Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 25, barring transgender K-12 students from school sports matching their gender identity
On October 25, 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 25 into law, enacted during the 87th Legislature's third called special session. The law requires public school students to compete in University Interscholastic League athletic competitions based on their sex assigned at birth, barring transgender K-12 student-athletes from competing consistent with their gender identity. It took effect January 18, 2022.
Actors
On October 25, 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 25 into law, passed during the 87th Texas Legislature's third called special session after clearing the House Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies 8-4 and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee 6-3. The law requires public school students to compete in University Interscholastic League (UIL) interscholastic athletic competitions based on their sex assigned at birth, barring transgender K-12 student-athletes from competing consistent with their gender identity. It took effect January 18, 2022.
HB 25 is scoped to K-12 UIL athletics only — the UIL has no jurisdiction over Texas colleges or universities. Texas separately enacted a college-level version of the ban, SB 15, in 2023.
Why we recorded this
Equal protection principles require that similarly situated people be treated alike regardless of protected characteristics such as sex or gender identity. Texas House Bill 25 requires K-12 student-athletes to compete based on their sex assigned at birth, categorically barring transgender students from teams and competitions matching their gender identity. This archive records state law that singles out transgender youth for differential treatment in public education, part of a nationwide pattern of similar state-level enactments.
Sources
- Texas HB 25, 87(3) — Bill History — Texas Legislature Online primary accessed July 19, 2026
- Texas HB25, 2021, 3rd Special Session — Bill Status — LegiScan secondary accessed July 19, 2026
See also
- Texas enacted SB 1257 requiring plans that cover gender-transition care to also cover detransition and lifelong monitoring
- Texas enacted SB 12 barring public-school instruction and student clubs on sexual orientation or gender identity
- Texas Gov. Abbott signed HB1106, excluding refusal to affirm a child's gender identity from the state's child-abuse definition
- Texas Gov. Abbott signed HB 229 writing a binary biological-sex definition into state government code and excluding gender identity from recognition
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 1188, requiring an unalterable 'biological sex' field in every electronic health record
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