3 Reasons Texas Must Protect the Privacy of Women and Children in Bathrooms

In his call for a special session, Gov. Greg Abbott requested that legislation be formulated to protect the privacy of the citizens of Texas. Most Texans agree that our children and teenagers should not be forced to share locker rooms and public bathrooms with others of the opposite sex, and that's why I filed the Texas Privacy Act (House Bill 46). Let me explain how HB 46 simply does the following three things.1. The Texas Privacy Act protects the dignity and privacy of school-age children. Unfortunately, we find ourselves at this juncture because some of our Texas school districts have recently put policies in place — without input from parents — that would mandate allowing young boys and girls to use the same locker rooms. The Privacy Act ensures that this will never happen at any of our school districts again by keeping in place the same practices which served our state well up until now. If a school district wants to make individual accommodations for the needs of one student (such as using the nurses' restroom) nothing in this bill prevents that.What this bill does not allow, however, is for a school district to allow boys and girls to use the same facilities. Settled case law has determined that each person has an expectation of privacy from those of the opposite sex, and courts have ruled in these cases that sex is defined as biological sex.  Continue reading...