Texas Bill Would Make Identifying As Trans A Felony

NBC News reports:

A Texas state bill could charge transgender people with “gender identity fraud,” making it illegal to identify as trans on official documents and potentially leading to jail time.

The bill, which was filedby Republican state Rep. Tom Oliverson, would make it a state jail felony if a person “knowingly makes a false or misleading verbal or written statement” by identifying their sex assigned at birth incorrectly to a governmental entity or to their employer.

So far, the bill has no other co-sponsors, making it unlikely to pass. However, the bill is among the first of its kind nationally and is an example of how legislation targeting trans people has become more clear in its intent and more extreme in recent years, particularly in Texas.

Read the full article. Oliverson, an anesthesiologist, first appeared here in 2021 for his bill that would have exempted Texas lawmakers from mask mandates while in the state capitol building. He and his wife homeschool their children.

RELATED: A separate Texas bill introduced last month would make it illegal for doctors to provide gender-affirming care to adults.