If there’s one thing that Texas Governor Gregg Abbott can’t keep his hands off of, it’s trans rights. In fact, he’s so desperate to attack trans people and women that he’s demanding that the Texas legislature will hold a special session July 18th that will allow the state government to run through a proverbial “wish list of conservative issues,” according to the Austin American-Statesman. High on the list? Cracking down on gender-neutral bathrooms, reversing protections for LGBTQ Texans, and barring local governments from funding Planned Parenthood with taxpayer dollars.
Abbott has been relentless in his focus on anti-trans issues. A bill that would require trans students in Texas schools to use their own single-stall bathrooms, rather than the multi-stall rooms the rest of their peers use, is already underway. Abbott also indicated that he wanted a state bill that would pre-empt and overturn any local legislation that protects LGBTQ residents, including housing and employment protection.
These laws would pave the way for open discrimination against Texas’ LGBTQ community. If this sounds familiar, it’s because North Carolina did something similar in 2016.
And like North Carolina, Texas could pay dearly for its commitment to anti-trans discrimination.
According to Newsweek, Texas Competes, a group of local business leaders who support LGBTQ rights, estimates that bad publicity from the bathroom bill has already cost the state $200 million—even before the bill was passed.
Abbott also recently signed a draconian anti-abortion bill banning the second-most common second-trimester abortion procedure from being carried out in the state. And all of this is before you get to his successful attack on sanctuary cities.
Read more about the special session at the American-Statesman.