Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has given Texas a black eye. The question is how much more damage is still to come over his bathroom bill?

Patrick’s full-throated support for the proposal is tarnishing the Texas brand and threatening the tourism business. Some big events have given notice that they’ll cancel and go elsewhere if the bill becomes law. Others are delaying commitments until the issue is settled.

The spotlight is about to get much brighter, too. In early February, the Super Bowl will be in Houston and in late March, the women’s Final Four will be in Dallas. If Patrick pushes the bathroom bill through the Senate by then, as expected, there will be a lot of unflattering stories.

For a taste of things to come, consider Monday's subhead in The Economist: "In the toilet."

How about this comment from a writer at The New York Daily News: "We probably should have stopped playing big-time sports in Texas a long time ago because gay rights have been under siege in Texas for decades."

Then there's Rick Riordan, the Texan who wrote the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. After the bathroom bill was filed last week, he turned down an offer to attend a celebration of authors by the Texas Legislature.

“If they want to honor me, they could stop this nonsense,” Riordan wrote on Twitter.

Senate Bill 6, championed by Patrick, would restrict bathroom use by a person’s “biological sex.” It also would ban local cities, including Dallas and Austin, from having trans bathroom protections in their anti-discrimination ordinances.

The bill is a slap to the business community, which has been pleading with lawmakers to avoid the controversy. A law would lead to boycotts and an economic hit that could reach billions of dollars, according to the Texas Association of Business. Up to 185,000 jobs could be lost.

It's an insult to the LGBT community, which sees it as a mean way of targeting a vulnerable population.

And it's a taunt to big-time show-runners like the NCAA, the Big 12 and the NFL. They’re among the high-profile groups that don’t want to hold marquee events in places openly hostile to transgender people and other minorities. They’ve made this clear time and again.

Last year, North Carolina adopted a bathroom law similar to Texas’ bill. In response, the NCAA moved several tournaments and the National Basketball Association canceled All-Star Weekend in Charlotte. PayPal and Deutsche Bank abandoned expansion plans, and Bruce Springsteen and Cirque du Soleil were among the entertainers dropping events. Some state and city governments canceled nonessential travel there.

The economic impact has topped hundreds of millions of dollars, according to estimates. Patrick played down the effect, saying North Carolina had the second-strongest economy in the country.

“They’re doing just fine,” Patrick said at a brief news conference last week.

He dismissed the notion of “economic doom” for Texas. Houston voters rejected an anti-discrimination ordinance in late 2015, and Patrick said he wasn’t aware of a company that moved elsewhere because of the result. He took aim at critics who opposed the measure before a bill was even filed.

“I’ve never seen so much misinformation, so much hand-wringing, so much fake news,” Patrick said.

The bill has a carve-out, for example, that would let groups set the bathroom rules for their own events. But don’t expect that provision to win over skeptics in the LGBT community.

Would fans and participants feel welcome elsewhere in the city, beyond the stadium or concert hall? Would they feel welcome in Texas?

There’s already been a backlash. Over a dozen large events, slated to bring in roughly 180,000 visitors, have contacted Dallas officials and said they would cancel, said Phillip Jones, CEO of Visit Dallas, the organization that promotes conventions and other tourism business here.

“That’s the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

An education group with about 20,000 members had penciled in Dallas for 2020, he said. Because of the bathroom bill, the group is considering a Midwest city instead.

Jones cited a survey that showed 53 percent of meeting planners are avoiding cities that don’t have universal bathroom use. Many planners are putting off decisions on Dallas until they see what happens with the Lege.

“We’re already suffering because of this negative perception,” Jones said.

Perception is the right word. Patrick pledged to make transgender bathrooms a top priority for the Legislature. He said it’s about safety and privacy, and not giving in to political correctness. But that’s not how others see it.

"The message to transgender people is stark — we do not and will not accept you," wrote The Economist.

There’s a saying in politics: When you’re explaining, you’re losing.

That’s already happening with Texas and the bathroom bill, and the session is just beginning this week.

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Texas’ new narrative?

Texas has not adopted a transgender bathroom law yet. But a proposal, Senate Bill 6, is already generating negative headlines after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick led the charge last week.

USA Today: Texas bathroom bill on the radar of the NCAA, Big 12

The New York Times: A Bathroom Bill Could Cost Texas Some Sports Events

Associated Press: New Texas bathroom bill may spark North Carolina-like uproar

SB Nation: With SB6, Texas could lose 2017 Women's Final Four and 2018 Men's Final Four