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AUSTIN, Texas, March 15, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Family Research Council praised the State Senate passage of the Texas Privacy Act by a vote of 21 to 10. Last week, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, testified before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee in support of the Texas Privacy Act (SB 6), which would protect the privacy and safety of women and children. The bill prevents public schools and government buildings from adopting policies that would open women's showers, bathrooms, and changing facilities to men and visa-versa.

It also prevents political subdivisions from forcing businesses and organizations, including contractors, to open their showers, locker rooms and bathrooms to people of the opposite sex. It leaves Texans free to determine their own policies regarding the use of shared bathrooms and showers.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"We commend the Texas State Senate for voting overwhelmingly to ensure the safety and well-being of their citizens.

"As a parent of 5 children, I am more than sympathetic to the sensitivity and the self-consciousness that students have in undressing in a school locker room, or taking a shower in front of their peers -- it would be traumatic for many children and adolescents to do so in the presence of someone of the opposite biological sex.

"This bill responds to a potential threat not just from the federal government, but from local governments and school districts within Texas that might choose to adopt policies that elevate 'gender identity' over biological sex and thereby threaten the security and privacy of Texans.

"I call on Speaker Joe Straus to take seriously the concerns of parents and their children and bring the Texas Privacy Act to the House floor for an up-or-down vote," concluded Perkins.

Read Tony Perkins's full testimony: S.B. 6
downloads.frc.org/EF/EF17C12.pdf