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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Texas lawmakers to consider 'bathroom bill' in upcoming session

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HOUSTON — On Jan. 5, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) announced the filing of Senate Bill 6, the Privacy Protection Act, aimed at stopping transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice.

From Attorney General Ken Paxton: “After our success in stopping President Obama’s bathroom rules in court, states are now free to enact legislation of their choosing to protect privacy. Texans should feel safe and secure when they enter any intimate facility, so I applaud the work of Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Senator Kolkhorst for fighting to protect women and children from those who might use access to such facilities for nefarious purposes.”

From Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director for the ACLU of Texas: “After having watched the debacle in North Carolina, it is shocking that the Lieutenant Governor would be so intent on pursuing SB6. It’s unnecessary, discriminatory and inconsistent with the constitutional value of equal protection for all. And that’s to say nothing of the havoc it will wreak on the Texas economy should it pass. Make no mistake — the invidious intent of SB6 is to deny transgender Texans the ability to participate in public life.”

From Louis Malfaro, president of the 65,000-member Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers: “Dan Patrick is waging a war on kids. Under Patrick’s lack of leadership, we’ve seen a failure to provide resources needed for Child Protective Services, resulting in thousands of children in need of care and supervision, and kids forced to sleep in state offices. We’ve seen Medicaid cuts that are devastating to disabled children and a lack of school funding that has led to denial of special education services. And now while our school finance system remains outdated and woefully inadequate to provide our students with the support they need, our lieutenant governor is instead is fixated on passing a “bathroom bill.”

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