Texas House majority signs on to new bill restricting the use of bathrooms in public buildings by transgender people

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A bill filed in the Texas House co-authored by a majority of the chamber is aiming to restrict the use of bathrooms by transgender people in public spaces and may potentially go further than previous iterations of similar bills to outline restrictions and penalties.

House Bill 239 would mandate that family violence shelters, prisons and bathrooms and locker rooms of state and county buildings are segregated by state definitions of sex, and create fines for those who violate the bill’s provisions. HB 239 does allow for single-person and family restrooms, and creates exemptions for children under 10 and those who may need assistance using facilities, likey the elderly.

The bill comes as some Texas lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have become increasingly vocal about bathrooms being used in the state Capitol by transgender people.

HB 239 echoes 2017’s Senate Bill 6 — a focal point in the Legislature before withering support killed it in a special session — but differs from the 8-year-old counterpart on several fronts. The 2025 bill follows SB 6’s restrictions on bathrooms applying to state and county-owned facilities like the Texas Capitol, public schools or agency buildings. The bill would also extend to public universities. HB 239, however, is more detailed, crafting its own definition of biological sex, increasing proposed penalties and attempting to insulate itself from potential litigation or constitutional challenges.

HB 239’s definition of biological sex is similar to SB 6, yet goes further to clarify the state’s recognition would solely come from a person’s “original” birth certificate. The new language would ignore updated birth certificate markings for trans people who legally amended their documentation.

The bill also proposes an increased financial penalty for those who violate its provisions, with a $5,000 civil fine for the first offense, compared to a $1,500 penalty proposed by its 2017 counterpart. A second violation under HB 239 would increase the fine to $25,000.

The increased penalties were what Cathryn Oakley, senior director at the Human Rights Campaign, said stood out the most in HB 239. Oakley began working in Texas with the center in 2017 to rally against SB 6, and has been working alongside and against lawmakers since to combat anti-trans legislation. While the bill does introduce some new provisions like restricting prisons in the state from accepting trans inmates — which a Senate bill this session is also seeking to prohibit — Oakley said the ideas behind it are far from new.

“What we're seeing is that there's not a ton of creativity going on,” Oakley said. “These bills are introduced in other states, as well, and it's interesting to me to see sort of where the trends are.”

HB 239 also has provisions that aim to bar state courts from certifying any writs or injunctions labeling the proposed law as unconstitutional, and that would grant sovereign immunity to the state and its employees for enforcing it. While SB 6 had a clause prohibiting lawsuits from being filed by public entities against it, it explicitly waived sovereign immunity — which makes people ineligible to sue — and did not block suits over the bill’s constitutionality.

But public sentiment over bathroom laws also differs now than they did almost eight years ago, as lawmakers and advocates nationally have gradually found footing for restrictions on a myriad of issues aimed at transgender Americans. In October, the Odessa City Council passed an ordinance limiting individuals from entering public bathrooms meant for the opposite sex, and the U.S. Congress passed a similar ban for the nation’s Capitol in November.

Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, filed HB 239 in November. It duplicates two earlier bills: one filed by another House representative in January, and another filed in the Senate. Swanson is joined by 77 co-authors on the bill, who signed on in late February when the bill was referred to committee. All are Republicans save one: Rep. Sergio Muñoz, an eight-term Democrat from Mission.

Despite the majority in the House signing on to the bill, the 77 members may not be completely indicative of its chances of success. As SB 6 went through the Senate in 2017, former House Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, filed House Bill 2899, which failed to leave its committee despite its 79 co-authors during the regular session. Simmons later reintroduced the bill as House Bill 46 during that year’s special session, but the new version garnered only 60 authors before also failing.

While Swanson was a co-author on both HB 2899 and HB 46, Muñoz was not on either. Neither Swanson nor Muñoz could be reached for comment.

HB 239 was referred to the House Committee on State Affairs and currently is not scheduled for a hearing.

Disclosure: Human Rights Campaign 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.

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