Texas legislators on Sunday voted to make schools provide separate restrooms, locker rooms and changing areas to students who don't want to use those designated by "biological sex" — an action that Democrats liken to Jim Crow policies that once segregated bathrooms based on race.
By a vote of 91-50, the House voted to amend Senate Bill 2078 and keep transgender students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity, sparking furious debate on the floor, The Texas Tribune reports.
"White. Colored. I was living through that era ... bathrooms divided us then, and it divides us now," said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Democratic African-American, according to the newspaper.
But Republican state Rep. Chris Paddie insisted the legislation did not discriminate "against anyone" and would provide "definitive guidance" to school districts in the Lone Star State.
Final approval by the House could come on Monday, followed by a Senate vote.
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