Texas Senate Committee Passes 'Bathroom Bill' On To House For Full Vote

AUSTIN, TX — After nearly 21 hours of testimony from members of the public airing their views, a Texas Senate committee approved the so-called "bathroom bill" early Wednesday morning sending it to the full Senate for a hearing next week.

The hearing is for SB 6, which seeks to block transgender people from using the public bathrooms that match their sexual identities. Also known as the Texas Privacy Act, the bill would compel transgender people to use bathrooms labeled with the gender that's listed on their birth certificates instead.

The Austin American-Statesman reported the committee's vote to pass the measure to the full Senate was 8-1, with Judith Zaffirini, a Democrat from Laredo, the dissenting vote. More than 250 witnesses spoke against SB 6, including parents of transgender children.

The long line to speak was actually almost twice as long as those who spoke, with more than 430 people signing up but dropping off as the hours passed in the grueling process deciding a bill's fate. By the time a vote was taken on the measure, it was ten minutes until 5 a.m. after a 2 1/2-hour lunch break.

The bathroom bill has been championed most visibly by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has gone on a full court press to passionately call for its passage. At a recent meeting with state pastors, he even went so far as to compare his quest to ban transgender people from women's rooms to the Battle of the Alamo.

How policing would occur to determine a person's gender at birth is still unclear. But the bill contains punitive measures for violators: $1,000 to $1,500 for the first offense, rising to $10,000 to $10,500 for subsequent violations. The Statesman noted a new version of the bill submitted to the committee Tuesday deleted the former inclusion of enhanced penalties for assaults committed in a bathroom or changing room.

Here are some past Patch stories on this issue:

False Equivalency Alert: Top Texas Lawmaker Compares 'Bathroom Bill' To Battle Of The Alamo

Texas Thrusts Itself In Lead Role Opposing Transgender People's Bathroom Use

Nationwide Opposition Swells Against Texas 'Bathroom Bill' Targeting Transgender People

Business Group Warns Texas Lawmakers Of $8.5B Loss If They Pass Anti-Transgender Rules

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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