Texas Gets a 2nd Bathroom Bill, and Its Author Has Vowed to ‘Die Politically’ Defending It

Rep. Matt Shaheen Has Also Called For Removing Blacks, Women From Nondiscrimination Ordinances

Texas now has not one but two anti-transgender bathroom bills. 

GOP state Rep. Matt Shaheen, who once vowed to “die politically” for the cause of anti-trans discrimination, on Monday filed House Bill 1362. 

With Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s bathroom bill, Senate Bill 6, facing intense opposition from the business community, Shaheen is attempting to disguise House Bill 1362 as somehow less hateful, but the two measures would have similar effects. 

HB 1362, which you can read here, would prohibit school districts from adopting policies that allow people of “more than one sex or gender” to use the same multi-occupancy restrooms. It would also bar government entities, including cities, from limiting the ability of businesses to adopt their own policies on restroom use — thereby preempting trans-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio. 

HB 1362 doesn’t define “sex” or “gender,” but its provisions would be enforced by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is rabidly anti-trans. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, Shaheen claimed HB 1362 is needed because the state didn’t create cities “to tell people where to go to the bathroom.” 

“There’s no way a serious person could call this bill discriminatory,” Shaheen said. “It tells people on the left side of the political spectrum they can’t tell people where to go to the restroom, and it also tells people on the right side of the spectrum they can’t, either.” 

Chuck Smith, CEO of the statewide LGBT group Equality Texas, responded that there’s no such thing as “a good version of the bathroom bill.”

The Texas Association of Business (TAB), which is the state’s chamber of commerce, has come out against any discriminatory anti-LGBT bills, saying they could cost the state’s economy up to $8.5 billion. 

“We caution against any type of legislation that limits businesses’ ability to recruit talent, and doing away with local discrimination ordinances with that preemption would really tarnish the Texas brand,” TAB President Chris Wallace told the Tribune in response to HB 1362.  

Although he claims the bill isn’t discriminatory, Shaheen happens to one of the Legislature’s most anti-LGBT members. He first got elected to public office in 2008 by gay-baiting his opponent, and last year, he vowed he would “die politically” if that’s what it takes to prevent trans people from using restrooms based on their gender identity. He also offered to help Target pack up and move out of Texas after the retailer announced its trans-inclusive restroom policy. 

Shaheen serves as a deacon at Prestonwood Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT megachurch in Plano, Texas, that fought bitterly against that city’s nondiscrimination ordinance in 2014. Prestonwood Baptist is led by the Rev. Jack Graham, who backed President Donald Trump despite his videotaped remarks condoning sexual assault. Prestonwood Baptist also happens to have a history of child sex abuse scandals. 

In 2014, when Shaheen led his church’s effort to block Plano’s nondiscrimination ordinance, he told Plano City Council members that instead of adding sexual orientation and gender identity to nondiscrimination laws, they should consider removing blacks and women.

“Do we really think the citizens of Plano are going to discriminate against women or minorities or African-Americans? I don’t think so,” Shaheen said. “I would ask you to consider that — not adding classes, but taking away classes.”

Shaheen can be reached at Matt.Shaheen@house.texas.gov or 512-463-0594. You can also find him on Twitter. 

Watch a clip of Shaheen’s remarks to the City Council in 2014 below.