Supporters of the transgender community are continuing to fight a potential law. The Texas Privacy Act, would essentially keep people who identify as transgender out a restroom of their choosing. Some critics call the bill discriminatory and put members of the transgender community in danger.



“I knew I was something else. I just didn’t know what I was yet.” said 19 year old Jaylen Pena. He enjoys hanging out with friends, viral videos on Facebook and is studying to be a nurse. However, Jaylen wasn’t always “Jaylen” and asked News Center 23’s Derick Garcia to keep his previous name out of the report and explained “a lot of people don’t see me as female anymore.”



Jaylen is transgender and while he doesn’t want to be known by his former name, Jaylen is not afraid for others to know he was born female.



“If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s alright, you’re not somebody I want to be around.” At first glance, Jaylen explained he doesn’t look female anymore. In the transgender community, Jaylen is called “passing” meaning he looks like the gender he identifies with.



Jaylen is proud of being transgender and has tattoo on both forearms to symbolize his journey. A way of wearing his heart on his sleeve. “[In latin] ‘Ancora imparo means I’m still learning, and the first time I found out that I was trans, the transgender guy I watched on YouTube he had the exact same tattoo.” The tattoo serves as a tribute to his moment of enlightenment or awakening.



While he feels life is coming together, relationships with his family is a strained. His grandparents are more welcoming of his transition and mom is trying to understand but Jaylen’s father is no receptive. “He’ll disregard the conversation and want to change the topic” explained Jaylen.



Some Texas lawmakers, like Jaylen’s father, aren’t seeing eye-to-eye with people like Jaylen. One day before a Senate Committee hearing on Senate Bill 6, Democratic Texas Senator Eddie Lucio Jr of Brownsville, received backlash from constituents after publicly supporting the bill while standing beside Republican lawmakers at a press conference at the state capitol. The Texas Privacy Act commonly known as the “bathroom bill” would require transgender people to use bathrooms in public schools and establishments based on their biological sex. For Jaylen, the bill’s fine print is a problem “I’m already scared as it is to go in there and maybe not be passable to somebody. Maybe somebody might know and that’s the only thing I’m scared of.”



Senator Lucio is one of 7 committee members who voted to in favor, moving the bill forward.



Jaylen is relieved the conversation is happening but understands at 19, he could be a target for violence, “in a way I feel like this problem is helping my family try to gain an understanding [of] how this is going to affect me and that’s really opening up their minds. So in a sense [I’m] kind of grateful this is happening but for the most part this law is just really going to affect me. My parents don’t know the struggle I’m going to go through with this law.”



Testimony from SB6’s committee hearing called Transgender rights this generation’s Civil Rights fight, Senator Lucio said the comparison is “nothing like that” Jaylen disagrees, “it’s like the civil rights movement we got through that and now it’s better I guess we have to go through dark times to find brighter days.”