On the first day of the new legislative filing season, Texas lawmakers proposed thirty-two anti-trans bills, including strict trans bathroom bills.
That’s in addition to the six anti-trans laws they managed to pass in 2024, which impact everything from youth access to gender affirming care to bachelorette’s โ and everyone else’s โ ability to enjoy drag performance.
Texas is wasting no time in escalating attacks on transgender rights. But this time, their proposed laws could have unwanted impacts on all travelers.
For now, these are proposals. They may not make it out of committee or pass the legislature.
Even if they are passed and signed into law, legal challenges could halt their rollout.
That’s what happened with the Texas drag ban. A court put a stay on the drag ban, allowing performers to continue for now.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the proposed laws in Texas, then look at how these laws make travel more difficult for everyone who doesn’t neatly fit into a gender box:
- Chromosomal testing for student athletes (high school and college) โ because “protecting women’s sports” means policing anyone who doesn’t look conventionally female
- “Drag bans” that criminalize any nonconforming gender expression in public life, not just in the gay bar
- Permission slips required to attend GSA meetings โ because who needs a safe space to work through their sexuality (and we all have sexualities, even straight people!)?
- New definitions for gender based on โbiological reproductive systemsโ … which ignore intersex conditions and other naturally existing variances
- Fun bathroom bounty laws where cis folks can sue trans folks for not using the bathroom that matches the gender assigned at birth and get cash for it.
- Bathroom bans in state-owned spaces โ like airports
As a gender nonconforming person, I’ve had my share of awkward bathroom run-ins while traveling.
Sometimes men follow me into a restroom, thinking that I’m going to the men’s room.
Other times, women will startle when they see me or double-check they’ve entered the right restroom.
It was pretty funny that time in the Seattle airport, when rancher types lined up outside the all-gender restroom waiting for me to finish, when there was a men’s restroom right around the corner.
On a good day, I manage to laugh off how confused city people get over my gender expression. I don’t think about my safety or feel ashamed of my nonconformity, I celebrate it.
Other days, I brace myself for rude stares or pointed questions or worse.
It is unsettling to be stared at while youโre just trying to wash your hands. Or have people laugh when they see you. Or god forbid sue you over a baseless bathroom bounty.
I’m grateful these interactions tend to happen in public spaces like airports or restaurants. Places where people are unlikely to harm me โ though trans and nonbinary people from Chrissy Lee Polis to Nex Benedict are physically assaulted in bathrooms when we don’t ‘fit’ what people expect to see.
In sharing my personal story of how gender presentation impacts out ability to use the bathroom in spaces like airport, I wanted to show how this issue will extend beyond the trans community, potentially impacting you, too.
These laws donโt just create barriers for residents, they will also impact travelers passing through Texas airports, where using the โwrongโ bathroom could lead to policing, lawsuits, or worse.
For anyone who doesnโt fit rigid gender norms, these laws make Texas an unwelcoming and unsafe place to visit or even transit through.
I’m waiting to hear whether major airlines with hubs in Texasโlike American, Delta, and Unitedโ are going to speak out and protect their passengers and crews if this harmful bill advances.
Check which travel brands support transgender travelers.
As I’m writing this post, Nancy Mace has suggested a similar federal level bill.
Mace is so scared of sharing a bathroom with incoming Congresswoman Sarah McBride that she doesn’t want trans folks to use any public facilities, anywhere.
For trans and gender nonconforming travelers, knowing where youโre safeโor at least where your existence isnโt criminalizedโisn’t just option, it’s a crucial part of planning any trip.
Trans journalist โErin Reed โhas officially added the state to the trans “do not travel” listโright alongside my perennial favorite for Miss Uncongeniality, โFloridaโ.
While these laws have a long way to go before they pass, it is clear that 2025 is going to bring changes to domestic travel for LGBTQ Americans.
Even if we live in safe states and communities where we feel free to express ourselves without fear, people who don’t conform to stereotypical notions of male or female are vulnerable in public spaces.
I’ll be updating my list of trans friendly states and unfriendly states in the wake of the election โ as well as my comprehensive guide to LGBTQ US travel โ to help us navigate these changes in ways that increase our safety and our comfort.
Because we deserve better than to constantly fear for our safety while simply trying to live our lives.
