{"id":135480,"date":"2026-01-23T20:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/135480\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T20:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:05:15","slug":"dont-pee-in-texas-youre-being-watched-peoples-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/135480\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t pee in Texas, you\u2019re being watched \u2013 People’s World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Don\u2019t\t<\/p>\n

Protesters take over a women’s restroom as they speak out against the anti-transgender bathroom bill at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Aug. 22, 2025. | Eric Gay \/ AP<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas\u2014A new law, erroneously titled the \u201cTexas Women\u2019s Privacy Act,\u201d bans trans people from their preferred multiple occupancy spaces\u2014restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms\u2014when they\u2019re in state-owned buildings. Trans people now must only enter facilities matching their gender assigned at birth.<\/p>\n

The statute, which went into effect on Dec. 3, 2025, orders<\/a> state agencies and political subdivisions to take \u201cevery reasonable step\u201d to ensure that people only go to the restroom of their \u201cbiological sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fines of $25,000 for a first offense and $125,000 for each subsequent offense will be levied on any organization, agency, or building failing to enforce the segregation policy. The law encourages Texas citizens to call a snitch hotline and report any location not following the law.<\/p>\n

Anybody hoping to find multiple occupancy gender neutral restrooms\u2014i.e. restrooms with more than one stall\u2014will be distraught to find that the law bans those, too, mandating that each multiple occupancy space be designated \u201cfor use only by individuals of one sex.\u201d It requires signage indicating usage is only for \u201cmen\u201d or \u201cwomen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The anti-trans law applies to public universities, city and state properties, public schools, open enrollment charter schools, and state agencies. It does not apply to private businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiological sex\u201d is a term the anti-trans movement uses to dress up transphobic ideas about the objectivity and immutability of sex as being scientific, even though there are multiple characteristics that contribute to an individual\u2019s sex.<\/p>\n

\"\"AP<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s fixation on biological sex ignores the fact that some sex characteristics, like hormones and reproductive organs, can be modified by medical procedures. Other traits focused on include chromosomes and, in the case of the new Texas law, the production of certain gametes at any point in a person\u2019s life. All of these things are invisible without specialized equipment and medical records.<\/p>\n

The Texas Women\u2019s Privacy Act avoids specifying how institutions will verify the gender of a restroom goer. Authorities may use anything from physical appearance to invasive inspections of body parts in investigating the genders of people looking for a place to answer nature\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

The law further enflames a political atmosphere in which transphobes already target any restroom user they suspect to be trans, even harassing<\/a> cisgender<\/a> restroom goers in the process. Making matters even more dystopian, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched<\/a> a tip line where users can report sightings of transpeople in their preferred restrooms, practically letting the state government spy on restrooms to kick trans people out.<\/p>\n

The Texas government\u2019s assault on restroom freedom follows a tidal wave of nationwide escalations in the MAGA movement\u2019s assaults on queer people. Trans people\u2019s access to their preferred family violence shelters and prison assignments are also affected by the Women\u2019s Privacy Act. More broadly, the Texas Supreme Court has legalized<\/a> judicial refusal of marrying same-sex couples, the state government has banned<\/a> drag performances from college campuses, and the federal government is starting to remove<\/a> Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals offering gender affirming hormones and surgeries.<\/p>\n

Organizations like AFL-CIO<\/a>, ACLU<\/a>, and UAW<\/a> have all condemned the far right\u2019s attack on the LGBTQ community. In a note to local outlet The Texas Newsroom, ACLU confirmed it is considering a lawsuit. Texas ACLU policy and advocacy strategist Ash Hall described<\/a> the privacy act as a \u201cdiscriminatory bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it was signed into law in Aug. 22 last year, the advocacy group Trans Texas staged a sit-in<\/a> at a women\u2019s restroom in the Texas State Capitol building to protest.<\/p>\n

The Texas Republican Party has been able to push through laws like the Women\u2019s Privacy Act thanks to its solid majority control of the legislature, but the 2026 midterm elections may opportunities for a fight back. Multiple<\/a> Republican state senators are dropping their seats to run for state attorney general, after incumbent Paxton announced<\/a> he will run for a U.S. Senate seat against incumbent John Cornyn.<\/p>\n

Election Day will provide voters a chance to let the GOP know they don\u2019t like being spied on when they go to the restroom.<\/p>\n

We hope you appreciated this article. At\u00a0People\u2019s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading\u00a0People\u2019s World\u00a0and the stories we bring you, please\u00a0support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCONTRIBUTOR<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Raven<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protesters take over a women’s restroom as they speak out against the anti-transgender bathroom bill at the Texas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,1183,27,29496,57767,24448],"class_list":["post-135480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-lgbtq","tag-texas","tag-trans-rights","tag-transphobia","tag-u-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}