“Identity fraud”: Proposed Texas state law would make identifying as transgender a felony

The Texas state legislature may soon consider whether transgender Texans can be charged with a felony for identifying as their preferred gender. 

A bill proposed by Houston-area Rep. Tom Oliverson asks to amend the state penal code to create a new crime of “gender identity fraud.” Under the act, a person could be charged with a felony for “identifying the person’s biological sex as the opposite of the biological sex assigned to the person at birth” while dealing with either government entities or employers. The charge carries a punishment of up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

Oliverson’s name is regularly affixed to some of the most hateful legislation coming out of the Lone Star State. He authored the state House’s version of a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state. That bill was signed into law in the summer of 2023 and took effect later that year. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has since sued several doctors for allegedly providing care to transgender youth. 

While the bill doesn’t have a co-sponsor or any planned hearings in the legislature as of this writing, it’s one small piece of continued attacks on trans people in red states and nationally.

Late last year, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced that it would not change sex markers on state-issued driver’s licenses for any reason other than “clerical errors.” Upon taking office, President Donald Trump floated a raft of anti-trans executive orders that barred transgender people from the United States military and ordered the federal government to cease recognition of transgender and nonbinary identities.

That’s not to say that conservatives are racking up easy wins. Trump’s decrees have been countered with a barrage of lawsuits and judge’s orders, and the removal of references to transgender people on Stonewall National Monument’s webpage led to protests outside of the storied LGBTQ+ landmark.