All 30+ anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed this session were officially dead, including 13 direct attacks on transgender youth. It’s been a long, hard road to get here and we absolutely could not have done it without you, our partner organizations or our LGBTQ+ champions in the Texas House.
We’re watching for indications on whether our fight will continue through a special session. As it stands, there will be a special session in the fall to handle redistricting and the disbursement of federal COVID relief funds only.
It’s unlikely at this time that there will be a special session in June to bring back SB 29 (Perry), the ban on transgender youth playing sports. Follow us on social media so we can keep you updated if anything develops. If you would like to commit to taking action should there be a special session, please sign up here.
These bills would require K-12 youth to participate in sports according to the gender on their birth certificate, essentially banning transgender youth from participating in line with their gender identity and barring them from the friendship, education, teamwork, and health benefits of playing a sport.
Categorical, across-the-board bans to exclude already-vulnerable children from important childhood activities are unscientific and cruel, and are a direct repackaging of the 2017 bathroom bills that failed in their attempts to demonize transgender people. These bans put vulnerable kids at risk of further harassment, exclusion, and bullying, and block them from the important health, social, and emotional benefits that youth sports is meant to offer to all children.
These bills include HB 1458, HB 3455, HB 4042, HB 4043, SB 29, SB 373. A full breakdown of each bill is included below.
SB 29 (Perry) – Passed the Senate | DEAD – did not get House floor vote
This bill bans trans youths’ access to sports by requiring K-12 youth to participate in UIL sports according to the gender on their birth certificate.
This bill bans trans youths’ access to sports by requiring K-12 youth to participate in UIL sports according to the gender on their birth certificate.
HB 1458 (Swanson) – Dead in the House
HB 3455 (White) – Dead in the House
HB 4042 (Hefner) – Dead in the House
HB 4043 (Hefner) – Dead in the House
These bills criminalize the age-appropriate, evidence-based, private, life-saving care that is thoughtfully crafted in consultation with teams of medical healthcare experts, parents/guardians, and transgender youth. The language in these bills does not reflect current transition healthcare practices, further illustrating that legislators should not be inserting themselves into the doctor’s office.
These bills include HB 68, HB 1399, HB 2693/SB 1311, HB 4014/SB 1646. A full breakdown of each bill is below.
SB 1646 (Perry) – Passed the Senate | Referred to the House Public Health Committee | DEAD – did not get to House floor
These bills add the administering or supplying of life-saving transition-related health care, as directed by medical or mental health professionals, to the statutorial definition of “child abuse,” including related penalties. This bill targets anyone involved in transition-related care, including parents and guardians.
SB 1311 (Hall) – Passed the Senate | Sent to the House, waiting to be referred to committee | DEAD – did not get to House floor
These bills prohibit a physician or other health care provider from performing affirming and life-saving transition-related care and would punish any doctor who did provide best practice transition care by revoking their license to practice. Additionally, the bills would prohibit professional liability insurance from covering transition related care for minors.
HB 68 (Toth) – Dead in the House
HB 1399 (Krause) – Dead in the House
HB 2693 (Toth) – Dead in the House
HB 4014 (Hefner) – Dead in the House
These bills undermine local nondiscrimination ordinances that protect LGBTQ Texans from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 70% of Texans support nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.
SB 1206 (Hall) – Referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee
These bills prohibit any state official or branch of state government from enforcing certain federal executive orders. Executive orders are an important policy making tool by the U.S. executive branch (including the president). Executive orders can play a critical role in the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality and bills like this could slow down the policy making process significantly.
HB 610 (Swanson) – Dead in the House
HB 70 (Swanson) – Dead in the House
HB 3955 (Toth) – Dead in the House
HB 4522 (Swanson) – Dead in the House
HJR 33 (Swanson) – Dead in the House
HJR 6 (Swanson) –Dead in the House
These bills provide exemptions from generally applied laws for those who have “sincerely held religious beliefs” or “moral objections,” allowing individuals to pick and choose which laws to follow. Religious exemption bills often take the form of allowing individuals to refuse service to LGBTQ+ individuals.
SB 247 (Perry) – Passed the Senate, Referred to the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee
This bill would allow anyone licensed under the state bar of Texas to refuse service without losing their license to anyone, including the LGBTQ+ community, if that individual violates a “sincerely held religious belief” of the licensee.
SB 738 (Birdwell) – Referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee
This bill would allow anyone authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony to refuse to marry anyone based on their “sincerely held religious belief.”
HB 1424 (Oliverson) – Dead in the House
HB 3083 (Krause) – Dead in the House
SB 1148 (Perry) – Referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee
This bill prohibits any minor from amending their birth certificate to match their gender identity. Not having up to date identification makes it difficult to navigate day to day situations where one needs to show an ID, like getting a driver’s license or getting a job.
HB 369 (Craddick) – Dead in the House
SB 210 (Eckhardt) – Referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee
Texas law authorizes people to legally change their name and gender marker on official documents like a driver license or state ID. But the process is not clearly laid out in statute, resulting in a patchwork of different requirements across the state. Transgender Texans who are unable to update their identification documents are excluded from basic activities that are necessary to function in society. There should be a simple, standardized method for updating official documentation so that all
Texans, including transgender Texans, have access to the documents they need to apply for a job, register for school, rent an apartment, board an airplane, or write a check for groceries.
HB 338 (Rosenthal) –Dead in the House
SB 97 (Menéndez) – Referred to the Senate Health & Human Services Committee
The American Psychological Association warns that so-called “conversion therapy” is scientifically discredited and dangerous. Experts agree that sexual orientation and gender identity are immutable and that conversion therapy is ineffective at changing them. Because the therapy is premised on negative and outdated prejudices against LGBTQ people, those who undergo it may suffer lasting harms. Conversion therapy is dangerous at any age, but children are particularly vulnerable. Texas has a responsibility to regulate the conduct of licensed therapists to ensure that no child is subjected to this abusive practice.
HB 560 (Israel), HB 407 (Hernandez) – Dead in the House
SB 129 (N. Johnson) – Referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee
In the Supreme Court cases of Windsor and Obergefell, the highest court of our nation affirmed that the fundamental right to marry was guaranteed to same-sex couples under the U.S. Constitution. But Texas law retains its unconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage and the Texas Family Code fails to address LGBTQ families at all.
As a result, family courts struggle to apply laws regarding marriage, parenting, adoption, and divorce to LGBTQ Texans in the same manner as for other families. LGBTQ adults cannot count on the stability that comes from having the law uniformly and predictably applied. The children of LGBTQ parents are not assured of their legal right to the continued love and support of both their parents in the event of divorce.
HB 1037 (Beckley) – Dead in the House
HJR 58 (Beckley) – Dead in the House
HB 73 (Hinojosa) – Dead in the House
HB 1402 (A. Johnson) – Dead in the House
HB 198 (M. Gonzalez) – Dead in the House
HB 1107 (Dominguez) – Dead in the House
HB 493 (Wu) –Dead in the House
HB 726 (Hernandez) – Dead in the House
HB 1038 (Beckley) – Dead in the House
HB 1149 (J. Johnson) – Dead in the House
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