HOUSTON — ACPA is formally protesting bathroom-access legislation introduced in the state last year, citing potentially negative impact on college students and effects on attendance at the annual convention that began last week.
Although the so-called “bathroom bill” introduced in the Senate was voted down before it could reach the House, ACPA acting executive director Chris Moody said the potential for danger and public restroom altercations exists. 
If passed, the bill would have required transgender people to use bathrooms in public universities and schools and government buildings based on “biological sex” rather than gender identity. The attempted legislation caused some would-be attendees to skip the convention, Moody noted.
The conference typically has a high LGBTQ presence, said convention chair Raymond V. Plaza, heightening the importance of inclusive restrooms. He said there had been no serious problems reported as of Tuesday, and the organization “has been welcomed and treated well” in Houston.
Yet, this year’s gathering is “a little smaller than we are used to,” Moody said
“Some other states in the U.S., California in particular, have banned travel for their state employees to come here. We have 300 members in the state of California alone whose school systems – UC systems or one of the state university systems – couldn’t come because their state says they wouldn’t support travel to Texas.”
“On our part, we believe so strongly that the culture was one in which folks still felt potentially unsafe or threatened,” Moody added. “Even the threat of legislation or the discussion of that legislation was problematic for many people, and I fully understand why.
