Texas bathroom bill dies without action as House adjourns special session

In a tremendous victory today, the Texas bathroom bill died. The House adjourned its special legislative session without taking any action on the controversial bill.

Senate Bill 3 sought to keep transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from using the restroom aligning with their gender identity.

It essentially died when the session ended ‘sine die’, a day before the official end of the 30-day session.

Many groups in the largely red state opposed the bill. Both police and businesses took stances against the bill. An earlier version of the bill was blocked by Republican Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus.

Both Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick considered the bill a top priority and pushed for its passage.

A victory against all odds

The bill’s introduction came after the controversial bathroom bill in North Carolina. Its passage could have instigated a domino effect of anti-trans legislation in other states.

‘Finally, Texans can breathe a temporary sigh of relief,’ said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president for policy and political affairs at the Human Rights Campaign. ‘We hope that this time, this issue remains settled: Texans don’t want harmful, anti-transgender legislation. First and foremost, these bills were defeated because of the many voices that came out in opposition, saying, ‘don’t discriminate in the Lone Star State.’ Luckily for Texas, this chorus of voices was louder than the voices pushing for discrimination.’

GLAAD also praised the end of the bill…

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