I'm a trans person, a trans woman specifically. I use the women's restroom, as that not only matches my identity, but it matches what I physically look like. I look extremely out of place in the men's. All my legal documents also have an "F" gender marker. I don't even have male anatomy below the belt. And yet, the law in state state of Texas would require me to use the men's restroom.

How do you think that would actually go down? Let's say I decide to comply with the law. I march into the men's room, as the law requires. Inevitably I would have men telling me I'm in the wrong bathroom. How exactly am I supposed to even prove that I'm just doing what the law requires? Or let's say I ignore the law. Most of the time it wouldn't be a problem. People just see me as female and think nothing of it. But what about that one in a thousand times? What happens if I happen to walk into a restroom and someone who maybe knew me pre-transition, and happens to be a bigot, happens to be there and notice? Or what if someone sees some subtle tell that 99.9% of people miss, and somehow figures out I'm trans and decides to call the cops on me? What if someone sees me read a trans website or board on my phone, and then sees me walk into the women's restroom? Or what if I work at a government building, what then? Do I have to out myself to all my coworkers and use the bathroom the law requires me to use? Or do I use the one I blend into more, and put my job at risk in case I'm somehow caught?

These laws are at attempt to ban trans people from public life period. If you comply with the law, you risk being assaulted or even arrested for following the law. If you break the law, then you're probably fine, but you're rolling the dice ask risking a criminal charge simply for using the bathroom. They effectively ban trans people from using any public bathroom at all, and in turn serve to ban trans people from public life entirely.

I simply consider any state with such a ban off limits. I lived in Texas for a decade. It was home. I fled to the state entirely to escape laws like this. Previously Texas was just bad enough that I didn't feel safe living there. Now I won't even step foot in the state. There are entire states I won't even visit because of these laws. And the Texas law is going to be particularly troublesome, as it affects public buildings, including airports, and there are some major national air hubs in Texas. It's becoming increasingly difficult to visit family across the country because of these evil laws passed by evil men.

I literally will not set foot in the state of Texas anymore, even for a layover on a plane flight. I'm simply not willing to get arrested and thrown in a men's prison. These laws have real effects on the lives of real human beings. Do not trivialize the impact of these laws.

In many cases the former is functionally the latter. Trans men have been assaulted for complying with laws like this.

Not right. According to the article its a ban based on gendered restrooms. Trans people are banned from using the correct restroom. They are not banned from using any public restroom.

Seems misleading