ACLU of Texas Comment on Filing of Anti-Transgender Bill SB6

HOUSTON — Today, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) announced the filing of SB6, a North Carolina-style anti-transgender bill targeting vulnerable Texans for discrimination.

The following may be attributed to Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director for the ACLU of Texas:

“After having watched the debacle in North Carolina, it is shocking that the Lieutenant Governor would be so intent on pursuing SB6. It’s unnecessary, discriminatory and inconsistent with the constitutional value of equal protection for all. And that’s to say nothing of the havoc it will wreak on the Texas economy should it pass. Make no mistake — the invidious intent of SB6 is to deny transgender Texans the ability to participate in public life.”

The following may be attributed to Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas:

“The Texas State Legislature has exactly one constitutionally assigned duty: to pass a budget. If they’re planning on spending the session on SB6 and spiteful legislation like it, we’d much rather they restrained themselves to that one duty, packed up their circus tents and went home. But if the Lieutenant Governor is truly worried about the safety of women and children, he would cease his assaults on women’s well-being, repair Texas’s moribund CPS program and see to the millions of uninsured children whose lives and futures have been compromised by our lawmakers’ warped priorities.”