, support staff or in other non-competing roles. But it doesn’t seem concerned with the possibility of transgender men competing alongside “biological men.”
Other laws seek to limit gender-affirming health care that can be lifesaving for trans and gender nonconforming people. SB115 targets civil liability, government health plan coverage, and public funding of gender modification treatments. It would impose significant financial burdens on healthcare providers and insurance companies offering procedures including castrations, hysterectomies, and hormone treatments as public funds and state health plans such as Medicaid would be prohibited from covering these treatments. HB847 would prohibit the use of state funds for gender reassignment medical procedures and health benefits. The bills all include exceptions for intersex people, so individuals with characteristics that do not fit into the binary of male or female can still receive surgeries without their consent.
Other notable bills include HB796 and SB80, which would establish the Texas Sovereignty Act, that allows the state to challenge and potentially nullify federal actions deemed unconstitutional. The bill would also require courts to rely on the Constitution’s original meaning rather than on previous court interpretations, introducing the possibility of rolling back more hard-won rights.
In vitro fertilization procedures might face more regulations, as HB1084 could require individuals seeking IVF to carry to term every embryo implanted during the procedure and prohibit any termination in the case of a multifetal pregnancy.
It’s going to be a long session, folks. However, in the 2023 legislative session, most of the anti-LGBTQ bills filed were defeated, which gives hope that many of these laws may not come to pass.