So Texas wants to land Toyota’s next billion-dollar auto plant? Dream on, because it’s not gonna happen if the state adopts a bathroom bill.

Toyota, teaming with Mazda on the future factory, would never put it so bluntly.

That’s unfortunate, because lawmakers in Austin can’t seem to get enough opposition to a bill that would restrict bathrooms used by transgender people in Texas.

There are letters from 50 companies in Houston, 14 CEOs in Dallas and the leaders of Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and IBM. Over 80 businesses signed another letter against the bill, and over 1,300 companies signed a pledge calling for Texas to be a welcoming place for the LGBTQ community.

To opponents, a bathroom bill would be the equivalent of state-sanctioned discrimination, akin to separate water fountains in the Jim Crow South. It also would target a vulnerable minority, including kids.

Business leaders warn of a severe backlash, from tourism boycotts to canceled events to problems with recruiting and retaining workers. Some venture capitalists say they'll invest elsewhere.

Despite the potential fallout, Gov. Greg Abbott put the issue on his special session agenda. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the bathroom bill's biggest champion, promptly pushed it through the Senate. Speaker Joe Straus and some House members have kept the matter at bay as time runs short.

With about a week to go in the special session, Toyota might put an end to the debate by saying it doesn’t condone discrimination — and won’t invest in a place that does.

That might be too subtle for some lawmakers, who insist the bathroom bill is about protecting women, not discriminating against transgender youth. But others could frame it as one more proof point on the risks of adopting a bathroom bill — and becoming the center of America’s culture wars.

Last year, Mississippi passed a religious freedom law that gave residents the right to deny goods and services to gay people. A judge struck down the law and another court upheld it, and it may be headed to the Supreme Court.

Toyota, which has an auto plant in the state, put out a statement last year: “Toyota does not condone discrimination in any form and believes that inclusive treatment of all people is good for the workplace, marketplace and society as a whole.”

Nissan, which also has a large assembly plant in the state, was more on point: “We oppose any legislation that would allow discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals,” the automaker said at the time.

In Mississippi, Toyota and Nissan were weighing in after the fact — after the law was signed and money was invested. What would they think if it were a prospective deal?

Most companies start by focusing on the basics, said Gene DePrez, a site selection expert at Global Innovation Partners in the New York area. That includes available land, utilities, access to highways and the ability to recruit workers.

An issue like the bathroom bill may make the long list of factors, but it would not come up until late in the process for most companies, he said.

The Toyota-Mazda plant may be different, because it will have such a high profile. Dozens of locales are expected to bid for the facility in what one analyst predicted would be a frenzy.

“With this kind of competition, you don’t want anything that will help screen you out,” DePrez said. “As consultants, we may look at hundreds of locations, and our job is to get that down to one. We’re always looking for some way to reduce the candidates.”

A spokesman for Abbott’s office said that companies come to Texas for fundamental reasons, including low taxes, light regulation and legal reforms. And Texas continues to be ranked among the top states for business, he said.

“The truth is that businesses look at what is best for their bottom line, and Texas is that place,” spokesman John Wittman said in an email.

Abbott and Patrick don't accept that a bathroom bill would hurt business or the economy. They said North Carolina was doing just fine, despite the boycotts, cancellations and negative publicity that followed its bathroom bill.

But North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the law “a dark cloud” hanging over the state.

"It has stained our reputation," Cooper said after the law was repealed in March. "It has discriminated against our people. And it has caused great economic harm to many of our communities."

Toyota is already a big player in Texas. It has a billion-dollar truck plant in San Antonio, which opened just over a decade ago. And it recently moved into a new North American headquarters in Plano, a deal that was announced in 2014.

In each case, Toyota was welcomed as a job-creating hero, complete with public salutes and huge public dollars.

The reaction might be different if it happened today, not because Toyota is valued any less but because it would step into a political firestorm. Toyota would be forced to defend the decision, not just on economic terms but as a test of its corporate values.

And no one should forget that real lives, not just politics, are on the line. In the week after the Texas Legislature introduced the bathroom bill, twice as many trans young people called a suicide prevention line, according to the Trevor Project.

Defending the indefensible shouldn't fall to anyone but Abbott, Patrick and their supporting lawmakers.