Editors Note: A previous version of this article misattributed comments on political donations to Rep. Toth. They were made by another party to the conversation.
Republican State Rep. Steve Toth of The Woodlands alleges the Texas Senate killed conservative priority legislation in 2021 that would have protected children from gender mutilation procedures. The accusation was made during a conversation with activists on January 10, a recording of which was released by North Texas activist David Lowe.
“It came over from the Senate ridiculously late, and they knew that we were going to have trouble,” said Toth. “There’s plenty of blame that needs to be spread around in this thing.”
For much of the last two years, the Texas House has received the brunt of the criticism for failing to pass protections against child gender mutilation. While the Texas Senate passed multiple bills to outlaw these procedures, the House killed every such bill brought before it, and several bills never even made it to the House floor.
Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi refuted the idea that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate are to blame, saying it was “not true.”
“Patrick passed the stronger child protection bill early in the session,” Rinaldi told Texas Scorecard. “When the House made it clear it would only pass the weaker bill, he sent that one over too. Dan Patrick did everything we asked for in this priority. It died in the House.”
However, Toth didn’t just blame the Senate, arguing that Gov. Greg Abbott, Patrick, and House Speaker Dade Phelan (R–Beaumont) all had a hand in thwarting the legislation.
“If any of the Big Three wanted it, we would have gotten it because they have that kind of power,” Toth explained. He criticized Abbott for failing to make child gender mutilation an emergency item in any of the three special legislative sessions that followed the 2021 regular session.
Protecting children from abusive medical procedures is once again a Republican grassroots priority for the current legislative session, which lasts through the end of May.
Concerned citizens can contact their elected representatives to register their opinion on how Texas should protect children.