Texas needs to get its shit together—fast.

Let’s discuss what our Senate spent time discussing this session. Did they talk about the severe, almost comical segregation of our schools due to poorly-drawn district lines that group poorer areas together? Nope. Did they talk about how we are going to serve the millions of impoverished Texas women, as Texas has chosen to defund Planned Parenthood? No again. Instead, what they decided to talk about was a bathroom bill.

The bathroom bill allows the government to sue businesses and schools for allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that most accurately matches their gender. The proposal is intended to stir up fear based on ignorance, damaging the reputation of transgender people and our state.

abundantly clear that any bathroom bill passed would be ignored and fought against by their company. Businesses who are thinking to move their headquarters or open a branch in Texas may choose to look elsewhere.

Now what possible benefits could override their most basal instinct to protect Texas businesses at all costs? Why, protecting the fragile and vulnerable women and children of Texas from sexual predators who prowl in bathrooms, of course! The problem with this argument, though, is that police chiefs and educators from all over the state overwhelmingly argued that the proposed bill was unnecessary and discriminatory. Without that leg to stand on, it’s clear that this bill is fear mongering, plain and simple.

As a citizen of the town that tried this same bill over a year ago, I’m furious. These are my friends, my coworkers, my mentors. I remember the bone-chilling fear that ran through the community when the mayor proposed it. The question on their minds: how can we protect ourselves from the inevitable backlash from the rest of the city against “the perverts” that the bill portrayed us as transgender people to be? What would this mean for the students at our schools, who may not be out to their parents?

As Sen. Garcia said, this bill will harm our children. Not just transgender children, who would be banned from using the bathroom associated with their gender, but their friends, their siblings, and their school. Unfortunately, kids can be mean. Institutionalizing discrimination is only adding fuel to the already blazing inferno of hate and bullying transgender children face every day. It also cripples the school’s ability to advocate on behalf of the transgender student: in fact, an amendment that suggested stricter punishments for people who discriminated against LGBT persons was quickly shot down in the 8-hour debate.

A small sliver of relief can be felt by opponents of this bill: this was just a preliminary approval, and it’s expected to have a harder time passing in the House. However, if you’re a concerned Texan like me, make sure to contact your representative and let them know how absolutely horrified you are at this bill. Protest, and make your voice heard. We shot down this bill in my conservative town: we can do it for the state.