Texas to become the 20th state with a transgender bathroom law

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill Monday that will bar transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identities in state-owned buildings and public schools, including universities, with fines of up to $125,000 for institutions that violate the law. The law was a decade in the making. Texas first considered a similar measure in 2015 and again in 2017, though the bill didn’t pass then in part due to the nationwide backlash to North Carolina’s HB2, which became known as the “bathroom bill” and led to boycotts from major corporations and musicians until the state repealed the law in 2017.