The Austin Tech Alliance is urging people working in the tech industry to sign on to a letter opposing a proposed new law that would prohibit people from using bathrooms not designated for the “biological sex” listed on their birth certificate.
"In the tech sector, this legislation will make it more difficult for us to attract the very best talent to Texas, and that, in turn, will impact our ability to innovate and succeed," the letter says.
The letter, which began circulating digitally on Thursday, is an effort to convince Texas lawmakers to vote against the "bathroom bill" -- SB 6 -- when they return to the Capitol July 18 for a special session in which they'll consider a variety of unfinished business, which includes school finance, taxes, abortion restrictions and tree conservation laws.
"We know there will likely be a variety of bills filed this summer that will focus on bathrooms, locker rooms, and the idea of “privacy,” but we also know from law enforcement officials that laws policing, restricting, and segregating LGBT kids and adults have no basis in the realities of public safety," the letter reads. "Instead, the effect of these bills and the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding them is to further marginalize folks who are no danger to their fellow Texans but are disproportionately targets of violence and harassment."
Texas' SB 6 is similar to a law approved in North Carolina more than a year ago that also banned people from using a bathroom other than the one that corresponds with their sex, as listed on their birth certificate. The North Carolina law also excluded gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide anti-discrimination protections.
The Associated Press in March reported the law is projected to cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years -- a cost that includes PayPal ditching its plans for a 400-person office in the Charlotte that would have added a projected $2.66 billion to the state’s economy.
The Austin Tech Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement from the tech community, worries Texas will face similar issues if lawmakers approve the discriminatory bathroom law. Many major tech companies have already opposed the bill, including Dell, Silicon Labs and GSD&M. David Edmonson, executive director of the alliance, said this letter is targeted to individual workers.
"I wanted to give the grassroots of Austin's tech sector an opportunity to make their voice heard en masse," he said in an email.
