Texas is well known for its commitment to conservative views, but much to the surprise of many, a new bill that would protect kids from sex-change procedures was not scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives.
The reason, according to insiders, were stall tactics carried out by Republicans. This resulted in the Calendar Committee failing to place the new bill on the docket to be discussed and later voted on in the lower chamber.
According to the Christian Post, HB 1399 is a proposed bill that would ban medicalized gender-transitioning of children, including the prescription of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and performing cosmetic surgeries such as mastectomies and genital mutilation. It was passed in the Texas Senate in April but encountered delays when it moved to the House, where the Calendars Committee failed to place it in the docket for discussion in the lower chamber.
HB 1399 prohibits the experimental practices on children who are suffering from gender dysphoria "for the purpose of transitioning a child's biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the child or affirming the child's perception of the child's sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child's biological sex."
However, the bill that would protect kids from sex-change procedures granted an exception for kids who have rare sexual development disorders or intersex conditions. HB 1399 also forbids medical insurance policies from insuring doctors against any damage caused by experimental gender-transitioning drugs and elective cosmetic surgeries.
In Austin, Texas, child advocacy groups who were campaigning for lawmakers to pass the bill accused Republicans in the committee for using stall tactics to avoid voting on the measure that LGBT activists and major corporations are opposing.
"We asked what the process was that the bill was going through while HB1399 languished in Calendars [Committee] which is headed by [Republican state Rep.] Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and has a majority of Republicans on the committee," Tracy Shannon, a blogger and activist who supports HB 1399, told CP.
"When we inquired why not one member motioned to schedule the bill, we were verbally attacked, mocked and called liars. We spend a lot of time, money and energy lobbying our representatives [only] to be treated with disdain. It is shameful."
Shannon accused the Republican House leaders of taking credit for the bill which they did not support to push out of the House committee. Political consultant Luke Macias took to Twitter to share his sentiment over HB 1399's failure to be voted on, saying, "Republican legislators in the Texas House kill a bill that would ban sex-change surgeries on children. 93% of voters supported a ballot measure to ban it but evidently GOP leadership represent the other 7%."
Non-profit lobbying and advocacy organization Texas Values director of policy Jonathan Covey, who testifies at the Texas legislature to support measures such as HB 1399, told FOX4 that measures like these need to be addressed in a timely manner, saying, "This is important because children need to be protected."
