Representatives from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Mahogany Project, and the Austin Justice Coalition are taking a stand against Texas Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) and House Bill 32 (HB 32) which are proposed laws that would require individuals to use bathrooms and other sex-segregated facilities—such as those in schools, universities, and government buildings—based on their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity. If the proposed bills become law, according to the Texas Tribune, “violating the provision would carry a $5,000 first-time fine and $25,000 for any subsequent violations.”
On July 30, a press conference was held in Austin, Texas, at the south steps of the Capitol to feature the voices of Black Trans Texans & BIPOC allies to express how HB32/SB7 threatens to segregate bathrooms according to cisgender and transgender.
Texas State Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, criticized the legislation as discriminatory and compared it to past segregation laws.
“This bill proposes separate bathrooms for transgender Texans, echoing the shameful legacy of segregation laws,” Reynolds says. “Our ancestors thought they made good trouble to eradicate segregation. And now here we are in 2025, and some MAGA extremists want to bring us back. And I say not on our watch.”
Vernice McFarland of The Mahogany Project agrees with Rep. Ron Reynolds and believes that the proposed legislation is no different than the racist Jim Crow laws of years past.
“Not long ago, bathrooms were marked white and colored,” McFarland says. “Today, lawmakers are considering legislation that would prohibit transgender persons from using cisgender bathrooms. Tell me how this is any different.”
The Texas Tribune article also states that the bills would also ban trans people from being housed in jails and prisons matching their identifying gender and would turn away trans women from women’s violence shelters.
Previous efforts to pass similar laws in Texas failed when, in 2017, lawmakers failed to pass a bathroom ban and in 2024, one Texas city tried to implement a bathroom ban, but it was deemed unenforceable.
