HB 2801 and HB 2802

Part 2 of the Bathroom Bill Debacle

(read part 1 here)

            Quickly after Rep Riddle submitted HB 1747 and HB 1748 (see previous post about these discriminatory "bathroom bills"), questions arose about who would enforce those new regulations on public facilities.  Rep Gilbert Peña filed HB 2801 and HB 2802 to answer those questions, basically asserting that any citizen could "turn in" someone of the opposite gender using the incorrect facilities, and the offending person would have to pay the citizen a fine.  Caomhán Ó Raghallaigh (pronounced Cavan) of Equality Texas calls these bills "bounty bills" - explaining that they basically put a collectable bounty on the head of any transgender person who tries to use a restroom that matches their gender identity.  Below you will find a summary of these "bounty bills:"

HB 2801: AN ACT RELATING TO THE USE OF A BATHROOM, LOCKER ROOM, OR SHOWER FACILITY IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL.  SEPARATION BASED ON BIOLOGICAL SEX REQUIRED.

Rep Gilbert Peña

            This bill requires school districts to adopt a policy that only students of the same biological sex may be present at the same time in any school bathroom facility.  It details the school's liability if a student encounters someone of a different sex in their bathroom facility, including $2,000 in damages, as well as attorney's fees and court costs.  This bill stipulates that schools should provide an alternative-use facility for students whose gender identity is different from their biological sex, but does not require that schools construct any such facilities.

Bill Text 

HB 2802: AN ACT RELATING TO THE USE OF PUBLIC BATHROOMS, LOCKER ROOMS, AND SHOWER FACILITIES; CREATING A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

Rep Gilbert Peña

            This bill creates a Class B misdemeanor for anyone who enters a public facility designated for use by persons of the opposite biological sex.  It also awards $2,000 in damages to anyone who encounters someone of the opposite sex in the bathroom, as well as damages for mental anguish, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. 

Bill Text 

Basically, both of these bills would allow someone to receive an award of $2,000 at minimum for encountering someone of the opposite biological sex in a public facility, rewarding people for being gender police in public areas.  Several articles have used the term "bounty bills" to describe these solutions to the question of enforcement in Riddle's original legislation.  These bills mirror legislation that has been submitted in Florida and Kentucky to regulate the ability of transgender and intersex people to use the appropriate bathrooms relating to their gender identities.

In our next post, we will write about one blogger's experience as a cis-ally at the Transgender Day of Awareness at the Texas Capitol, where we lobbied several House Representatives to demolish these bills before they ever hit the floor.