Starting on Thursday, Texas will implement Senate Bill 8 — also known as the Texas Women’s Privacy Act, or more commonly known as a “bathroom bill” — aimed at restricting transgender people’s access to certain restrooms in the state.
Republicans in Texas worked for more than a decade to pass a bathroom bill like SB 8. The new law applies sexbased restrictions on those restrooms and changing rooms in public buildings, schools and universities. It also implements restrictions in prison housing, as well as family violence shelters.
Supporters of the law say it will create more secure private spaces, but opponents worry the law’s unclear guidance on how to enforce SB 8 will cause oversurveillance and public harassment. Here’s what you need to know about SB 8, what areas are affected and why the Legislature passed the new restrictions on restrooms in the state.
