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Republican state Rep. Ellen Troxclair, left, and Democratic state Rep. Jessica González, right

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UPDATED with a statement from Equality Texas Interim CEO Brad Pritchett:

“House Bill 229 is a threat to all Texans and would require each of us to have to ‘prove’”’ our gender. But the threat to trans and intersex people is significantly greater. When trans people don’t have government recognition that matches the way they move and live in the world, it increases the likelihood that they will be subject to violence. And we have seen violence against trans people increasing as politicians ramp up their attacks on trans and queer Texans.
“If intersex people aren’t empowered to update their IDs, then they must live with the consequences of an arbitrary choice by their doctor or parents made at birth, before having any autonomy. This might seem like a simple bill about paperwork and definitions, but those definitions are part of a sinister agenda to erase transgender and intersex people from public life in our state.
“Regardless of how far this bill progresses we will continue to fight it because all Texans deserve dignity and recognition.”

ORIGINAL POST: The Texas House of Representatives on Saturday approved on second reading House Bill 229, misleadingly entitled the “Women’s Bill of Rights,” which strictly defines men and women based on the reproductive organs they were born with, and orders state records to reflect the gender binary, according to reports by Texas Tribune.

The bill, claims Republican state Rep. Ellen Troxclair, lays out “biological truth for anybody who is confused.” What it actually does, however, is try to completely erase transgender and gender nonbinary individuals from public life and pubxlic view. And, according to various scientific sources as opposed to biased right-wing politicians, there are actually some 72 different genders.

The bill passed second reading on an 86-36 vote in the House on Saturday after what the Tribune described as “at times tense debate.” (There are, by the way, 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats in the House.) The Tribune notes that Troxclair claimed the bill’s goal is to make sure “women’s rights” aren’t “eroded by activists.”  Dallas Democratic Rep. Jessica González warned that the measure is “harmful, it is dangerous, and it is really freaking insulting.”

HB 229 is expected to get final approval in the House later this week before moving to the Senate, which has already passed numerous such measures this session.

— Tammye Nash