Just a week after devastating floods struck Central Texas, claiming over 100 lives and leaving entire communities reeling, Gov. Greg Abbott has weaponized legislative urgency by tacking an anti-trans “bathroom bill” onto the special session meant for disaster relief. This is not only a shocking misuse of legislative time and taxpayer money, it’s a loud signal that trans Texans don’t actually matter to the state leadership.
For the 30-day session starting on July 21 to address emergency preparedness, warning systems, and critical flood relief efforts, the special session was hijacked by a political agenda none of us voted for. Instead of putting grieving communities first, lawmakers introduced HB 32, a revival of Valoree Swanson’s 2017 failed attempt to force transgender Texans into bathrooms that align with the sex on their birth certificates.
Under this bill, public schools, state and municipal buildings, family-violence shelters, and even jails would be off-limits based on birth certificate sex. Enforcement wouldn’t target individuals but would penalize whole local governments that defy it, stripping cities of their hard-won autonomy.
The optics are brutal: while flood victims still await aid, lawmakers are pandering to anti-trans sentiment. Moderate Republicans who previously stalled bathroom bills are absent this time, handing conservatives an open runway. And yes, the strategy is clear: disguise hate under the guise of natural disaster response for maximum political mileage.
Advocates are livid. The Transgender Education Network of Texas summed it up on Instagram: “Texas leadership has made their opinion loud and clear—they do not believe trans people have the right to call Texas home.“
Make no mistake: this crisis is not political cover; it’s calculated cruelty. Reddit users in r/texas are calling it out:
“The point of these bills is not to enforce them, but to be able to harass a trans person if the opportunity arises.”
“Alfrado_sause: ‘…this kind of shit should be illegal. Bill is for flood relief, that’s it, nothing less, nothing more.’”
This isn’t governing; it’s grievance politics masquerading as statecraft. Texas is hemorrhaging trust from its trans community, civic-minded moderates, and anyone who believed flood relief was the priority.
Advocates are rightly asking: where’s the humanity? Where’s the urgency for people living in overturned homes, disrupted schools, and fractured hope? Instead, legislators are smearing trans lives with hysteria and prejudice.
To Abbott and his allies: you want to talk about protecting privacy in bathrooms? How about protecting people’s right to survive, recover, and live authentically?
This bathroom bill isn’t just cruel; it’s cowardly. It reveals a state leadership more interested in culture wars than communities in crisis. It’s time to demand better: real relief, real leadership, and real respect for every Texan.
