US EditionTensions Flare as Texas House Panel Hears a “Bathroom Bill” for First Time in Eight Years
Senate Bill 8 imposes fines up to $25,000 on institutions violating transgender bathroom restrictions and extends placement limits to shelters and prisons, intensifying ongoing legislative debate.
- On Aug. 22, 2025, the Texas House Committee on State Affairs heard heated testimony on Senate Bill 8, resulting in C.J. Grisham's removal by a Department Public Safety officer.
- Gov. Greg Abbott put SB 8 on special-session agendas after it failed earlier this year, while Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, authored it citing concerns men enter spaces protecting women's privacy, and supporters say it safeguards women and children’s safety and affirms biological sex.
- The measure deputizes the public and empowers the Attorney General of Texas to investigate complaints, fining institutions $5,000 for first and $25,000 for subsequent violations; SB 8 covers schools, public universities, government buildings, family violence shelters, prisons and jails, and seeks to block state-court injunctions.
- The committee left SB 8 pending Friday, with about 100 community members and activists rallying and 50 staging a women's-bathroom sit-in; House leaders say the bill will likely reach the floor next week before the Sept. 13 deadline.
- Public registration shows overwhelming opposition to SB 8, with 505 of 528 registrants on SB 8 opposing it; opponents warn the bill could spur over-enforcement and discrimination, joining laws limiting trans Texans' recognition.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Committee leaves transgender restroom ban bill pending after 2 hours of tense testimony
AUSTIN (KXAN) — An anti-trans bill that failed to pass twice in 2025 remains pending in the Texas House of Representative's State Affairs Committee Friday, after members heard just two hours of testimony. Senate Bill 8 is near-identical to SB 240 and SB 7 from earlier this year. It would ban people from entering sex-segregated private spaces, such as family violence shelters and restrooms, if their assigned sex at birth doesn't match the space's…
Trans Texans face yet another attempt to ban them from bathrooms
Transgender Texans, activists and even a constable made similar arguments over and over again on Friday: The state’s latest bathroom bill makes no one safer. Dozens of people testified against the bill in the House State Affairs Committee before around 50 local activists staged a sit-in at a Capitol bathroom in opposition to the bill that would block trans people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender at schools or government buil…
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