Transgender bathroom bill flushed down

Chicago, Aug. 16: A bill to restrict transgender people’s use of bathrooms in Texas has collapsed after a grand coalition of rights activists and big business united against the controversial legislation.

The bill, which would have required transgender people to use bathrooms matching their birth gender, roiled the ruling Republican Party for months in the country’s second most populous state and was seen as reflecting a wider national cultural divide.

Although the bill had been approved by one of the state’s two legislative chambers last month, it was effectively killed off late Tuesday when a special session of the state’s House of Representatives broke up without debating the measure.

The bill’s collapse came after the speaker of the house — a moderate Republican who opposed the legislation — failed to allot any time for lawmakers to discuss it. The

The Texas bill, which would have required transgenders to use bathrooms matching their birth gender, roiled the GOP for months in country’s second most populous state

chamber is not scheduled to meet again until 2019 when it reconvenes after elections.

Supporters said the bill was merely designed to protect women and children from sexual predators. But opponents argued that the legislation was discriminatory and would have made the Lone Star state a national pariah.

Texas, which voted solidly for Donald Trump in the presidential election, is regarded as one of the most socially conservative states in the country and a traditional bellwether of Republican politics.