Senate Bill 29, a bill banning transgender students from competing in sports teams of their gender, failed to receive the votes to make it out of the Texas House Public Education Committee.
The bill was sent to the public education committee after it passed the Texas Senate 18-12 last month.
While the senate version of the bill is dead, the house version is still pending in committee. Other similar transgender sports ban bills are also pending in their respective committees, including HB 1458, HB 3455, HB 4043, and SB 373. Lawmakers have until May 10 to report those bills out of committee.
Republican lawmakers are also attempting to prevent transgender youth from receiving access to healthcare. Last week, the Texas Senate voted 18-12 in favor of SB 1646, a bill that would classify transgender youth healthcare as child abuse and make it illegal for parents or doctors to consent or administer transition-related care to children.
Similar bills targeting the healthcare of transgender youth have made it out committee, but none have advanced as far as SB 1646 which is awaiting action from the Texas House Public Health committee.
Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
