IBM leads technology firms pushing back on Texas bathroom legislation

Technology firms are pushing back on controversial Texas legislation that seeks to bar local laws allowing transgender students to pick which bathroom they want to use.

The “bathroom bill” legislation is a priority for the special session of the Texas state legislature, which convened Tuesday. 

Technology company IBM, one of the state’s biggest employers, is pulling out all the stops to oppose the legislation, taking out full-page ads in major Texas newspapers and dispatching multiple executives to lobby Texas legislators against the bill. 

{mosads}Transportation company Lyft signed an opposition letter Wednesday. Earlier in the week, executives from major firms including AT&T and American Airlines wrote letters to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) opposing the legislation.

In an email sent to IBM employees Monday, and later posted on a blog, the company’s chief human resources officer detailed her opposition.

“A bathroom bill like the one in Texas sends a message that it is okay to discriminate against someone just for being who they are,” Diane Gherson wrote.

Her letter came the same day 20 IBM executives descended on the state Capitol in Austin to push lawmakers to reject the bill. 

“[IBM was] walking the halls with teams of executives,” Texas state Rep. Celia Israel (D) told The Hill. “HR people were talking to representatives about how important it is to walk into a friendly work environment.”

The day prior, IBM bought full-page ads in The Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express News, and Austin American-Statesman — three of the five largest papers in Texas — opposing the bill.

An IBM spokesperson told The Hill that the reason the company is fighting so aggressively on the issue is because it’s concerned that it could harm recruiting efforts in Texas. IBM says it employs 10,000 people across the state and 350,000 worldwide. 

The spokesperson also noted that IBM opposes any legislation that could impose discrimination on its current employees or their family members. 

IBM jointly signed a letter to Abbott in May with CEOs from Facebook, Apple, Google and other technology companies expressing similar concerns.

“As large employers in the state, we are gravely concerned that any such legislation would deeply tarnish Texas’ reputation as open and friendly to businesses and families,” the companies wrote in the letter.

Lawmakers have expressed the same concerns.

“We all saw the negative economic impact similar legislation had in North Carolina,” said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) in a statement emailed to The Hill. “Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick’s obsession with this measure could have real consequences on jobs in our state if companies choose to do business elsewhere.”

Texas has reportedly lost more than $66 million from businesses canceling conventions, sporting events and other events in the state as a result of debate around the bathroom bill, according to Texas Competes, a coalition of pro-LGBT businesses in the state.

Texas Competes managing director Jessica Shortall said another $1 billion could be lost from businesses planning to cancel events in the state if the bill passes.

“The amount of money lost could be even larger,” Shortall told The Hill. “That’s only the businesses that have publicly said that they’ll cancel their events. The amount of money quietly slipping away could be much higher.”

Abbott and Patrick have staunchly supported the legislation in the face of corporate pushback.

“The people of Texas, overwhelmingly, every poll you take, don’t want boys and girls showering together in the 10th grade, and they don’t want a man dressed like you are today or I am today walking into any ladies’ room because they can,” Patrick told The Hill.

Abbott said that such a bill is necessary “to avoid a patchwork quilt of conflicting local regulations” and protect “the privacy of women and children.”

Israel, who opposes the bill, said she wants to see technology companies return to the state Capitol at the same level of intensity during the special session that they had during the regular session in May.

“It seemed like the business community got off to a strong start and fizzled around day 100,” she told The Hill. 

“There’s big issues in Texas that need to be addressed and this is a political distraction,” she said. 

 
This story was updated on July 20 at 11:23 a.m. Reid Wilson contributed.