Texas House passes nation’s most financially punitive bathroom bill after Scripture-infused debate

Democrats cite Galatians 3:28, other Bible passages in opposition: ‘Everyone is born a child of God’

The Bible was front and center in Austin ahead of the passage of a Texas bill that prohibits people from entering opposite-sex bathrooms in government buildings and public schools.

Texas House lawmakers passed Senate Bill 8 in an 86-43 vote last Thursday following a tense four-hour debate full of impassioned pleas to Scripture by both supporters and opponents of the bill.

Dubbed the “Texas Women’s Privacy Act” by supporters, SB 8 would also prohibit men who identify as female from entering women’s domestic violence shelters unless they’re under 17 and accompanied by a mother receiving services. A last-minute amendment by Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, raised fines to $25,000 for a first violation and $125,000 for subsequent ones, making it the nation’s most financially punitive “bathroom bill.”