Austin (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Texas Senate State Affairs Committee has started hearings on two bills that would restrict transgender bathroom use. Republican Lois Kolkhorst introduced the measures.
One would require people to use the bathroom of the gender listed on their birth certificate in schools and government buildings; the other would prevent school districts from adopting their own policy.
“I think this is a worthy cause for us to discuss,” Kolkhorst said at the beginning of the hearing Friday morning. “It is not a comfortable issue for us to discuss, not on either side.”
The Texas Capitol set up two overflow rooms to accommodate people who signed up to testify or watch the proceedings.
“There are, and we know this, many voices in this debate,” Kolkhorst said. “Many voices from all different spectrums. Some voices have been much louder than others.”
The chief executive of Visit San Antonio told the committee three conventions have already canceled events there. Casandra Matej says conventions book space up to ten years ahead of time, so she says increased business in North Carolina this year may be an anomaly.
“While North Carolina has made success in 2016, their future bookings are bleak,” Matej says. “We’re starting to see that in Texas.”
Senator Jose Rodriguez (D-El Paso) said the issue is likely to end up before the US Supreme Court, so he believes Texas should wait to address the issue.
“Even federal policies have evolved to include protection for transgender athletes,” he said.
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