The Texas bill could make transgender people a felony identifying their gender in a different way than the gender assigned at birth in official documents with government agencies or employers, leading to prison time.
Newsweek contacted the bill’s sponsor, Tom Oliverson, Republican leader, via email for comments.
Why is it important?
Since launching his second term, President Donald Trump has taken steps to unravel the protection of transgender people.
On inauguration day, January 20th, Trump signed an executive order entitled “Protecting women from gender ideological extremism and restoring biological truths to the federal government.” The order required his administration to use “clear and accurate language and policies that allow women to be biologically female and men to be biologically male.” The federal government also uses the word “sex” instead of “gender”, using all official documents, including passports, visas and global entry cards.
Trump’s efforts are because trans Americans are the target of hundreds of Republican-backed bills, including bathroom use, sports participation, and restrictions on specific content in libraries that reference transgender identity.
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What do you know
The bill, introduced last week by Oliverson, seeks to charge people for “gender identity fraud” if they say “willfully misleading” oral or written statements that are “willfully misleading” by government agencies or their employers.
The bill amends the Texas Criminal Code to create a new form of fraud, “gender identity fraud,” along with crimes such as deceptive business practices, commercial bribery and identity theft.
If passed, convicted people could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
However, the bill faces a difficult battle. According to the Houston Chronicle, the 3,817th bill introduced at the 2025 legislative session is low on the House priority list, lacking co-sponsors and does not schedule a committee hearing.
Oliverson is unfamiliar with laws targeting transgender rights. He was a major sponsor of Senate Bill 14 and banned hormone therapy and adolescent blockers for transgender minors in Texas. The law was upheld by the state Supreme Court in its 8-1 decision last year.
The bill faces long logistics odds, but it is part of a broader wave of laws targeting transgender rights across Texas and across the country. Legal experts and LGBTQ+ advocates warn that such proposals mark a shift towards more explicit and extreme measures against transgender people.
Recently, states like Florida have introduced measures that prevent transgender residents from renewing gender markers on their driver’s licenses. Florida has categorized changes such as “fraud.” This is a stance reflected in Oliverson’s proposal in Texas.
Texas has a long history of proposing and enacting laws that restrict transgender rights. In 2017, the state first considered a “bathroom bill” that prevented transgender people from using toilets that were in line with their identity. The bill failed, but the state has since implemented a policy that restricts transgender student-athletes and restricts transition-related health care for minors.
Last month, Republican state representative Brent Money introduced another bill that sought to ban gender-affirming health care, including hormone therapy and surgeries, for all Texans, not just for minors.
The proposed law is roughly the same as the 2023 law that banned such treatment for minors, with only the term “child” being replaced by “person” and widening its reach.
However, the bill also faces strong opposition from major health organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association, which supports gender-affirming care for both minors and adults.
According to Equality Texas, lawmakers introduced nearly 170 bills this year targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
Trump’s Transgender Presidential Order
The bill also reflects national trends under Trump, where the State Department issued an executive order for transgender people to halt passports with “X” gender markers, and forces transgender people to apply for travel documents that do not match their gender identity.
Seven people then filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration in early February in Massachusetts U.S. District Court, accusing the State Department of refusing to apply for passports from transgender citizens or issued documents that do not reflect their identity.
Court documents filed with support from the ACLU added that the administration’s policies are “illegal and unconstitutional,” adding that it “discriminates against individuals based on gender and has a transgender status in some people.”
What people are saying
Curry Butcher, founder of Butcher Legal Group, a Dallas law firm that advocates and serves LGBTQ+ people, told the Houston Chronicle last week:
Sadie Hernandez, a spokesman for the Texas Transgender Education Network, said in a statement last week, according to the Houston Chronicle. Gender-expanding Texans are exhausted before hitting the ground running at the Capitol. ”
Earlier this month, Money wrote on his previous Twitter X (formerly Twitter). It’s about accountability
d Medical benefits who exploit vulnerable people and push expensive surgeries and lifelong medicines for economic benefits rather than providing real care. We must protect those suffering from discomfort, not permanently damaged by a system that prioritizes interests over humanity. ”
In his first speech, Trump said, “This week I will end government policies that try to socially design race and gender in all aspects of our public and private life. We will build a society where color is shining. As of today, it is the official policy of the US government, with only two men and women.”
What will happen next
Once the Texas legislative session unfolds, the outcome of the bill is unknown, but if passed, it could set precedents for ongoing national debate on transgender rights.
The Trump administration’s policies on trans rights, which have been the flashpoint of controversy throughout his presidency, are expected to continue to spark a legal battle and deepen the national sector around gender.
