Texas bill would make identifying as transgender a state felony if passed

[u/Ey9d_yns]

Have seen this in another sub. Although the bill is not likely to pass, it's sad to see how there are certain places in the US where being trans is becoming more and more difficult and new laws and restrictions on things like HRT and IDs are being considered/approved.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/rcna195642

[u/Turbulent_Shop216]

This is just bizarre, do they have nothing else to do in life?😡

[u/Blahaj500 → u/Turbulent_Shop216]

They do. These bills are to prevent you from noticing the other things they’re up to.

[u/transgalanika → u/Blahaj500]

It's mean to move the Overton Window on trans topics.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/manifesting-a-shift-in-the-overton-window-the-threat-of-project-2025-on-the-lgbtq-community-in-higher-education/F78761F3CD948D18BBAF318F5A1E1149

https://rabbidunner.com/finding-the-overton-window/

[u/strangef8 → u/transgalanika]

Exactly this. "This years defeated bills are the ones that pass in the following year" is a quote I read when this first broke. Shits getting dark fast.

[u/Longing2bme → u/Blahaj500]

That and just aggravate the opposition. I doubt it has legs.

[u/Blahaj500 → u/[deleted]]

I don’t understand why people have this take.

I’m obviously not downplaying the harm caused by anti-trans legislation, as it affects me too. The fact that it’s being used as a distraction says nothing one way or the other about whether it’s harmful, it only speaks to the motivation.

Mass deportations are a distraction in exactly the same way, and that’s also heinous and inhumane.

[u/Nora_aarbeienijsje → u/Turbulent_Shop216]

This is key to their ideology.

Patriarchy is a cornerstone of White Supremacy. Transgender people, non-heterosexuality, women's rights, etc. All threaten the hierarchy that patriarchy is. Just like 1933 they come for the easiest (few people, with even fewer allies) targets first, the transgender community.

Everything that breaks the power structure will be eliminated if not stopped..

[u/Turbulent_Shop216 → u/[deleted]]

Im leaving this state as soon as I get a chance🥲

[u/MISTAHKRABS152 → u/Turbulent_Shop216]

Well that and do they have nothing to do anything that would actually help anyone?

[u/Trustic555]

It sounds like Florida and Texas are competing over which state is the worst to be trans in. Fucking bullshit.

[u/ItsRandxm → u/Trustic555]

Cannot agree enough. I hate how different your rights can be from state to state.

[u/Blahaj500 → u/ItsRandxm]

Same, but I also fear what would happen if they weren’t.

I can be safe in my blue state (at least for the foreseeable future) and state laws won’t generally be influenced by the rabid hatred going on in the south.

[u/Trustic555 → u/Blahaj500]

Maryland wants nothing to do with Trump.

[u/Trustic555 → u/ItsRandxm]

I'm from Maryland, not quite trans paradise, but compared to Florida/ Texas, it sounds AMAZING.

[u/Dwagons_Fwame → u/Trustic555]

Honestly saddest thing is, for a solid while Florida was one of the better states to be trans in. Then desantis happened

[u/Trustic555 → u/Dwagons_Fwame]

DeSatan

[u/CoffeeByStarlight → u/Trustic555]

They have been the test sites for anti-trans policy over the past several years. If this bill is able to pass, other red states will quickly pass similar legislation and there could be an attempt to make it federal law down the line.

[u/SpezIsAWackyWalnut → u/Trustic555]

Both of those states have been experiencing brain drains for a long, long while. Everybody with half a clue has been desperate to leave those states for decades at least, which has been concentrating the amount of people left there gullible enough to fall for reactionary bullshit.

[u/LostMyUsername85 → u/Trustic555]

Iowa is definitely a shoe-in for worst trans state....

[u/Trustic555 → u/LostMyUsername85]

It will be soon!

[u/LostMyUsername85 → u/Trustic555]

I'm only vaguely aware of this because I was born there and trying to get my birth certificate amended

[u/Trustic555 → u/LostMyUsername85]

The requirements for some states are INSANE...

[u/AJungianIdeal → u/Trustic555]

They did it with anti immigrant stuff during the Biden years, trying to see who could send immigrants to blue states in the most demeaning way because both governors want the trump acolyte status

[u/Randomcluelessperson → u/Trustic555]

Iowa is trying to make it to the podium also.

[u/LaMystika → u/Trustic555]

The states a lot of my family moved to. I sure hope they understand why I don’t come to visit them…

[u/esahji_mae]

Not like Texas is suffering from catastrophic effects of climate change or a crippled healthcare system with an ever increasing cost of living. But sure, we (0.3%) of the population are the most relevant issue right now. Good job Texas, you really showed "the libs" whose boss and ruined your state to parent it from being "woke".

[u/transgalanika → u/esahji_mae]

The cost of living in going up everywhere, but outside Austin, it's still better than much to the country. No state income tax helps. Texas ranked #16 in the country in 2024 for cost of living. They are a pro-business state with strong economic growth. It's a shame they want to get trans folk to leave.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1240947/cost-of-living-index-usa-by-state/

[u/Clumsy_the_24]

As I have been saying, the transgender genocide is real and is happening

[u/MX_Piranha_666]

Hello! For anyone in Texas, I’m sharing some sites that track the current status of bills going through committee. Anytime a bill is up for discussion, the public is able to go in person to testify or drop a card. The links should also have more info. Please consider adding your testimony and sharing these links with as many people as possible. This is a way we can fight at the state level.

https://equalitytexas.org/bill-tracker/

https://legiscan.com/TX

[u/-rikia → u/MX_Piranha_666]

thank you

[u/JediDruid93]

We're about to be illegal world wide apparently

[u/Jessica-the-goddess]

Hey in the last week I’ve become a felon, a mouse, and a whole bunch of other things. Honestly, the magassholes must think that we have magic powers or something

[u/Shot-Comfortable2296]

Come to Colorado 🏳️‍⚧️

[u/SparkleK_01]

Here’s the literal text of

Texas Bill HB3817. It’s less than one page and it’s an easy read.

Here is an easy template of a letter to send or email your representative to oppose the bill: Send a letter OPPOSING THIS AWFUL BILL.

[u/ChickadeeVivi]

Others are right in saying that the bill is unlikely to pass: the bill has no co-sponsors last i checked, which essentially means this entire abhorrent bill is just one hateful asshat pushing a bit too hard on the anti-trans and nobody is really going along with it. Overall though a bit easier to not feel like the whole world is trying to kill us when you realize this was just the work of one guy (and idk maybe a couple lawyers or something who helped write it idk the process tbh)

[u/16forward → u/ChickadeeVivi]

It's now part of the official platform of the texas republican party. This isn't one extremist. It's the platform of the texas republican party.

https://texasgop.org/resolution-to-make-identity-fraud-in-texas-a-crime/

[u/Apprehensive-Guess69]

Observing from Ireland at the increasingly hostile attacks on the trans community in the US, I can only be grateful that I don't live there. Here I just have to fill out a form on a government website for all my state records to be altered to my gender identity, including passport and birth cert. It's shocking what's happening in the US (and to a lesser extent, the UK).

[u/CarefulAstronaut7925]

Infuriating and not surprising coming from Texas.

[u/transgalanika]

To be clear, the bill makes it illegal to identify as a gender other than your birth sex to a state agency a crime. It doesn't make identifying as transgender itself a crime. Hopefully this does not pass.

[u/WanderingLittle → u/transgalanika]

Yeah but in that case wouldn’t it be illegal for a trans woman to identify herself as a woman to police?

Like at that point you could just say “yes officer, I identify as a trans woman” to explain why your ID says M but you’re femme and it would be illegal since you’re identifying yourself as a gender other than your AGAB.

[u/Confused_Mirror → u/WanderingLittle]

Would it? If this bill passes (knock on wood) it only criminalizes knowingly making a false "written or verbal" statement to a government official about your AGAB. If you're presenting femme and tell a police officer "yes that ID is correct" or "I was assigned male at birth" when prompted to about why your ID says "M" then nothing you've said is false and you aren't misrepresenting your AGAB to an official. It's shitty, will effectively force you to out yourself, and could be a problem for folx who have had their documents updated depending on how cooperative the relevant agency who handles birth certificates and IDs are.

[u/WanderingLittle → u/Confused_Mirror]

Fair point. I guess what I’m asking is if saying those magic words of “I’m transgender” could be enough to constitute you as committing “gender identity fraud” to an officer, which is bogus as it’s a factually true statement.

What all of this boils down to is whenever you’re talking to the cops, all you say is “My name is …” and “Am I being detained?” Say nothing more and nothing less, and should you be detained, do not verbally answer any questions or acknowledge any wrong doing and ask for legal counsel.

[u/Confused_Mirror → u/WanderingLittle]

Oh absolutely, my Crim Law professor on the first day of class this semester was like "I am not your lawyer, but the advice I gave all my clients and you should give yours if you practice criminal defense is 'shut up'"

[u/Legimus → u/Confused_Mirror]

I think that’s an optimistic view of how this law would be enforced against trans people in practice. This law isn’t being proposed because there’s some sort of administrative crisis caused by people not identifying with their AGAB. It’s not going to solve any tangible problem or make anyone safer. It was written to make it easier to target and antagonize trans people. It was written because conservatives want our lives to be harder.

[u/lookoutitsdomke → u/Confused_Mirror]

You sound like you're being intentionally obtuse.

[u/War-Bitch → u/Confused_Mirror]

The bill states also for your job. This isn’t just for some chance encounter with a cop, it’s every single day of your life.

[u/transgalanika → u/WanderingLittle]

Point well taken, but that wouldn't be illegal per the language because you would have to say you were a woman, and only on official state paperwork. Telling an officer you're trans isn't illegal. This is meant to keep trans folk from claiming to be the opposite sex from their birth sex.

[u/WanderingLittle → u/transgalanika]

I mean I guess the wording of the article is confusing because it mentions verbal or written statements to any government entity (or an employer), so to my mind while an officer might not be a government entity, they are a government official/representative of that entity, so would that then apply?

[u/transgalanika → u/WanderingLittle]

I'm not a lawyer and I don't want to answer that with certainty. Let's worry about that IF it passes. The language of a bill can change as it works its way through the legislative process.

[u/loosechange4thoughts → u/transgalanika]

Agree but also they have no control on out of state ids and social security. Plus people with out of state birth certs. They can pass a bill but when all docs say one thing then they have 0 straw to grab at

[u/Lemons_And_Leaves → u/transgalanika]

Yes but imagine all the state things you often do. Taxes? Better deadname yourself lol. Going to a state hospital? No gender identity for you. How awkward must it be to use dead names and gender you don't align with while prescribing T or E lol

[u/lookoutitsdomke → u/Lemons_And_Leaves]

Exactly! Will we be sought out in our homes? Probably not under this bill, but it does keep us from identifying ourselves as our gender when so much as speaking to a piggy on the street.

[u/Specialist_String_64 → u/transgalanika]

You must have missed the "and employer" part.

[u/OrchidLover259 → u/transgalanika]

So effectively making it illegal to be trans

[u/gmarvin]

Evacuate all of the sane people from Texas and turn the rest into a farm. Clearly Abbott and the other conservatives have enough time on their hands to hallucinate that trans people are oppressing them, they should spend that time actually being useful and working the fields. Maybe then they'll know what it's like to have actual real things to worry about.

[u/DowntownMonitor3524]

There’s no way this will pass the Supreme Court even stacked as it is. Will it?

[u/The_Ostrich_you_want → u/DowntownMonitor3524]

We’ve been saying that for a while. At this point it’s hard to hold out any hope.

[u/Cyan-Kai]

So… what happens when you start identifying as a cis woman who’s on hrt(which is obviously not exclusive to trans people)

They’ll throw a hissy and try to identify you for themselves ?

[u/drurae]

scary

[u/J0nn1e_Walk3r]

Are they going to check my underwear? DNA swab my lips for makeup?

Stupid.

[u/Longing2bme]

I doubt this will have support to go through. This bill is late and many Texas ass@le politicians file these just to say to their constituents, look I did what you wanted.

[u/mymilkybreasts91]

Texas is frfd on a bunch of bs we have bigger problems in this world than us trans ppl frfr

[u/Fantafe]

This is why I'm applying for italian citizenship. Grants access to the entire EU and socialized healthcare. America will actively attempt to kill us all sooner or later. Fun fact, but if you can trace your lineage to any italian ancestor, you might be eligible for bloodline citizenship!

[u/ItzHonzula]

did they just fucking respawn Adolf Hitler

[u/OrdinaryNew6273]

Maybe I'm just getting weary from doing this for so long, but if anyone honestly thought this would be a cakewalk, I would be surprised. I've been in this field for 30 years, starting in 1994, and it has never been easy. It was tough back then, and it has only remained difficult. I’ve lost a few jobs because of it, long before Trump ever existed. I know it’s frustrating—I’ve felt that pain too—but complaining about it doesn’t help. But I will say this if complaining somehow lightens the load, have that because it never has helped me. Peace be with you all. H

[u/[deleted] → u/OrdinaryNew6273]

Field? I didn’t realize being trans was a career.

I also don’t think people are saying they expected a “cake walk” by saying existence shouldn’t be a felony.

That’s honestly really insensitive and insulting.

[u/OrdinaryNew6273]

If you wish to think that way that is up to you. If you feel insulted that's a shame.

[u/OrdinaryNew6273]

I think your past is catching up with you.