The Texas Senate Chamber
Republicans in the Texas Senate on Wednesday, July 14, approved two bills attacking transgender youth. But House Democrats’ decision to leave the state to break quorum to stymie the GOP’s efforts to pass voter suppression laws will derail the anti-trans bills, too.
Nine Democratic state senators and 57 Democratic state representatives left the state for Washington, D.C., to break quorum in Gov. Greg Abbott’s called special session. The senate still has enough Democrats — four — left to continue voting on bills.
Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 32 would allow student athletes to participate only on sports teams based on the sex listed on their birth certificate at or near the time of their birth, rather than on the team that aligns with their actual gender identity.
that SB 32, authored by Lubbock Republican Charles Perry, would apply those restrictions in K-12 in public schools. Perry’s SB 2 covers both K-12 in public schools and public colleges and universities.
Both bills passed in the Senate on 19-3 votes, with Democratic Sens. John Whitmire, Judith Zaffirini and Juan Hinojosa voting against them. Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville voted with Republicans, as he has in the past on issues affecting LGBTQ people.
The University Interscholastic League already bans trans students from participating in sports based on their gender identity, except in cases where the student’s gender marker has been changed on their birth certificates. Perry’s bills close that loophole.
Perry claims he pushed the legislation attacking trans to protect the “integrity” of women’s sports because he worries that some students would try to change the gender marker on their birth certificate to gain a competitive advantage — even though such a scenario has never happened and the very idea of teen and pre-teen boys legally transitioning for such a reason is ridiculous.
The GOP also ignores the fact that their bills would, in actuality, threaten the very “integrity” they claim to be protecting in women’s sports by forcing transgender boys to compete against girls.
— Tammye Nash
