State Lawmaker to Also Introduce Similar Legislation: ‘I Will Die on This Issue Politically’

For the second time this week, a city official in Texas has announced plans to introduce an anti-transgender bathroom ordinance in response to retailer Target’s announcement that it will allow employees and customers to use restrooms and dressing rooms according to their gender identity in its stores.Â

On Friday, Mayor Jay Pruitt of Rockwall, Texas, unveiled a proposal to fine trans people up to $500 for using public restrooms and other facilities according to their gender identity. The Rockwall City Council is set to debate Pruitt’s proposal Monday,.Â

On Sunday, Mark Hicks (photo), a city councilman in the East Texas town of Lufkin, wrote in a letter to the editor of The Lufkin News, titled “Unsafe Environment,” that he will “work with city officials to draft a proposed ordinance to make this [Target’s] policy null and void within the city of Lufkin.”

“I am among those who believe that the potential for abusive behavior by voyeurs, exhibitionists and sexual predators is increased exponentially with the implementation of this policy,” Hicks wrote. “It creates an unsafe environment, and it should not be allowed or encouraged. I do not believe my wife or three young daughters should have to be concerned about using public facilities anywhere â€” and certainly not in a neighborhood staple like Target!”

“It is not an irrational fear of transgendered individuals â€” who would also be potential targets â€” that causes me to take this stand,” Hicks wrote, “it is the likely impersonation of transgender for criminal purposes that is worrying.”

Rockwall and Lufkin would become the second and third cities in the U.S. to pass anti-trans bathroom laws as a direct response to Target’s policy, joining Oxford, Alabama â€” where trans people can be jailed for up to six months for using the “wrong” restroom.Â

Hicks also called on people to contact Texas legislators and request that they pass a law prohibiting implementation of Target’s policy.Â

RELATED:Â Ted Cruz: Clinton, Trump Want to Let ‘Any Adult Man’ Use the ‘Girl’s Restroom if He Feels Like a Woman’

State Rep. Matt Shaheen, a Republican from Plano, announced last week he plans to introduce a bill next year that would prohibit cities from enforcing nondiscrimination ordinances that allow trans people to use restrooms and other facilities according to their gender identity.Â

“If Target wants to close all their stores in the state of Texas, I will go over and help them pack and help them leave,” Shaheen said. “I will die on this issue politically. I am going to bat for my wife and my daughters.”Â

Also Saturday, about 30 anti-LGBT protesters gathered outside the Target store in Lufkin, a town of 35,000 not far from the Louisiana border. The protest was organized byÂ Leo Lytle, senior pastor at Faith Family Church in Burke.Â

“I feel like this is an opportunity that if we just donâ€™t say anything, then not only will Target not have any consequences for their actions, but next thing you know, itâ€™ll be Walmart and Kmart and other retailers and restaurants who will also bow down to the pressure from those who are pushing this agenda so they wonâ€™t be looked upon as not inclusive or politically correct,”Â Lyle told The Lufkin News.Â

Protester Warren Guy, a local children’s dentist who is a member of the American Family Association, the anti-LGBT hate group that recently launched a boycott of Target over the policy, said he spends thousands of dollars at the retailer every year, but will no longer be doing so.Â

â€œThe Bible says that God made us male and female, and thatâ€™s all,â€ Guy said. â€œWe donâ€™t get a choice about it. And Target wants to give anybody a choice about what sex they are â€” what â€˜gender,â€™ they call it.”Â