How an anti-trans bathroom law similar to the one in Kansas forced sweeping changes in Texas
A group of trans activists pose for pictures on Feb. 6, 2026, at the Kansas Statehouse, advocating against a bathroom bill that eventually passed. A similar law went into effect in Texas Dec. 4 and has caused universities, city and other government entities to make changes. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — Two months after a Texas bathroom law went into effect for government buildings, public officials there are still working through how to comply with the law’s vague language.
Just this week, the law will receive its first test after the parent of a student in Austin’s Independent School District complained that a male is using the women’s restroom, said Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations at Texas Values.
Kansas recently passed a similar bathroom law, Senate Bill 244, which goes into effect upon publication in the Kansas Register, expected in the next two weeks. The law requires that people using private facilities where anyone might be in a state of undress — such as bathrooms, locker rooms and dorm rooms — use the facility that matches their biological sex at birth.
The law’s lack of clarity about how to comply is causing consternation among various governmental entities in Kansas, mirroring challenges in Texas. The Texas Women’s Privacy Act went into effect Dec. 4.
Darrell Alexander, director of facilities for the city of Austin, said the city hasn’t made any changes because they believe they are in compliance.
“The law here is pretty vague too,” he said.
The city outlined its process through memos put out during October and December.
The Austin memos challenge the idea put forth by Kansas proponents of the law that there will be no costs associated with it, showing the amount of staff time dedicated to assessing buildings and creating processes to comply with the law. The bathroom portion of Kansas’ law was inserted so quickly there was no fiscal note, and when questioned about it, legislators said there would be minimal or no costs.
Alexander said bathrooms in Austin government buildings were already labeled male or female, and single occupancy bathrooms can remain unisex or family restrooms under the law.
Any complaints about someone using a bathroom that doesn’t comply with the law will be treated like any other complaint, Alexander said. The city’s legal department would determine if there was validity to the complaint and next steps to take.
Unlike in Kansas, city officials in Texas aren’t responsible for fully investigating complaints, such as determining whether someone is male or female. In the law, the process refers the complaint to the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
The Texas law puts the onus on officials in government buildings to figure out how to comply. Like Kansas’ law, Texas government facilities failing to comply can be fined $25,000 for the first offense and $125,000 per day for subsequent violations.
Unlike Kansas, though, Texas has no fines or penalties for an individual who might violate the law by going into a bathroom that doesn’t fit their biological sex at birth. Kansas SB 244 requires officials in government buildings to be involved in policing the bathrooms, investigating complaints and holding people accountable if they violate the policies.
An individual would receive a warning on a first violation and a possible $1,000 fine on a second violation, and could be charged with a misdemeanor on the third.
Castle said Texas Values, a proponent of the law, has sent a section-by-section breakdown of the law to school districts, universities and county governments because the organization understands it is challenging to determine legislative intent.
Some governmental entities, like the city of El Paso, and schools like Tarrant County College, launched website pages to explain the law and let people know their bathrooms and other private areas must be in compliance.
Dorm rooms
Texas universities and colleges are still considering how to handle dorm spaces, and Castle said Texas Values continues to receive reports and messages about different setups.
“A week or two after the law went into effect in December, the University of Texas – San Antonio moved all of their co-ed dormitory residents into different dorms so they wouldn’t violate the Texas Women’s Privacy Law, based on their interpretation of what the law meant,” Castle said.
Andrea Segovia, senior field and policy director for Transgender Education Network of Texas, said transgender students have been moved out of dorms in response to the law and students have been called into the dean’s office to be reprimanded for using the restroom that matches their gender identity.
At the University of Houston, spokesman Bryan Luhn said the school is interpreting the law’s language and what that means for its various facilities, from dorms to the student union.
Despite that, the university made news recently when social work students returned from winter break to find gender neutral restrooms in the building had been changed to male and female only, said Ash Hall, policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQ+ rights with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
The multi-occupancy bathrooms had stalls that were floor to ceiling, with no gaps, which many understood would be fine to offer privacy in the law, they said.
“Students that want neutral restrooms would have to use a different building now,” they said.
Segovia said many people are comparing what’s happening to what the Black woman in the movie “Hidden Figures” went through when she had to run to another building to use a Black-only restroom.
First Texas challenge
Castle said the mother who reported the Austin Independent School District first complained to the school in January and received a “vague response of, ‘We’ll be looking into it.’ ”
The woman complained again in February because her daughter said the male continued to use the women’s restroom. This time, the school offered no response, Castle said. The Texas law requires a response to complaints within three days.
The mother then called Texas Values to see what her next steps should be and to make sure she understood how the law worked, Castle said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton set up a tipline for people to file complaints under the law. The mother made a report to the AG’s office, Castle said.
Paxton’s office did not respond to Kansas Reflector questions about what happens next in the process.
Castle said her understanding is that the student who used the women’s restroom is not transgender.
Castle said she didn’t know what schools were doing to support transgender students who have been shown to struggle when policies like the bathroom law are implemented.
“I’m aware that many schools have counselors and different resources available for students,” she said. “It’s always about making sure that we’re protecting the rights of those who are vulnerable and not attacking anyone, especially kids who are caught up in the situation.”
Hall said Texas schools are limited by other laws that have passed in recent years that would keep them from offering help to trans students.
Banning diversity, equity and inclusion topics and telling teachers and counselors they can’t discuss LGBT+ identity topics means that support for mental health for students has been limited, they said.
Texas enforcement
Hall said agencies throughout the state are confused by the law and its language.
“Everyone is confused about what it should look like because of how vague our law is,” they said. “It just says people need to make reasonable efforts to stop people from using the quote-unquote ‘wrong’ restroom. That has looked different everywhere.”
Hall said when protesters at the Texas Capitol used the restroom that corresponded to their gender identity, they were detained and lectured about trespassing. It’s unclear if a trespassing charge could be levied, they said.
The lack of clarity in the law creates more harm, Hall said. Government officials aren’t sure how to meet the demands of the law, which like Kansas’ law has large possible penalties, so they take more extreme actions because of fear, Hall said.
“It is designed to pit these facilities and the folks who run them against the trans community,” Hall said.
Segovia, of Transgender Education Network of Texas, said her organization has been “going into the weeds” to understand the law, talking to architects and others to figure out what has to happen in government spaces.
“We know that anytime especially anti-trans legislation gets introduced and then really is passed, that over-compliance begins,” she said.