Texas lawmakers have introduced more anti-transgender bills than those of any other state

State lawmakers across the country have filed a tidal wave of legislation targeting the rights of transgender people — and Texas, numerically, is at the forefront of that attack, according to a database tracking anti-trans bills nationwide.

Members of the Texas Legislature have filed 37 anti-trans proposals since the start of 2023, more than any other U.S. state, according to the online site Track Trans Legislation, which uses the LegiScan API data service to track bills’ progress.

Only Missouri comes close, with lawmakers in that state having proposed 34 pieces of anti-trans legislation so far in 2023. Less than two full months into the new year, three states — South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah — have already signed such measures into law, according to the database.

Among other things, the Texas bills seek to cut off access to gender-affirming healthcare to minors, to further restrict trans athletes from participating in sports and to limit trans people’s access to public facilities. Some of the proposals also seek to stop schools from teaching about gender issues.

All 37 of the proposals were authored by Republican lawmakers. No Democrats were listed as co-authors.

The flood of anti-trans legislation comes as GOP elected officials and strategists vie to harness anti-trans sentiment among the party’s base to mobilize voters, according to political experts.

During his successful reelection campaign last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seized on punitive measures against trans people as a top issue. Abbott’s election strategist, Dave Carney, bragged to reporters that the Republican governor’s order demanding that the state’s child welfare agency investigate families of trans kids was a “winning issue.”

LGBTQ+ advocates and civil-rights groups warn that the barrage of anti-trans legislation is harming a group already subjected to frequent threats and harassment. At least 32 transgender and gender-nonconforming people were killed in the U.S. last year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

“We have shifted this conversation so incredibly far in the direction of restrictions on trans people’s autonomy and rights in a way that was completely unfathomable to many of us even just three or four years ago,” American Civil Liberties Union attorney Chase Strangio told the New York Times late last month.

Coming soon: SA Current Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting San Antonio stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Related Stories

Assclown Alert: Shitting on LGBTQ+ Texans with State Reps. Tony Tinderholt and Bryan Slaton

The pair wasted two hours in a failed tag-team attempt to tack anti-transgender amendments onto a procedural resolution.

‘I want to fight’: LGBTQ Texans ready for legislative session as GOP lawmakers target them in dozens of bills

Republicans are backing legislation targeting gender-affirming care for children, classroom lessons about sexuality and drag shows.

Texas AG Ken Paxton requested list of transgender residents from Department of Public Safety

A DPS spokesman said the department ultimately told Paxton’s office that the requested records didn’t exist.

Breaking the Cycle: It will take more than federal funds to solve San Antonio’s domestic violence crisis

Advocates say additional resources along with better communication between criminal courts, civil courts and nonprofits are critical to ending domestic violence in San Antonio.

Texas Senate committee advances bill that would block minors’ access to gender-affirming care

The Texas Pediatric Society, the Texas Psychological Association and other medical organizations testified against the bill last week.

Mental health of LGBTQ+ youth suffering amid political hostility in Texas, other states, study says

Some 30,000 13- to 17-year-olds in Texas identified as transgender in a 2022 federal survey.

Texas’ new drivers license rule may make it tougher for trans people to vote

A leading voter-education group said the state’s rule change will intimidate trans voters, create confusion at polling places.

This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.