State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, a member of the House LGBTQ Caucus, pictured speaking at an Equality Texas rally, urged her colleagues on the Public Education Committee to vote against a bill barring trans girls from competing in school athletics.
Senate Bill 29, a bill that would ban transgender girl athletes from participating in sports based on their gender identity, died this morning (Tuesday, May 4) in the Texas House’s Public Education Committee.
One Republican, State Rep. Dan Huberty, of Houston was absent and Chairman Harold Dutton, a Democrat, voted present, giving opponents a victory.
Democrats on the committee were staunchly against the bill. Rep. James Talarico of Round Rock called it “lipstick on a pig,” adding he knew his Republican colleagues on the committee don’t like the bill. Voting it out would be “enough to tarnish the name of this committee.”
House LGBTQ Caucus Chair Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, urged her colleagues to vote no after hearing testimony from educators who opposed the bill.
Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, said it was all about politics for Republicans worried about primaries. “Is the cost worth it?” he asked.
Dutton declared it dead late last month, saying it did not have the votes in committee. But a committee substitute added language requiring the University Interscholastic League to codify the language. UIL already prohibits most transgender students from participating in athletics that align with their gender identity but allows students to use amended birth certificates. The bill would take away that option.
The bill is one of six filed in this legislative session banning transgender youth in sports. Opponents called them “bathroom bills 2.0,” likening them to the 2017 bills barring transgender people from accessing bathrooms and other intimate spaces. Those bills ultimately died.
— James Russell
