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The Texas House passed a bill on Thursday that would restrict bathroom use based on sex assigned at birth in government buildings, universities and public schools across the state.

If the bill becomes law it will prevent transgender people using restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

Newsweek contacted Texas House Republican Angelia Orr, who sponsored the bill, for comment on Friday via email outside of regular office hours.

Why It Matters

Over the past few years a succession of Republican-dominated states have passed laws requiring people to use the bathroom that matches their gender as determined at birth in public buildings.

Shortly after his second presidential inauguration in January, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14168. This declared the federal government only recognizes two genders, male and female, and instructed the Department of Justice to oppose the presence of transgender people in women’s spaces, such as bathrooms.

What To Know

The Texas House passed Senate Bill 8, dubbed the “Texas Women’s Privacy Act” by some supporters, on Thursday by 86 votes against 45.

Senate Bill 8 would restrict access to bathrooms in state-owned buildings, universities and public schools based on sex as assigned at birth. This would apply to transgender inmates in jails and prisons, and would also block those born male from women’s domestic violence shelters with the exception of under 17-year-olds with their mother or guardian.

An amendment was tabled by Texas House Republican Steve Toth, and approved, raising the fine on any institution that breaks the law to an initial $25,000 followed by $125,000 for any additional breaches.

The public gallery was emptied during Thursday’s debate, according to The Texas Tribune, as opponents of the bill repeatedly shouted insults at its supporters. The debate, which lasted several hours, was tense with both opponents and supporters of the proposed legislation referring to their Christian faith.

There have been repeated attempts to introduce a transgender bathroom ban in Texas over the last decade, with the Texas Senate approving six bills to this effect since 2017 though they have never become law.

Also on Thursday The Texas Tribune lead writer Renzo Downey shared a photograph on X of an apparently satirical sign he said had been posed “in the men’s rooms in the Capitol Extension” of the Texas Legislature.

Headlined “Security Notice” it read: “Your genitalia may be photographed electronically during your use of this facility as part of the Electric Genital Verification (EGV) pilot program at the direction of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

“In the future, EGV will help keep Texans safe while protecting your privacy by screening for potentially improper restroom access using machine vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in lieu of traditional genital inspections.”

According to NBC News 19 states have passed legislation restricting which bathrooms transgender people can use, which LGBTQ think tank the Movement Advancement Project said now apply to around one in four transgender people living in the United States.

Earlier this week authorities in South Carolina urged the Supreme Court to intervene and overturn a federal appeals court ruling preventing the state from enforcing its ban on transgender students in girls’ school bathrooms in the state.

What People Are Saying

Speaking during the debate state Representative Orr said: “The preference of someone’s sexual appearance does not override the safety and privacy of a biological female.”

State Representative Erin Zwiener, a Democrat, asked: “Who do you think is more uncomfortable in the bathroom today? A cis woman, or a trans woman wondering if she’s about to be harassed?”

State Representative John Bryant, another Democrat, said: “Everyone is born a child of God, and everyone who is born into this life deserves to be treated that way. That is what the Bible says. That is what our hearts tell us. And the only time we act differently is when we get into politics.”

What Happens Next

The amended version of Senate Bill 8 approved by the House on Thursday will return to the Senate which has the option to accept or reject the changes made by the lower house. If the Senate gives its assent the bill will go before Texas Governor Greg Abbott who can sign it into law.

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