Prohibition of Certain Discrimination

This bill: 

• Aims to stop certain types of discrimination in Texas and allow for punishments for discrimination.

  • Discrimination: Treating someone unfairly because of part of who they are, like their race, gender, disability, or religion.

• Adds a new part to the Business and Commerce Code focusing on discrimination in public spaces.

  • Business and Commerce Code: A set of rules in Texas that tells businesses how to treat customers and workers fairly.

  • The Texas Workforce Commission, which is a group that helps people find jobs, trains workers, and makes sure workplaces follow the law, can set up rules to put this new part into action.

• Says discrimination based on things like race, color, and gender identity is not allowed in public.

  • There are some exceptions, like private clubs and certain religious groups.

• Allows the commission to get involved in civil cases that impact the public.

  • Civil cases: Court cases that solve problems between people or groups, like unfair treatment at work, instead of cases about crimes.

• Allows courts to give people money if they prove they were discriminated against.

  • People who do this might get their lawyer costs and other costs paid for.

• Updates parts of the Labor Code to protect people who have served in the military:

  • Labor code: A set of rules about jobs, workers’ rights, and how workplaces should treat employees.

• Updates many parts of the labor code to protect everyone in Texas from discrimination

• Lets local groups of decision-makers, called commissions, boost efforts against discrimination for everyone.

• Changes part of the Property Code to define "Disability," "Gender identity," "Military veteran," and "Sexual orientation."

  • Property code: A set of rules about who can own, rent, or sell homes and buildings, and how people should be treated fairly when buying or renting.

• Stops housing discrimination based on various things, including race and military veteran status.

• Stops housing information that discriminates against certain people from being put out to the public. 

• Makes it illegal to lie about whether a house is available based on discrimination.

• Makes it illegal to push selling or renting a house by making biased statements about neighborhoods.

  • Biased statements: Unfair or untrue things people say about a person or neighborhood.

• Makes it illegal to discriminate in buying or selling houses based on race, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or military veteran status.

• Stops realtors from discriminating against people by not working with them.

• Clarifies exceptions for religious organizations, like churches, synagogues, and mosques.

• Explains the process for filing complaints

  • Filing complaints: Reporting discrimination to a special group that handles those issues

• If this bill passes, these changes start on September 1, 2025.