Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Will Have Blood on His Hands if He Signs Two Anti-LGBTQ Bills Before Him
Late Sunday, Texas lawmakers rushed to advance two anti-LGBTQ bills as the state’s regular legislative session winds down.
One bill, Senate Bill , targets transgender young people in schools and the other, House Bill , allows foster care agencies to discriminate against children in foster care and potentially disqualify LGBTQ families from the state’s foster and adoption system based on religious or moral beliefs. Both bills take aim at vulnerable young people. Both are animated by an investment in stoking fear of trans people and the entire LGBTQ community. Both are part of a coordinated effort by powerful factions of the Texas government to send the message to LGBTQ people across the state that they are not safe or welcome.
For a few weeks, it appeared as though Texans might be spared a law targeting trans and intersex people when using the restroom with the House Speaker Joe Straus to such a measure as “manufactured and unnecessary.” Indeed, former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory may have some thoughts from the about just how costly and unnecessary such legislation is.
But under threat of a special session by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has made targeting trans youth a , the House amended anti-trans provisions onto SB 2078 yesterday, a bill that deals with “multihazard emergency operations plans” in schools.
This is real life.
With all that we have to contend with in society, lawmakers are prioritizing rules that bar trans young people from the restroom at school. Based on the rhetoric in Texas, it is clear that the existence of trans people is actually considered an “emergency” and the goal of this type of legislation is to legislate us out of existence. Particularly cruel is the fact that the bill zeroes in on trans young people.
Now HB 3859 and likely SB 2078 — which still has to go back to the Senate for approval by that chamber — will land on the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
Hopefully, Gov. Abbott has gained some empathy for the young trans people in his state over the past year since he mocked the Obama Administration for clarifying federal protections for trans youth in schools, :
The governor may think it is funny to make a joke and undermine the existence of trans people, but for the trans people and their families who reside across Texas, his glib cruelty might have deadly consequences.
. When transgender women and girls use women’s restrooms, there are still no men in those restrooms.
The existence of transgender people threatens no one — not in the restroom, not in school, not in a locker room, not when walking down the street. What is threatened, however, is the safety of the trans community. This is particularly the case when lawmakers situate trans bodies as an emergency threat that needs to be managed and expelled from public space. Trans youth are listening and watching, and what they are experiencing is an attack on their humanity.
Gov. Abbott has a choice to make. He can sign SB 2078 and HB 3859, codifying discrimination and risking lives, or he can veto these measures and save lives and save his state money. History will not remember him kindly if he acts on the side of discrimination and plays politics with the lives of trans youth and foster youth and young people struggling to find their way safely through the world.
At the end of the day, I hope Gov. Abbott does the right thing and vetoes SB 2078 and HB 3859. But I am not going to count on that. Instead, I am going to invest in and count on my community of LGBTQ people across Texas and the country who will continue to fight for justice. Particularly to the trans young people in Texas and around the country watching this nightmare unfold, please know that we are here.
As I have , “As a trans person who has fought many demons to fight beside you today, I will never give up this fight. We have existed through time and persisted through time. Look to your elders and they will look to you. Our future is bright even when they try to shut down the dreams that sustain us.”
You are beautiful just as you are.
Learn More About the Issues on This Page
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
President Biden Must Veto Defense Bill Attacking Military Families with Transgender YouthPresident Biden Must Veto Defense Bill Attacking Military Families with Transgender Youth
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate today passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would ban coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender youth whose parents are active-duty military personnel. The American Civil Liberties Union is opposing final passage of the defense bill over the inclusion of this health care ban and calling on President Joe Biden to veto the bill. Section 708 of the NDAA would prohibit insurance coverage for “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria” such as hormone therapy and puberty-suppressant medications, which Speaker Mike Johnson says would “permanently ban transgender medical treatment for minors.” The same treatments would be covered by TRICARE for any medical purpose other than treating gender dysphoria, the clinical diagnosis for the psychological distress experienced by transgender people related to their gender identity. “By passing this bill, the House and Senate are forcing thousands of active-duty service members to choose between their careers in the military and the future of their transgender children,” said Mike Zamore, national director of policy & government affairs at the ACLU. “This unconscionable and unjustifiable attack on those families stands in direct contrast to President Joe Biden’s legacy of defending the civil rights of transgender Americans — including when few in his own party showed the courage to do so. President Biden should cement his legacy by vetoing this bill and sending it back to Congress to pass without Speaker Johnson’s last minute health care ban for servicemembers’ kids.” If signed by President Biden, this health care ban would be the first new anti-LGBTQ provision enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president since the enactment of the military’s since-repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for LGBTQ servicemembers and the since-repealed federal law barring recognition of same-sex marriages known as the Defense of Marriage Act. It is unknown how many transgender youth are currently enrolled in TRICARE or how many of those enrolled are currently receiving coverage for gender-affirming care. In one 2022 analysis, 2,500 minor patients sought care for gender dysphoria through TRICARE Prime insurance at military or civilian treatment facilities in 2017, and 900 received puberty suppressants or gender-affirming hormones. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a landmark case brought by the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump on behalf of three families and a medical provider challenging a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming hormonal therapies for transgender youth on the grounds the ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Montana Court Blocks State From Refusing to Correct Sex Markers on Transgender People's Birth Certificates and Driver's LicensesMontana Court Blocks State From Refusing to Correct Sex Markers on Transgender People's Birth Certificates and Driver's Licenses
HELENA, Mont. – A Montana court has granted a preliminary injunction preventing the state of Montana from enforcing policies that bar transgender people from obtaining accurate sex designations on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses. After a prior restriction on amendments of birth certificates was struck down by the courts, in early 2024 the state of Montana enacted a new rule that categorically bars transgender Montanans from correcting the sex designation on their birth certificates. Around the same time, the Montana Department of Justice adopted a policy similarly restricting amendment of driver’s licenses. The plaintiffs challenged these policies in state district court, arguing that they violate various constitutional provisions, including the right to equal protection of the law. In a recent Montana Supreme Court decision, two justices concluded that discrimination on the basis of transgender status – as the state is engaging in here – is a form of sex discrimination that violates the Montana Constitution’s equal protection clause. The plaintiffs, two transgender women, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Montana, and Nixon Peabody LLP. Plaintiff Jessica Kalarchik, a veteran who served in the United States Army for 31 years, said: “After finally being able to live my life openly as the woman I know myself to be, I am frustrated that my birth state, Montana, wants me to carry around a birth certificate that incorrectly lists my sex as male. I live my life openly as a woman, I am treated as a woman in my daily life, and there is no reason I should be forced to carry a birth certificate that incorrectly identifies me as male. Fortunately, the court agrees that this ridiculous policy should not be in effect.” “Once again the State of Montana chose to adopt a draconian policy that is clearly intended to marginalize transgender Montanans, only for that discriminatory action to be blocked by the courts,” said Akilah Deernose, executive director for the ACLU of Montana. “Here in Montana we treasure our right to privacy and to live our lives free from governmental intrusion. The State of Montana clearly has not learned any lessons from the past few years, where courts have repeatedly struck down unconstitutional laws targeting transgender Montanans.” “Forcing anyone to carry documents that contradict their identity unjustly violates their rights to privacy, equal treatment, and not being compelled to convey a government message about their sex that they disagree with,” said Malita Picasso, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “Such a policy marks transgender people for further mistreatment and discrimination, essentially requiring them to carry papers that out them as transgender any time they need to provide identity documents. Fortunately, the court has refused to allow the state of Montana to subvert the freedom of transgender Montanans to control their own identity as this case goes forward.” In granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the court held, “[i]f the challenged state actions discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their transgender status, they also necessarily discriminate the basis of sex.” The state has the option of appealing the district court’s ruling to the Montana Supreme Court, but the underlying case will proceed in district court. A trial has not yet been scheduled. -
FloridaDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Keohane v. DixonKeohane v. Dixon
On September 30, 2024, the Florida Department of Corrections rescinded its policy regarding treatment of gender dysphoria, which allowed for hormone therapy when deemed medically necessary, as well as access to clothing and grooming standards that accord with one’s gender identity. Under this new policy, grooming and clothing accommodations have been stripped away, and hormone therapy is not permitted unless an exception is deemed constitutionally required. The ACLU brought a class action challenging the policy. -
IdahoDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Robinson v. LabradorRobinson v. Labrador
Two incarcerated transgender women have sued the state of Idaho alleging that HB 688, a 2024 law barring state funding for gender-affirming medical care for transgender people, denies them access to the health care their doctors have prescribed for them and is a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. They represent a class of all incarcerated folks within the state of Idaho who face the loss of hormone therapy due to HB 668.