- The proposal from GOP Rep. Debbie Riddle (above) would make it a class-A misdemeanor — punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine — for transgender people to use "a locker room, shower facility, or toilet facility designated for use by persons of a gender that is not the same gender as the individual’s gender."
Riddle's HB 1748 would also make it a state jail felony — punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine — for a building manager to "repeatedly allow" a transgender person to use such a facility according to their gender identity.
$10,000? It's fucking breathtaking. I called her office and told the person who answered the phone that as a straight married hetero male with no particular interest or special understanding of transgender issues I find her legislation over bathrooms shockingly cruel and and un-christian. Give her a call 281-257-4222
I just did the same. That poor intern boy. I didn't even have to explain what "HB 1748" entails, as he told me he was familiar with the text, and that I was not the first individual to phone the office today. I politely told him that I require a formal response with ideological justification behind Ms. Riddle's proposed bill, along with proposed methods of enforcing the bill without violating private medical records or committing sexual harassment (look, dude, just show officer Williams your dick real quick... only like, the base of it, even... and everything will be fine... as long as there isn't scar tissue, of course). As a potential constituent (probably moving to Houston in the fall), I used my vote as leverage. I've never voted in my life, but shhhhhhh...
So she's basing gender on chromosomes. What does she say to the XY woman who's had children?