AUSTIN - Gov. Greg Abbott has dozens of new companies to add to his enemies list.

Houston's most important and prestigious firms have sent him an open letter calling his plans to humiliate transgender people, by requiring them to use public restrooms that match their birth certificates, a clear and present danger to the Texas economy.

"We support diversity and inclusion, and we believe that any such bill risks harming Texas' reputation and impacting the state's economic growth and ability to create new jobs," the letter said. "We appreciate your leadership in Texas and urge you to avoid any actions, including the passage of any 'bathroom bill,' that would threaten our continued growth."

Who are these immoral liberal weirdos who signed the letter?

Jeff Shellebarger, president, Chevron North America E&P and chair of the Greater Houston Partnership.

Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips.

Bruce Culpepper, president of Shell Oil Co.

Linda DuCharme, president of ExxonMobil Global Services Co.

Jeffrey A. Miller, president and CEO of Halliburton.

Steve Stephens, CEO of Amegy Bank.

Tom Ryan, chairman and CEO of Service Corporation International.

Lisa Davis, CEO for Global Energy at Siemens.

Bobby Tudor, chairman and Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

Welcome Wilson, Sr., chairman at GSL Welcome Group.

Not exactly a rogues' gallery, they are the elite of Houston's business community and just a small sampling of the more than 50 major employers that signed the letter.

In a previous column, I wrote about the dozens of Dallas employers who oppose a bathroom bill. But since then, dozens more from Austin and San Antonio have also written to Abbott and the leaders of the Texas Legislature, urging them to drop this misguided pandering to a small number of Republican primary voters.

They include Frito-Lay North America-PepsiCo, Baker Hughes, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lyft, Neiman Marcus, Uber, Bain and Co., and PayPal.

At the beginning of the special session, Abbott promised to publish a list of those who oppose his legislation. Turns out he can also add the state's top cops to the list, including Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, Harris County Sheriff's Assistant Chief Debra Schmidt, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley and El Paso Chief Deputy Sheriff Sylvia Aguilar.

"It's bad law," Acevedo said. "It's bad political theater. And at the end of the day, it is bad for Texas."

And lest anyone think the religious community is united in support of the bathroom bill, Abbott gets to add 200 clerics and religious leaders on his naughty list too, following a religious opposition rally last week.

Abbott should also add most Texas Republicans, according to a Texas Association of Business poll of 1,500 Republican primary voters, which found only 26 percent support the measure.

"Texas business has long opposed the bathroom bill because it is unnecessary and will have significant negative economic impact on Texas," Jeff Moseley, CEO of the Texas Association of Business, said. "The significance of these surveys, is the voice of individual Republican primary voters echoing the business perspective with over 60 percent of the opposing respondents saying that the bill is unnecessary and distracts from the real issues facing Texas today."

Does any of this matter to Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, the Republican from Brenham who carried the bill? No, instead she employs the same "protect the womenfolk" tactic used to stoke fears of black men during Texas' dark days of segregation and lynching.

"I pick daughters over dollars," Kolkhorst said, as if only her supporters love their children.

Kolkhorst and her ilk at the Capitol can't find a single valid justification for the bathroom bill other than unrealized, irrational fear of society's most marginalized people. Transgender men and women are the ones who are physically abused, discriminated against and denied employment, but Kolkhorst's bill does nothing to protect them.

Frankly, I'd rather not spend time railing against the bathroom bill, nor would any of these true Texas leaders who signed these letters. But Abbott, Kolkhorst and their ringleader, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, are willing to risk the state's economic future to distract from the state's real problems.

Texans need an overhaul of the tax system to spur economic development. They need schools that will prepare Texas children to succeed in a more complex and technically-advanced world. We need good roads, bridges and high-tech infrastructure to attract the businesses of the future.

Come to think of it, Texans should keep their own lists of politicians who are solving the state's problems, and those who are creating trouble where there was none.

Abbott, Patrick and Kolkhorst have proved more interested in promoting their political careers than making Texas a greater place to do business.