Controversial topics have heated up once again across Texas with the start of the Special Session, one of them being the bathroom bill.
This bill was stalled during the regular session but could have the opportunity to pass in the next 30 days.
If passed during the session, the proposed bill would require people to use the bathroom of the gender on their birth certificate. It would also block cities, schools and universities from passing their own non-discrimination ordinances.
This targets transgender people who identify with the opposite gender.
“I mean, for me going in a women’s bathroom, I’d feel degraded, I would feel uncomfortable,” said transgender male, Cayden Ribera. “I have a beard and a voice deeper than the grand canyon and I’d make women so uncomfortable.”
Ribera leads a transgender support group. He’s concerned how the proposed Texas bathroom bill could affect him and his transgender friends.
“It’s terrifying, I’m scared for all of us and the level of embarrassment that we could possibly face or harm really.”
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s top priority is passing this bill after it was stalled during the regular session. He said back in March that the bill is about safety.
“That will say to parents everywhere your children will have privacy in their schools as we focus on the needs of every student by protecting all students and all adults in the most private of all situations, in the showers, locker rooms and bathrooms,” said Lt. Governor Patrick.
Representative Dustin Burrows believes that the House Bill 2899, which directly affects the bathroom bill, will pass in the special session.
“What it does is that the state is the only entity other than the United States who can decide who is and who isn’t a protected class. I believe that the bill has a good chance of passing,” said Representative Burrows.
Transgender rights groups protested at the Capitol today. This is just day one of the special session but those groups say they will continue to speak out across Texas until this session is over.