Texas House passes transgender sports bill after long, contentious debate

Austin News Briefs - Austin American Statesman

After 10 hours of emotional, contentious debate, the Texas House voted Thursday night to block transgender athletes from competing in public school sports in their gender identity. Democrats forcefully, and sometimes tearfully, attacked House Bill 25 as a dangerous foray into discrimination that seeks to address a nonexistent problem — sacrificing already vulnerable transgender youths to foment a culture war for political gain. But the bill's author, Representative Valoree Swanson of Spring and other Republicans insisted that the goal was to protect girls' sports.