If passed, Texas bill could charge transgender people with 'gender identity fraud'
A bill proposed in the Texas legislature could charge transgender Texans with a state felony if they commit what proponents call 'gender identity fraud.'
Republican state Rep. Tom Oliverson, who represents a part of Houston in District 130, introduced House Bill 3817. If passed, it would amend the Texas Penal Code to add a new form of fraud related to gender identity.
According to the bill, a person would commit "gender identity fraud" if they "knowingly make a false or misleading verbal or written statement to a governmental entity or the person's employer by identifying the person's biological sex as the opposite of the biological sex assigned to the person at birth."
The penalty if someone were to commit "gender identity fraud" would be a state felony, which could land a person in jail for up to two years and a $10,000 fine. The bill is not expected to pass, according to the Texas Legislature tracker, as it has no co-sponsors and has not moved to any committees.
Oliverson did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on Monday.
HB 3817, if passed, would essentially ban transgender people in the state from sharing their gender identity with employers, but could also apply to interactions with police or applications for government benefits.
This latest proposed bill is not the only anti-transgender policy in the state.
Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into the Hutto school district for allegedly violating a 2021 state law that bans students from competing in sports teams that don't align with their sex assigned at birth. Hutto joins a growing list of Texas schools to undergo such an investigation.
Paxton has also issued an opinion stating that public school students taking steroids as part of gender-affirming care would no longer be allowed to participate in University Interscholastic League (UIL) sports. Students suspected of taking steroids for such purpose would be barred from participating in athletic competitions until an investigation is concluded.
People are also reading: Employee refused to remove pronouns from email signature. A Texas agency fired him for it.
In August 2024, the Texas Department of Public Safety ordered its employees to stop allowing transgender people to change their gender on their driver's licenses and state IDs.
'The Department of Public Safety has a responsibility, as stated in its own name, to keep all Texans safe. This policy does the opposite,' the ACLU said of the change. 'Not having accurate driver's licenses jeopardizes trans people's health and safety — by potentially outing us and exposing us to discrimination, harassment, and violence.'
Then less than a month later, the state stopped allowing people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates, according to the Texas Tribune.
With the 89th Texas Legislative Session underway since early January, almost 100 anti-trans bills have been filed so far, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker. The number has already surpassed the 69 anti-trans bills filed during the last legislative session in 2023.
Oliverson himself has been a key sponsor of another anti-trans bill in the Texas legislature before. During the 2023 legislative session, he was a sponsor of Senate Bill 14, which banned gender-affirming care in the state and was upheld by the state Supreme Court.
— USA TODAY contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas anti-trans bill would charge people with 'gender identity fraud'
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