Tip line urges public to snitch on transgender people using bathrooms

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is encouraging the public to help enforce the state’s “bathroom bill” via a tip line for suspected violations of the new law designed to restrict which facilities transgender people can use.

Senate Bill 8, also known as the Texas Women’s Privacy Act, requires government buildings, schools and colleges to restrict access to restrooms and locker rooms based on sex assigned at birth. If someone does enter the “wrong” bathroom, institutions, not the individual, are punished by the state, with $25,000 first-time fines and $125,000 subsequent penalties per day. Individuals can also sue agencies if they are in a restroom and are "affected" by a violation of the law.

SB 8 tasks Paxton’s office with investigating complaints and proposing penalty amounts, but only after complaints are initially filed with the accused agency. The complaint form launched Wednesday requires a copy of the original complaint to the accused institution for any submission.

The form also has an option to submit photos to the tip line, however, taking photos inside a restroom is illegal. In 2023, Williamson County GOP Chair Michelle Evans had her phone confiscated by Department of Public Safety officers and was investigated by Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza after she posted a photo of a trans woman inside a Texas Capitol restroom. Evans sued Garza to stop the investigation, arguing the photo was not an invasion of privacy, but in early December the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against her.

In a statement about the new tip line, Paxton encouraged those who witness violations to use the tip line and said the necessity for SB 8 stems from “radical leftism” and the danger of “mentally ill men.”

“Together, we will uproot and bring justice to any state agency or political subdivision that opens the door for men to violate women’s privacy, dignity, and safety,” Paxton said.

The restrictions have been long-supported by conservative lawmakers and advocates as a way of restricting trans people’s access to facilities, a move they claim protects women in vulnerable spaces. SB 8, however, has no guidance on how to enforce its restrictions, only mandating that institutions take “every reasonable step” to ensure violations don’t occur, which opponents of the law have said is purposefully vague.

Critics of SB 8 have worried that the vague enforcement guidelines may also encourage people to harass or intimidate people in restrooms if they believe someone is in the “wrong” restroom, even in areas the law doesn’t apply.

"The 'tip line' wrongly encourages Texans to violate each other's privacy in bathrooms," said Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, in a statement. "The Attorney General has tried for years to vilify and dehumanize transgender Texans, but he can’t strip away every person’s right to privacy and right to live our lives free from gender stereotyping."

In one instance cited during legislative testimony on SB 8, a cisgender teenaged girl was accused of being in the wrong restroom at a Minnesota restaurant and harassed by a server until the girl exposed her breasts. Minnesota does not have a law restricting restrooms to biological sex, and no bathroom bill in the country, including Texas, applies to private businesses. Advocates allege the animus created by laws like SB 8 caused the incident to occur.

Enforcement across Texas since SB 8 went into effect on Dec. 4 has varied. At the Texas Capitol on Dec. 6, Department of Public Safety officers in one instance blocked the women’s restroom and checked the IDs of protesters attempting to enter.

For most other agencies and colleges, though, change has amounted to new signage and written policies. Some agencies have asserted they had no need to implement any new policies, as their current restroom policies were sufficient.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.