AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A North Carolina-style “bathroom bill” is nearing a first vote in Texas despite opposition from big-name companies including Facebook and the NFL warning that the Super Bowl won’t return to Dallas or Houston.
The proposal would require transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificates.
Hundreds of people packed the Texas Capitol Tuesday to testify on the contentious measure that’s expected to easily clear a Senate committee. But the bill faces a tough road ahead because the Republican House speaker has slammed the measure as bad for business.
The same committee passed a divisive “sanctuary cities” ban last month after sometimes being interrupted by protesters in the Senate gallery. Lawmakers this time used a smaller hearing room that made for easier crowd control.
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