Latest news with #HB229
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trans Texans brace for life under strict sex definition law
It was in a San Antonio courtroom in 2015 that Leo Tyler felt he became who he was always meant to be. The 17-year-old had long known he was trans, but it didn't feel real until a judge agreed to change the name and gender on his government documents. 'It was euphoric,' Tyler, now 27, recalls. 'Walking out of that courtroom, I felt so seen.' Tyler was the youngest in a group of people changing their gender markers that day. On the steps of the courthouse, they all embraced him, crying tears of joy over the idea that he'd get to live his whole adult life on his own terms. ''This is something no one can ever take away from me,'' he remembers thinking. But now, just a decade later, Tyler finds himself in limbo, waiting to see whether the state of Texas will require him and other trans people to live as the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than the gender they identify as. House Bill 229, which the governor is expected to sign into law, enforces a definition of sex based on the reproductive system someone was born with — women produce ova, men fertilize them. This definition could now be applied across state statute, leaving trans people and lawyers rushing to understand what exactly will change as a result of this law. 'The question of the hour is how will [HB] 229 be enforced and applied,' said Sarah Corning, a legal fellow at the ACLU of Texas. 'What we do know is that it's incredibly disrespectful to so many Texans the Legislature represents, and completely disregards their identity.' Compared to past legislative sessions, where battles over bathrooms, drag shows and gender-affirming care sparked dramatic showdowns between lawmakers and community members, the 2025 session was remarkably quiet. But HB 229 and the handful of other bills that passed may end up having even more significant consequences for LGBTQ people than many people realize, Corning said. The ripple effect will likely take years to sort out. Tyler, who works at a shelter for LGBTQ youth and runs support groups for trans people, is struggling to provide his community with answers he himself doesn't have. Carrying a driver's license that says he's a woman would 'be like I'm carrying an ID of some random person,' Tyler said. 'That name, that photo, that doesn't reflect who I am. I could just see it causing a lot of confusion, and for what?' LGBTQ advocates went into this legislative session unsure of what to expect. It had been a bruising few years, with Texas lawmakers pushing more, and more aggressive bills than any other state. In 2023, they banned trans athletes from playing college sports, as they'd done for K-12, prohibited children at drag shows and banned certain gender-affirming medical care for minors. Protesters turned out in full force, leading to arrests in the House chamber. The issue only became more prominent during the 2024 presidential election, where Republicans spent more than $200 million on round-the-clock anti-trans ads hammering Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates. Immediately after entering office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asserting there are only two sexes, male and female. Texas Governor Greg Abbott followed with a similar order for Texas, and the Texas Department of Public Safety began refusing to change gender markers on drivers' licenses, even with court orders. Amid all this upheaval, it wasn't immediately clear what Texas legislators' next priorities would be on this front, Jonathan Gooch, communications director at Equality Texas, said in April. 'Having had such an aggressively anti-trans legislative session in 2023, they accomplished a lot of things they wanted to do, and now the federal government is doing a lot of what they'd hoped,' he said. 'That's left Texas [lawmakers] to dig into some of the finer details, which are less obvious to most people.' The bills that gained traction this session were more nuanced and harder to understand, which Brad Pritchett, CEO of Equality Texas, said was intentional. 'This year, they have tried to hide the discrimination in bills that are more and more complicated,' he said at a rally, adding that legislators were hoping people's 'eyes glaze over' as they chipped away at health insurance and discrimination protections for trans people. One new law will require health insurers that cover gender-affirming care to also cover all costs related to detransitioning or any adverse effects. Or, as bill sponsor Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, summarized it, 'if you take somebody to the dance and they want to go home, then you have to take them home.' Democrats argued that this would disincentivize health insurers from covering gender-affirming care by significantly raising the costs, and filed more than half a dozen amendments to narrow the scope of the bill, to no avail. A related bill that passed will require medical records to list someone's birth sex, even if they've transitioned, which advocates worry will lead to discrimination. 'However you couch it, [this legislation] is about eliminating the existence of trans individuals in Texas,' Rep. Ann Johnson, a Democrat from Houston, said during the debate. 'Stop pretending that you're for freedom. Stop pretending that this is about the kids." The most high-impact bill, though, was HB 229, the 'sex definition' bill. The preface to the bill said this strict sex definition would be applied across bathrooms, prisons, shelters and sports teams, although legal experts say it is likely contained to anywhere sex is already explicitly mentioned in statute. Supporters call it the 'Women's Bill of Rights,' and said it was necessary to protect women-only spaces from the intrusion of men. 'If we can no longer define what a woman is, we cannot defend what women have won,' Rep. Ellen Troxclair, an Austin Republican, said on the floor. 'We cannot protect what we cannot define.' But for trans people, this strict definition leaves them in purgatory, unsure what exactly will change and where exactly they belong. Ian Pittman, an attorney who has helped dozens of trans people change their gender markers, said it's hard to imagine the state combing back through every individual drivers' license and birth certificate to find ones where the gender marker was changed. He anticipates this might come up when people renew their licenses, but it would depend on each individual case. He's more worried about the 'butterfly effect' of how this definition will come to be used across state and local laws, whether or not HB 229 actually applies to that particular statute. While many trans people celebrated the fact that a 'bathroom bill,' which requires people to use the bathroom that aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth, didn't pass this session, Pittman said the sex definition law could potentially end up having the same impact on the ground. 'There may not be a bathroom ban, but someone might say, since we have 'woman' defined in the government code, this courthouse bathroom is now only for people who are women by the government code definition,' he said. 'It's going to be used as a sword, not a shield.' For trans people like Tyler, who are living fully as the gender they identify with, carrying documents that say they're a different sex would require outing themselves anytime they fly, apply for a job, try to get a loan, are pulled over, or go to a bar, he said. 'I feel like, this is me, and I just want to have a job, and put food on the table, and pay bills, and it's very upsetting that they just threw this bill … down and now it could impact all of that,' he said. 'I've had to take time away just to cry because it gets very depleting.' Ryan McBride has been on testosterone and living as a man for two years. But he hadn't yet changed his gender marker, in part due to fear that he would face discrimination at the doctor's office. Now, he worries that he missed the window. He watched the Legislature closely this session, refreshing its website multiple times a day to see what bills were passing, and what they might mean for him and his community. When lawmakers gaveled out on June 1, he breathed a sigh of relief, taking a moment to celebrate that they didn't go further than they did. 'Weird start to Pride Month,' he said wryly. But even before any bills have gone into effect, living as a trans person in Texas has already become harder, he said. He's faced an uptick in unwanted attention, which he attributes to everyday people who previously had no awareness of, let alone opinion on, trans people suddenly becoming hyper-aware of any gender diversity. 'I've been ma'am-ed a lot more, and I was worried I'm not passing as well anymore, but I've heard this from other trans people that they're getting it too,' he said. 'No one is neutral anymore, it seems like, everyone is either really supportive or really opposed,' This is part of the long-term goal of all the bills that passed this session, Pittman said. Even if they don't change everything overnight, it's part of a campaign to make Texas inhospitable to trans people, to make them move, or live as the sex they were assigned at birth. 'It's more about creating confusion and it's meant to foment a divisive atmosphere and just make people wonder, do I really want to live in Texas as a trans person, where everything is becoming so hostile?' he said. Disclosure: Equality Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Here are the new Texas laws that will affect trans and LGBTQ+ people
While largely avoiding the same level of heated pushback of years' past, Texas lawmakers passed several bills that give LGBTQ+ people in Texas, specifically transgender residents, less opportunity to receive care and maintain their identities in state records. Texas legislators filed over 100 anti-trans bills through the session, some containing provisions that have been shot down in years' prior while others proposed new restrictions. Less than 10 were ultimately approved by lawmakers. The new bills that are likely to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott represent a yearslong movement from state conservatives to find new ways to restrict the presence of trans and LGBTQ+ Texans, advocates say. The bills that failed may also be resurrected by lawmakers in future sessions. Here's what to know. Several bills filed in the Legislature aimed to craft legal definitions of sex and gender in addition to their target goals — but House Bill 229 makes that goal its sole purpose, establishing state definitions for male and female and applying those definitions across statute. HB 229 defines a woman as 'an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova,' and a man as 'an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female.' Most immediately, the bill will bolster an already existing block from state agencies on changes to gender markers on state documents, which was backed by a nonbinding opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton in March. The bill may also force those who have already switched their documents to match their identified gender to have changes reverted when they are renewed. The longer-term effects of HB 229 are still not immediately apparent, as references to man and woman are used hundreds of times in statute and may ripple into other laws affecting people's lives. Texas joins 13 other states that have also crafted their own definitions, and several other bills that also passed in the state have individual definitions for related terms like 'biological sex.' President Donald Trump issued an executive order named 'Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism' in January providing federal definitions of male and female. Similarly, HB 229 has been dubbed the 'Women's Bill of Rights' by supporters, claiming it protects women in the state from men invading their spaces. Abbott released an executive order of his own shortly after Trump's affirming the president's directive, but did not provide his own definitions. In a May post on social media, the governor said he would immediately sign HB 229 into law. Tightening the ability to change the gender on state records like drivers' licenses has been a key issue for conservative lawmakers for years, and while HB 229 sets a precedent in disallowing new changes, another bill creates new requirements entirely. Senate Bill 1188 creates a new section on all state medical records listing patients' assigned sex at birth and any physical sexual development disorders. It also bans changes to those gender markers for any reason other than clerical errors, and creates civil penalties for medical professionals who do change them. House Democrats opposing the measure during floor discussion worried that SB 1188 may scare medical providers into inputting vague or inaccurate health information out of fear of fiscal or legal retribution. The bill does allow the new section to include information on a patients' gender identity, however health care services must opt-in to provide it. The bill also creates restrictions on where health care providers can store patient data and the physical servers they use to store them, and new regulations on how artificial intelligence can be used to create diagnoses. SB 1188 is not the only bill opponents have said will create a chilling effect on the LGBTQ+ community. Some bills may be more immediate in blocking options people have to do things like change their state records, but others like SB 1188 and Senate Bill 1257 may reduce what resources are available. SB 1257 was signed by Abbott in May and mandates that insurance companies provide coverage for gender detransitioning care if they already cover gender transition care. Proponents of the law claim it enforces responsibility onto insurance companies. The law is not a ban on gender-affirming care, however opponents worry it may act as one by incentivizing insurance companies to pull coverage altogether rather than take on potential new costs. SB 1257 is the first legal mandate for detransition care in the United States, making Texas a testing ground for insurance companies' appetite to keep or pull coverage. Similar bills in Arizona, Florida and Tennessee did not pass out of their respective state legislatures in 2024. Medical gender transition care for minors was banned in Texas by the Legislature in 2023, a restriction that was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2024. House Bill 18, primarily an overhaul of rural health care including a rural pediatric mental health care program, bans minors from accessing its resources for gender-affirming mental health counseling 'inconsistent with the child's biological sex.' The current gender transition care ban for minors does not include mental health services, only puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery, which is rare for those under 18. Another proposal headed to Abbott's desk, House Bill 1106, asserts that parents who do not recognize or affirm their child's gender identity cannot be held liable for abuse or neglect because of that lack of recognition. Access to materials and resources related to LGBTQ+ subjects are also being restricted by legislators through two key bills primarily aimed at schools. Senate Bill 12 bans Texas schools from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity and forbids student clubs 'based on' those subjects. The bill would prevent clubs like Gay-Straight Alliances and pride clubs, which are often tailored toward anti-bullying initiatives in schools. Opponents of the bill claim a ban on those clubs would cut off LGBTQ+ students from communities and resources that can save lives. 'One of the deadliest things that our youth go through is experiencing the perception at least of isolation, and GSAs are a powerful way that we can combat that and make sure that our youth are getting support,' said Ash Hall, ACLU Texas' policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights. While SB 12 restricts instruction and student groups, Senate Bill 13 gives school boards and new advisory councils greater oversight to remove books from school libraries that go against 'local community values.' Some lawmakers and advocates worry school boards and advisory councils would be able to restrict books containing LGBTQ+ material. A third bill, Senate Bill 18, would have banned 'drag-time story hours' at municipal libraries and cut funding to those who host them, however that bill was unintentionally killed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick after a procedural error at the end of the Senate's deadline to pass bills. The small set of bills passed by legislators shift the state's treatment of LGBTQ+ Texans significantly, but still represent a fraction of what lawmakers proposed. House Bill 239, this session's bathroom ban bill, was one of the over 100 bills that did not survive and was never heard by lawmakers despite half of the House signing on as coauthors. House Bill 2704 sought a similar ban through private lawsuits rather than criminal charges, but was never picked up by lawmakers. Also left unheard was House Bill 3817, filed by Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, which would have created a new felony charge for 'gender identity fraud' if a person represented themselves as a gender besides the one they were assigned at birth to state agencies or employers. Advocates like Johnathan Gooch, communications director for Equality Texas, say that the Legislature has kept its course on anti-trans legislation for the last few sessions, and that bills that didn't get picked up by legislators may be at the forefront of future sessions. 'We're hearing rhetoric that we've heard for a very long time and just more, more bills, a variety of new ways to narrow the rights of trans people,' Gooch said. 'It just doesn't come as a mistake that the number of bills is escalating.' Disclosure: ACLU Texas and Equality Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Senate Passes Bill Defining ‘Man' And ‘Woman' Based On Biology
On Thursday, the Texas Senate voted 20-11 to pass House Bill 229, known as the 'Women's Bill of Rights.' This bill, which defines 'man' and 'woman' based on biological reproductive systems for state records such as birth certificates and driver's licenses, now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law. Authored by Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway) and carried in the Senate by Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), the bill aligns with efforts by President Donald Trump to enforce a biological definition of sex, including an executive order targeting 'transgender' participation in women's sports. HB 229 requires state agencies to classify individuals as male or female based on whether their reproductive system is developed to produce ova or fertilize ova, respectively. An amendment clarifies that intersex individuals are not a third sex but must receive accommodations under state and federal law. Supporters argue the bill protects women's single-sex spaces, such as locker rooms and shelters, and clarifies legal definitions. 'With this bill, women and girls will know that Texas has their back and will not allow hard-fought rights to be eroded by activists who seek to erase them,' Troxclair said, The Texas Tribune reported. M. E. Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a Christian advocacy group, praised the vote: 'The message is clear: You don't mess with Texas women. HB 229 makes sure that the reality and truth of the two sexes is clear in Texas law and never altered by school districts, local cities, or bureaucrats ever again!' Opponents, including LGBTQ rights advocates, argue the bill marginalizes 'transgender' and intersex individuals. Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) called it a 'form of state-sponsored discrimination,' telling the Texas Tribune, 'If a law forces non-binary Texans, who are real people, into categories that don't reflect their lived experiences or identities … that would actually become discrimination in practice.' Sarah Corbin of the ACLU of Texas questioned its enforcement: 'The question of the hour is how will [HB] 229 be enforced and applied. What we do know is that it's incredibly disrespectful to so many Texans the Legislature represents, and completely disregards their identity.' The bill's legislative intent section, which does not alter statutes but guides interpretation, emphasizes 'immutable' biological differences, noting women's historical vulnerability to violence and the need for single-sex spaces. Critics, like Rep. Jessica González, D-Dallas, raised concerns about intersex individuals and women unable to conceive, arguing, 'We should not be boiling down a human's existence into one's ability to reproduce, because this is harmful, it is dangerous, and it is really just freaking insulting.' Troxclair countered that the bill applies to systems designed for reproduction, 'whether or not they are fully developed, whether or not they are capable of functioning.' With more than 120,000 Texans identifying as 'transgender,' advocates worry about practical impacts. Shelly Skeen of Lambda Legal said mismatched identification documents could force 'transgender' individuals to out themselves in everyday situations, such as voting or banking. Heather Clark, whose wife is 'transgender,' testified that carrying a driver's license misaligned with appearance would be 'untenable,' creating 'ample daily opportunities for discrimination' against her. Texas becomes the 14th state to pass such a law, following states like Kansas and Montana, where similar measures have faced legal challenges. Laura Lane-Steele, a University of South Carolina law professor, noted potential constitutional issues, including privacy and free speech violations, calling the law's application a 'big fat question mark.' Montana's law was struck down in February for violating privacy and equal protection rights, while Kansas' law faces ongoing ACLU challenges. The bill lacks civil or criminal penalties and focuses on record-keeping, but its broader implications remain unclear. Corbin said the ACLU of Texas is monitoring whether it will be narrowly applied to documents or used for wider policy changes. 'If it starts being used that way, they'll definitely hear from us,' she said. A 2022 survey found that 63% of Texas voters, including 87% of Republicans, support defining gender by birth certificate sex.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gender definition bill passes in Texas Senate, heads to governor
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas senators passed a bill to define 'male' and 'female' in Texas law during a Tuesday floor session that extended into the early morning Wednesday. House Bill 229 defines males as 'an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female,' which it defines as an 'individual whosebiological reproductive system is developed to produce ova.' Previous: Senate committee holds late night public comments hearing on gender definition bill These definitions fall mostly in line with another bill that defines male and female, SB 1188. That bill requires Texas' medical providers to record a person's 'biological sex.' The only difference is for males, which SB 1188 defines as having a reproductive system 'developed to produce sperm.' HB 229 also sets certain findings into Texas law, placing men as 'on average, bigger, stronger, and faster than females.' It also 'finds' that 'females more physically vulnerable than males to specific forms of violence, including sexual violence.' Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, led a spirited opposition to the bill just before midnight. HB 229 sponsor Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, and Cook engaged in over 20 minutes of debate on the Senate floor. A motion was made to record the debate between Middleton and Cook in the legislative journal. It passed without objection. The written record will likely become available following the 89th Legislative Session's close. At around 1 a.m. Wednesday, HB 229 was quickly passed along party lines in the Senate. It dodged the Senate's bill deadline by nearly 24 hours. The law goes into effect Sept. 1 unless Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes the bill. HB 229 mandates that state and local agencies use a binary view of sex when collecting information that identifies the sex of a person. 'A governmental entity that collects vital statistics information that identifies the sex of an individual for the purpose of complying with antidiscrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering public health, crime, economic, or other data shall identify each individual as either male or female,' the bill states. It is unclear how the agencies will make that determination beyond using already issued documents. Opponents of the bill testified before committees in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate that the bill will erase intersex Texans. Intersex people are born with reproductive systems that don't fit within these definitions. 'Each individual is one of two sexes, male or female, and individuals diagnosed with a disorder of sex development or as intersex are not considered to belong to a third sex and must receive accommodations in accordance with state and federal law,' the bill reads. The bill's supporters hold that the bill is a step toward further restrictions on transgender life in Texas. One such restriction is a private spaces ban, which would prevent people from using restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. This session's SB 240 attempted such a ban, but died in the House State Affairs Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Texas Senate Passes Bill on Definition of Woman: ‘Reality and Truth'
The Texas Senate passed a bill requiring the state to adhere to a biological definition of men and women, a move campaigners welcomed as a win for "truth and reality" and one that protects single sex spaces. But advocates for LGBTQ rights said the bill is harmful to the lives of trans people, who will face greater marginalization and discrimination as a result. Called the "Women's Bill of Rights," Texas senators passed HB 229 by 20 votes to 11, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. "The message is clear: You don't mess with Texas women," said M. E. Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a Christian advocacy group, in a statement posted to X. "HB 229 makes sure that the reality and truth of the two sexes is clear in Texas law and never altered by school districts, local cities, or bureaucrats ever again! "With today's vote in the Senate, Texas will lay the foundation for protecting women's spaces and opportunities." This is a developing article and more information will be added soon. Related Articles Supreme Court's Free Speech v. Paxton Decision Could Protect Kids Online | OpinionPioneering Aerospace Medicine Program to Study Long-Term Effects of Space TravelTexas GOP Rep Accused of Breaking Commandment With Ten Commandments VoteTexas Expanding Legal Cannabis Access Before Wider Ban 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
