More than 400 people signed up on Tuesday to testify before the Senate State Affairs Committee and voice their opinion on Senate Bill 6, also known as the “bathroom bill”.

The legislation would require Texas residents to use the bathroom that matches their gender birth in public schools, government buildings and public universities.

“Every time I go to the restroom I am nervous and scared that a boy might be in there. If that happened it would be awkward, scary and very very weird,” 10-year-old Shiloh from Dripping Springs told the senators during her testimony. “The restroom is a private place, and I would like to keep it that way.”

Tuesday’s committee meeting was the first public hearing for Senate Bill 6. The bill’s author, State Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), told her colleagues on Tuesday that this is not about transgender people, rather keeping men out of women’s restrooms.

“Senate Bill 6 is, as I’ve described, for the people who would take advantage,” Kolkhorst said. “This is a bill to say that men should not go into the women’s restroom or into their shower or their locker room.”

State Senator Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, was quick to fire back at Kolkhorst’s comments. Rodriguez called the bill “problematic” and said it “discriminates on the basis of sex”.

“If a transgender person identifies as a woman, they were born male. But they identify as a woman, and they go into a woman’s bathroom,” Rodriguez said. “It seems to me from the literature that I have read, that that person who is identifying as a woman considers themselves a woman. So it is not a man going into the bathroom.”

Dozens of people who agreed with Rodriguez gathered outside of the hearing room for a rally to speak out against Senate Bill 6. They said the bill puts a target on the back’s of Texas kids.

“Lets not fail my son,” Ken Ballard said. “My son should be able to go to the bathroom that he feels comfortable in.”

Ballard said he found a suicide note by his transgender son about being called a girl. He joined other speakers on Tuesday criticizing Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, a longtime supporter of Senate Bill 6, for targeting innocent transgender children, who Ballard says are already among the most bullied and harassed and more at risk of suicide.

“It is the responsibility of all of us to educate ourselves so these false attacks can be exposed for what they are, a solution where there is no problem to perpetuate discrimination against LGBTQ Texans,” said Chuck Smith, CEO of Equality Texas. 

Smith also said, “Lt. Governor Patrick appeals to the worst chapters of our history, in which discrimination runs rampant and understanding and compassion are absent. Transgender students, like transgender adults, don’t want to cause any problems. They simply want to use the bathroom when the need arises. This bill threatens our children and risks the same economic backlash that has cost North Carolina jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Patrick held a separate press conference on Tuesday in support of the legislation. Patrick told reporters that he is confident the bill will pass.

The senators took a break. The hearing was expected to last well into Tuesday night.