In the week since Texas’ new “bathroom bill” designed to target transgender people went into effect, some opponents of the restrictions have begun challenging both the spirit and letter of the law as questions remain on how it can be enforced.
Senate Bill 8, also known as the Texas Women’s Privacy Act, restricts what public restrooms, locker rooms and other similar facilities transgender people can use in public buildings by determining access based on sex assigned at birth. The law does not mandate a policy, but requires that cities, counties and public agencies take “every reasonable step” to ensure people do not enter restrooms not matching their sex assigned at birth.
Supporters of the law pushed for more than a decade to cement the sex-based restrictions SB 8 creates as a way of protecting women’s private spaces. Opponents of the law, however, have maintained the lack of clear guidelines on how to uphold SB 8 will lead to uneven, ineffective and potentially invasive enforcement — and on Dec. 6, a group of protesters went to the Texas Capitol to test that claim.
