"It felt like a punch to the gut,” said Alisa Miller, the mother of a 15-year-old transgender girl in Austin. “It was really disheartening, and it was frightening."
This is how she describes her reaction to state lawmakers' decision Sunday night to add an amendment addressing school bathrooms.
Amendment two, introduced by Rep. Chris Paddie, was added to SB 2078, a bill that requires public and charter schools to have emergency plans for natural disasters or school shootings.
The amendment says schools also have to have single-occupancy bathrooms for students who "do not wish to use the facilities designated for use or commonly used by persons of the student's biological sex."
Though there is ambiguity in the legislation, parents of transgender students say they are scared for their students at school.
“It makes me angry and fearful for my daughter,” said Alisa Miller.
Her daughter, Maeve Calvin, is a transgender girl at Austin ISD's Bowie High School. She started her transition last June after years of deep depression.
"And almost immediately when she came out, we began making those social transitions, her mood lifted,” said Miller. “I saw her smile again, which I hadn't seen in a really long time."
But now, Miller, like the parents of other transgender kids, fears bullying and stigmatizing if the amendment becomes law.
"I think if we take away the access to these areas, it really stigmatizes the students,” Miller said. “It risks them being seen as 'other,’ and being targets for bullying and discrimination.”
In Central Texas, Austin ISD issued a statement in regards to the amendment saying:
"We are awaiting final language of the bill, so we can evaluate how this would affect our current practices. We look forward to creating a place where all are welcome within the boundaries of state law."