Texas Enacts Harshest Trans Bathroom Law In The US
Texas has officially become the 20th state to legislate which bathrooms transgender people can use. Governor Greg Abbott signed a contentious bill on Monday that requires people in public schools, universities, and government buildings to use facilities corresponding to their sex assigned at birth. According to reports from NBC, this law is the culmination of a political fight that first began in the state nearly a decade ago.
Texas to become the 20th state with a transgender bathroom law https://t.co/qcWDFu7QUj pic.twitter.com/FYHJvWES5e
— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) September 24, 2025
This is about more than just bathrooms.
The new law, which takes effect on December 4, extends far beyond public toilets. It mandates that jails and prisons must house inmates according to their birth sex. In a particularly cruel provision, it also prohibits transgender women from accessing services at women’s domestic violence centres, creating a dangerous gap in support for some of the most vulnerable people in the community.
The justification and the reality.
Proponents of the bill have repeatedly used safety as their main argument. During a debate on the bill, Republican State Representative Angelia Orr referred to trans women as men and claimed the measure was to keep women and girls safe. This is a familiar line, but it is one that is not supported by evidence. A 2018 study from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law found no link between letting trans people use appropriate facilities and an increase in safety risks.
A decade of debate and dangerous consequences…
This is not the first time Texas has attempted to pass such a law. A similar bill failed in 2017, partly due to the massive corporate and public backlash against North Carolina’s notorious “bathroom bill”. The political situation has clearly changed. The new Texan law is now the most financially punitive in the United States, with institutions facing fines of up to $125,000 for non-compliance.
Opponents argue the law is government overreach designed to target an already marginalised group. In a chilling exchange, Democratic State Representative Erin Zwiener asked if the bill’s intention was to “run trans people out of the state of Texas”. Representative Orr replied, “No, just out of the bathroom”.
But the consequences of this kind of legislation are felt by many. So what happens to anyone who does not conform to rigid gender stereotypes? In a powerful personal moment during last month’s debate, Representative Jessica González, a cisgender woman with short hair, revealed she had been wrongly accused of being in the wrong restroom at the Texas Capitol. When she asked how the bill would protect people like her from harassment, Orr admitted that it does not.
In a statement, González, who chairs the Texas House LGBTQIA+ Caucus, said, “all Texans will be put at risk of harassment and violence”.
“It targets any individual whose appearance does not align with traditional standards of gender presentation,” she said. “Texans should not have to enter a public building in fear of being discriminated against because of how they look.”
