The Texas Senate has approved the “Women’s Privacy Act,” a measure aimed at safeguarding women in bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers—but it explicitly bans transgender individuals from accessing these spaces.
Mary Elizabeth Castle, Director of Government Relations for Texas Values, praised the move, stating, “The vote today in the Senate was a landmark vote for protecting women and girls in our state. No woman should have to be forced to share a vulnerable private space with a man and be deprived of her dignity. Private spaces are separated based on sex for a reason, and our state should keep it that way.”
According to a press release from Texas Values, Brooke Slusser, a women’s volleyball player at San Jose State, served as a key witness. She claimed she was “forced” to share both a locker room and an apartment with a transgender roommate without being informed beforehand.
Texas bill could charge transgender people with ‘gender identity fraud’ if passed
Testifying in support of SB 240, Slusser said she didn’t know her teammate was transgender. However, the New York Times reported that the teammate, Blare Flemings, had not publicly identified as trans at the time.
Flemings later shared that the experience drove her to suicidal thoughts after she became a symbol in the national debate over transgender rights. Meanwhile, Slusser made media appearances opposing trans athletes.
“We were lied to and deceived. I was traumatized from this situation. I am now doing online school and not attending SJSU anymore,” Slusser stated.
She added that the legislation could have protected her. “This is something that could have saved so many other young student athletes and not have them go through what I went through and be traumatized, and have the sport ruined because a man is in a woman’s safe space.”
SB 240 targets individuals who enter private spaces designated for the biological sex opposite their own. Violators may face fines of $5,000 for a first offense and $25,000 for a second.
