On August 29, the Texas House passed Senate Bill 8, known as “The Texas Women’s Privacy Act.” If signed into law, the bill would not only fuel transphobic fearmongering nationwide but also harm all cisgender Texans.
The Texas Women’s Privacy Act is not about privacy; it is about fear. Texas State would be forced to comply with this law that would impose active harm to not only transgender students but also anyone on campus. College is often valued for its freedom of expression and for allowing students to discover themselves. Enacting a bill like this would put an end to this form of free expression.
SB 8 would impose a $25,000 fine on those found using the “wrong” bathroom in public spaces. The bill claims that bathroom usage is strictly based on one’s assigned biological sex at birth. Imposing SB 8 would allow people to judge whether or not someone looks “trans” and ultimately decide if they want to report them.
At public universities like Texas State, the bill would apply to all bathrooms, with the bill applying to “all public spaces”. If passed, Texas State would become less LGBTQ+ friendly to students, thus evoking more fear.
The Williams Institute found that allowing transgender people to use their preferred bathroom does not put others at risk. According to GLAAD, evidence shows that trans women are more likely to be assaulted in bathrooms according to GLAAD. Media figures have created the notion that trans people are dangerous and pose a threat to cisgender women as they attempt to invade their spaces.
Part of the distinction between gender and sex lies in expression. The Yale School of Medicine states that sex refers to someone’s biological reproductive organs, whereas gender is someone’s self-expression of their sex. This bill would enforce identity solely based on physical features, which aren’t always accurate signs of someone’s biological sex.
Nico Melton, wildlife biology sophomore who identifies as non-binary, raised questions about the ethics of confirming someone’s sex.
“There’s no ethical way of doing it,’ Melton said. “You cannot ethically confirm someone’s assigned sex at birth without violating them in some way.”
The bill relies on these stereotypes under the guise of “protecting privacy.” But incidents where more masculine-presenting women have been mistaken for being transgender have happened. Incidents like these are likely to increase under the self policing rules the bill sets in place.
“People believe that any trans woman that exists is doing it solely to be a predator,” Melton said. “It’s blatant sexism towards trans women, where they make them out to be disgusting predators, but it’s really the opposite.”
Anti-trans legislation relies on the narrative that trans women are the “boogeymen” who invade women’s spaces. However, this narrative is incredibly harmful as it relies on depicting trans women as predators or “men dressed as women.” Projecting this narrative becomes easy when most claiming it to be true have never had an experience with a trans person in the bathroom.
Ultimately, this bill is not about protection; it is about fear. Students must be willing to not only advocate for their transgender peers but also understand how they are affected. Enacting SB 8 will not erase transgender people, but will instead introduce harms to all students in public bathrooms.
-Shar Kiefer is a political science sophomore
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