Despite mounting public protest, Texas lawmakers are fast-tracking two anti-trans and anti-abortion bills. Both measures are being advanced during a special legislative session convened by Governor Greg Abbott (R), who has made restricting transgender rights and reproductive freedom central to his agenda.Senate Bill 8, an anti-trans bathroom bill, would require government buildings including public universities to designate restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities strictly by biological sex, instead of gender identity. SB 8 penalizes institutions, not individuals: a first violation carries a $5,000 fine, with repeat violations rising to $25,000 each. It also empowers the state attorney general to investigate complaints. Related Texas House passes bill to legally erase trans identities I will say it again: SB 8 does NOT protect women. It is an unconstitutional and a direct attack on the rights of the Trans community, state Rep. Jessica Gonzlez (D), who represents District 104 and chairs the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, wrote on X. This bill is nothing less than discriminatory and harmful, and it has no place in Texas.The state Senate approved SB 8 earlier this month, and it was subsequently greenlighted by the House State Affairs Committee on August 22, despite about 100 activists gathering at the Texas Capitol to protest it, with nearly half of the protesters participating in a sit-in. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Cameron Samuels, an incoming student at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, told The Daily Texan that bills like SB 8 are designed to erase trans lives. We are the experts of our lived experiences and this hate and bigotry relies on our inability to tell our stories, Samuels said. They are seeking to silence and erase our narratives. But when we are telling our stories and demonstrating a more accurate reflection of what it means to be a transgender Texan, then we bust those myths and we challenge those narratives. According to Equality Texas, testimony on the bill was halted after just two hours, leaving nearly 100 people who had signed up to speak without the chance to testify. After Republicans ended the testimony early, Democratic Representatives Jessica Gonzlez and Donna Howard held a peoples hearing in the Texas Capitol auditorium. SB 8 is now awaiting a final vote and debate on the House floor.Protesters also rallied against House Bill 7, a sweeping measure that seeks to sharply restrict access to abortion medication. HB 7 would allow private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, mails, prescribes, or provides abortion pills in Texas, with damages starting at $100,000 per violation. The measure mirrors earlier bounty laws but expands them by targeting the most common method of abortion in the United States. On August 25, the House State Affairs Committee passed a revised version of the bill. Despite already having a total abortion ban on the booksone that is wreaking havoc on the states health care infrastructure and tragically taking the lives of pregnant peoplethe Texas legislature is voting on SB 7, another horrifying bounty hunter bill, the Center for Reproductive Rights said on X. If enacted, one of the very last avenues for Texans to access critical reproductive care will be closed off.Lawmakers have until September 13 to pass the bills during the special session. If approved, SB 8 and HB 7 would add to Texass growing slate of anti-trans and anti-abortion laws.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.