Texas Advances Bill to Force Transgender People to Detransition

The blood of transgender people will be on Abbott's hands

The Texas House advanced HB 229 on Saturday, which defines men and women based on the reproductive organs they were born with, and orders state records to reflect this binary. The bill, titled the “Women’s Bill of Rights,” lays out the “biological truth for anybody who is confused,” said author Rep. Ellen Troxclair, an Austin Republican.

The House and the Senate passed HB 1257, which requires medical insurers to cover the cost of detransitioning, I.E., conversion therapy.

HB 229 is expected to pass its third and final reading next week and then be sent to the Senate, which has introduced bills with similar intent.

The Texas legislative session ends on June 2, and Gov. Abbott hasn't called a special session to pass the Senate bill, but if he does, this draconian assault on our humanity will be law on September 1, 2025.

Since neither the House nor Senate bill included a criminal penalty, House republicans introduced HB 3817, a bill to make identifying oneself as transgender to employers or police a state felony. While HB 3817 remains in committee, that most likely is by design. By my estimate, it will be brought to a floor vote at a later session as it will give Texas AG Paxton a means to jail gender variant people, something he craves to do.

When this bill becomes law, Texas Tribune Reports, trans Texans would be forced to be defined in state records by the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than the gender they identify as, even if they’ve already legally changed their birth certificates and driver’s licenses, or had gender affirming surgeries.

So, how did we get here?

As you may recall, Texas AG Ken Paxton issued an opinion on March 14, 2025, instructing state agencies to retroactively revert gender markers on drivers' licenses, state IDs, and birth certificates to that of the individual's sex at birth.

The 19-page opinion was issued after DPS stopped accepting Court-Ordered Gender Updates for Driver's Licenses and in response to a letter sent by then Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw to Paxton asking if the DPS had the authority to ignore court orders and revert driver licenses to the sex they were before they were changed.

Former Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw was correct in questioning the legality of Paxton's directive. That's why the bills you see now are making their way through the legislature.

Ending transgender people in Texas has long been a top priority of Governor Abbott. When Trump published his executive order stating that there are only two sexes, Abbott officially put the state on notice of his terrible intentions.

These bills have no rational reason to exist and will destroy thousands of lives. Trans people who remain in Texas will no longer be able to drive their cars, work, or pay rent, unless they comply. It is a commonly stated position among trans people who aren't able to leave Texas that they would die before detransitioning. I am among that number.

Updated 5/15/2025.