Austin Committee Votes Down Transgender Student Athletes Bill

DALLAS, TX — A bill to require transgender Texas athletes to compete only on teams that match the sex designated on their birth certificates appears to be dead in Austin.

The Texas House Committee on Public Education refused to pass the bill by Lubbock Republican Senator Charles Perry on to the full House after opposing Democrats and LGBTQ advocates called it discriminatory. Round Rock Democrat James Talarico called it a “manufactured problem”, adding, “certain Republican legislators want to brag to their far-right primary voters that they hurt trans kids.”

The Dallas Morning News reports Gov. Greg Abbott said he would sign the bill if passed by the legislature but that seems unlikely, though it was defeated in committee by just one vote. The bill could still be revived.