Texas Speaker Says He Opposes 'Bathroom Bill'

AUSTIN, TX — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's pet cause — banning transgender people from using public bathrooms labeled with the gender with which they identify — has a pretty high-profile opponent: Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, who happens to be his fellow Republican.

In a live-streamed talk with Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, Straus labeled the so-called "bathroom bill" formally titled Senate Bill 6 as a "contrived" reaction to a manufactured problem. Patrick has forcefully championed the measure, positing the bill as a way of protecting women and children from sexual predators.

While fellow conservatives have embraced the bill at Patrick's urging, Straus said the measure wasn't among the top items of a Texas agenda to his way of thinking: "I've gone further than saying it's not a priority. I oppose it."

Critics of the mulled legislation have criticized the bill as nothing more than a discriminatory measure. Business interests have also voiced the measure, warning that the state stands to lose billions of dollars due to boycotts, citing examples elsewhere in the country where similar measures have been passed.

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