Transgender sports bill fails to clear Texas House as clock runs out on the measure

AUSTIN — After riding a political roller coaster, the highly debated bill that would prevent transgender youth in Texas from competing on teams that align with their gender identity died Tuesday after failing to receive a vote on the House floor before a midnight deadline.

Proponents of the legislation that drew opposition from inside and outside of Texas may still try to add their proposal to other legislation as an amendment before the session ends Monday — as they already have tried unsuccessfully. Or they may push to bring it up in a future special legislative session, though the sponsors haven’t yet revealed their plans for what’s next.

Tuesday was one of the last major deadlines facing the House in the 87th Texas Legislature’s 140-day regular session. Dozens of Senate bills needed to pass a vote on second reading before midnight, while those that failed to beat the buzzer are likely dead unless they are tacked onto other bills in the final days.

LGBTQ advocates hoped Democratic representatives successfully chubbed, or intentionally stalled the chamber’s progress by using technical procedures on several other bills, long enough to prevent it from receiving a vote.

A small group of opponents to the bill repeated, “Protect trans kids,” in the rotunda as time ticked away.

As the House took action on dozens of bills late into the night, it grew increasingly clear that the transgender sports bill from Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, would not receive a vote.

The bill came up shortly after 10 p.m., but it was postponed until 11:30 p.m., which all but doomed its fate. The proposal didn’t come back up.

Several Democratic lawmakers were seen waving transgender pride flags in celebration as the clock struck midnight.

The proposal from Sen. Perry has gained attention at both the state and national levels not only for its contentious provisions, but also for the political roller coaster it rode on the way to the House floor.

What is viewed by some as this session’s “bathroom bill” has been championed by staunchly conservative lawmakers, and cursed by opponents as being brazenly anti-LGBTQ.

Tuesday’s development came after hours of emotional testimony and debate in both chambers. The proposal has faced fierce opposition as LGBTQ advocates label the legislation as discriminatory for unfairly targeting a marginalized group by not allowing transgender youth to compete on teams that match their gender identity. This much was vocalized as emotions flared.

Supporters of the bill argue the bill is meant to protect girls from the risk of being injured by transgender girls, though specific cases of this being an issue in Texas remains to be seen in hearings or debate.

As members of the UIL and lawmakers fail to cite any specific cases of transgender athletes negatively impacting sports in Texas, Democratic lawmakers and LGBTQ advocates continue to call the bill a manufactured problem and a non-issue.

Bill revived by Democratic committee chair

The winding path that allowed the bill to reach the House floor began with the bill initially appearing to die in the House Committee on Public Education on May 4 when it failed to receive enough votes.

Three days later, however, Rep. Harold Dutton, the Democratic committee chair, revived the bill and brought it up for another vote. The stunning reversal came just one day after one of Dutton’s top bills, which would allow the state to takeover Houston ISD, was sent back to a committee due to a point of order as it faced opposition from fellow Democratic lawmakers.

The following morning, Dutton responded out of what LGBTQ advocates called an act of retaliation.

“I don’t know how big this problem is, and I wish I did because I’d be in a better position to make this vote,” Dutton said. “But I can tell you this: The bill that was killed last night affected far more children than this bill ever will.”

Dutton added, “So as a consequence, the chair motions that Senate Bill 29 as substituted be reported favorably to the full House … Show the chair voting aye.”

Dutton later disputed that accusation that he acted out of retaliation, telling the Texas Tribune he has remained consistent in putting bills up for a vote if they have the necessary support to pass the committee.

“Many come to me with votes I don’t like and I bring them up,” Dutton told the Texas Tribune. “That’s true for any bill before our committee.”

He added that he was unaware that Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, had left the room before the vote was taken. With Dutton also not voting the first time, this left Republicans one vote shy of passage. After calling the bill back up, the two additional votes from Dutton and Huberty was enough to controversially send the bill to the full House.

UIL policy

Gov. Greg Abbott announced in April his support for the bill during an appearance on a Fox News town hall with Laura Ingraham.

“For five years the University Interscholastic League (UIL) in Texas has had a rule in place prohibiting boys from playing girls in girls’ sports‚” Abbott said during the town hall. “But the Texas Legislature is working on a bill to codify that, which I will sign.”

Similar to Abbott’s statement, supporters also argue that this bill simply codifies current UIL standards.

It is true that the UIL policy upholds a strict standard for transgender athletes by requiring athletes to compete on teams based on the sex on their birth certificate. However, transgender athletes could compete on teams that align with their gender identity if they receive a court order to change their birth certificate.

This bill would change that by requiring young athletes to provide birth certificates that were completed at or near birth, eliminating the option of changing the birth certificate through a court order.

‘Kill my bill, BIGOT!’

Supporters of the bill, such as Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, have been persistent in attempting to attach amendments targeting transgender student athletes to other pieces of legislation.

Before the House passed a bill last week that would allow college athletes to earn money for their name, image and likeness, Slaton offered an amendment that would prevent transgender athletes from entering contracts and benefitting from the bill — a point of order was raised before Slaton could finish reading the amendment, which was later withdrawn.

Slaton returned with another attempt on Monday. This time, he raised a point of order on a bill carried by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which would impose a fee on electric vehicles, but said he would remove it if a vote was taken on SB 29.

Canales took to social media shortly after to condemn Slaton’s attempt.

“Rep. Slaton callas a point of order on my SB 1728, and says he will withdraw his point of order if I can get the Speaker to call a vote on his Anti-Transgender Kids Bill,” Rep. Canales said in a Tweet. “My answer, kill my bill, BIGOT!”

The point of order was sustained and the bill was returned to the calendars committee.

Such attempts are expected to continue until the legislative session adjourns Monday.